Parking ticket at service station whilst waiting for electric charger to become available!

Louisemewse3

On a Sunday afternoon roadworks prevented me from going on motorway to nearest electric charger. I had to drive to a motorway services with only one fast charger. Charger was used for over an hour, then another person used charger then my turn. Difficult to get it to connect when it did someone came and tried to connect to other side and disconnected me. Eventually success so charged for an hour as over 200 miles to go.  Two weeks later I get a parking ticket from CP Nexus Group saying I was there over three hours. I have appealed and they have said that as I was there over three hours that I should have paid £12.00 for a parking ticket for the pleasure of being able to pay then for my electric!  They want £170 which being disabled I don’t have. I couldn’t have left the service station as I would have run out of electric on the motorway!  They have shown complete ignorance as to how long it takes to charge electric vehicles when there is only one charger available on a busy Sunday afternoon! What can I now do as threatening me with bailiffs if I don’t pay.  I don’t actually have that much money anywhere! 

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

You need to complain to the motorway services operator.

Which motorway services?

They want £170 which being disabled I don’t have.

Sorry, I can't understand you logic there.

Coupon-mad

Why didn't you come here and appeal as keeper, not driver, and win it easily?   

Don't appeal private parking tickets about the story of what happened; they are not normal firms who care about the public or have a fair or independent appeal or customer service ethic (believe us, all they care about is money).  This is so frustrating, CP Plus are the easiest to beat, or would have been, if you'd appealed as keeper using our template.

Are you in time to use the POPLA code on the rejection letter?

Never mind anyway as the Service Station are obviously going to cancel the PCN.  You have complained to the Service Station, we assume.   You won't be paying this scam PCN but can't ignore it and you appealed it in the wrong way.  Do things our way now.

Let us know when they cancel it, as @KeithP says:

You need to complain to the motorway services operator.4
Which motorway services?

Roadchef or MOTO?

D_P_Dance

They want £170 

They have added what appears to be an extra unlawful amount for debt collection.

This amounts to double recovery and Judges all over the country are dismissing these spurious additions. Indeed some judges have dismissed entire claims because of this. Read this and complain to Trading Standards and your MP,

Excel v Wilkinson

At the Bradford County Court, District Judge Claire Jackson (now HHJ Jackson, a Specialist Civil Circuit Judge) decided to hear a 'test case' a few months ago, where £60 had been added to a parking charge despite Judges up and down the country repeatedly disallowing that sum and warning parking firms not to waste court time with such spurious claims.   That case was Excel v Wilkinson: G4QZ465V, heard in July 2020 and leave to appeal was refused and that route was not pursued.  The Judge concluded that such claims are proceedings with 'an improper collateral purpose'.   This Judge - and others who have since copied her words and struck dozens of cases out in late 2020 and into 2021 - went into significant detail and concluded that parking operators (such as this Claimant) are seeking to circumvent CPR 27.14 as well as breaching the Consumer Rights Act 2015.   DJ Hickinbottom has recently struck more cases out in that court area, stating: ''I find that striking out this claim is the only appropriate manner in which the disapproval of the court can be shown''.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/16qovzulab1szem/G4QZ465V%20Excel%20v%20Wilkinson.pdf?dl=0

However, VCS appealed this so it may not apply in all cases, read this

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ntksx9g7177ahyg/VCS v Percy v1 Amendments (2).pdf?dl=0Also read this

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6279348/witness-statements-2-transcripts-re-parking-firms-false-costs-recorder-cohen-qc-judgment-2021/p1

Also consider complaining to The SRA about the solicitor, if one is involved They are fully aware of the unlawful nature of most of thse additions yet persist in adding them..

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/

Louisemewse3

Thank you for this advice. I shall write today as I don’t think they will hang around for their money. It was Motochef at Magor South Wales. A very very busy services with only one fast charger!  7/8 people wanted to use the charger but couldn’t.  I had no choice but to wait as couldn’t get to next service station in Glos.  If I had driven I would have stopped on motorway. Popla who I appealed to said yes I was there more than 2 hours and should have bought a £12.00 ticket to charge my car!  They point out that signs are up about parking but I don’t drive in my reading glasses and at almost 60 and with 43 years driving I have never bought a ticket at a service station. Is this the future for electric car drivers. 

Louisemewse3

I have complained to Motochef at Magor and a very nice lady said that I could forget about the fine now as she had sorted it!  Then accidentally came across my online appeal to popla and they have said that I was there more than 2 hours and should have bought a £12.00 parking ticket for me to then pay to charge my car. Is this the future for ev drivers when there is only one charger available!  

KeithP

Please copy the above as a reply onto your existing thread.

Umkomaas

No need to start a new thread, you could have continued on your original, where all the context to your case is stored. We deal with up to one hundred cases per day, so it's not always possible to recall the background relating to random, single post threads where there is obviously a linked thread somewhere on the forum. 

Now, to check whether your 'nice lady' has managed to get your ticket cancelled, go to the website of the parking firm pursuing you and check the current status of the charge. It can take a few days for the PPC sites to be updated, especially over this festive period when there's unlikely to be anyone there. 

Coupon-mad

What's Motochef?

It's either MOTO or Roadchef.  Edit - I see from your new thread that they cancelled it, as we told you they would.

KeithP

It's Roadchef at Magor.

From their website...

Mark Fox, CEO at Roadchef, said: “Roadchef is committed to playing a key role in a more sustainable future and our upgraded EV charging facilities are very much a step in the right direction. Over the last year there has been a huge upturn in EV ownership so it’s essential that there is a solid charging network in place on motorways to enable consumers to travel longer distances, worry-free. This recent upgrade combined with our future EV hub plans and our commitment to reducing our carbon impact means we are fast becoming a destination of choice for the sustainable-minded consumer.”

Umkomaas

It's been 'sorted' by a 'nice lady', apparently. The problem with multiple threads!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6323070/parking-fine-motorway-services-magor-motochef#latest