Parking Ticket in Supermarket Car Park

Coupon-mad

"Most people on here seem to be suggesting that the parking company can just take a photo and put whatever time they want on there and then everyone just accepts it's correct and pays the PCN."

Well yes!  It's wrong to think otherwise. It happens.

That's what UKPC did, changed timings on images (not ANPR but showing you yes, some of these firms can and do SOMETIMES operate fraudulently and deliberately):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-34402322.amp

UKCPM had ticketers deliberately plonking signs up for photos, then removing them:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-47772305.amp

And we have seen ANPR in/out cameras set 5 minutes differently, even one where the PCN claimed the person paid for their ticket at a manual machine on site, two minutes before their car was 'shown' in the ANPR image, entering!

I showed that one to Government in a submission to a public consultation that we all did, during the new statutory Code of Practice journey.

They listened to me quite a lot.  I had damning stuff.  It would naive to assume they all play nicely.

MPs had it right  concerning the unregulated parking industry (Feb 2018):
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

''Rip-offs from car park Cowboys must stop''; unfair treatment; signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued; ''years of abuse by rogue parking companies''; bloodsuckers; ''the current system of regulation is hopeless, like putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank''; extortionate fines; rogue operators; ''sense of injustice''; unfair charges and notices; wilfully misleading; signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead; ''confusing signs are often deliberate, to trap innocent drivers''; unreasonable; a curse; harassing; operating in a disgusting way; appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing; loathed; outrageous scam; dodgy practice; outrageous abuse; unscrupulous practices; ''the British Parking Association is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert''; and finally, by way of unanimous conclusion: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.

These are the exact words used.  Now that the new Code of Practice is in place and due to start being implemented, things should improve but the Ministerial Foreword to the statutory Code is damning about conduct that was 'designed to extort money from motorists'.

And re the NCP situation at the IWM, it was only my complaint that forced the BPA investigation and refunds.

People had actually paid up and it was months before I blew the whistle, after seeing that NCP were actually refusing appeals weeks later, despite knowing full well there was a problem.  They were just banking payments and refusing appeals, hoping no-one would report them to the BPA.

RogerBareford

Coupon-mad said:

"Most people on here seem to be suggesting that the parking company can just take a photo and put whatever time they want on there and then everyone just accepts it's correct and pays the PCN."

Well yes!  It's wrong to think otherwise. It happens.

That's what UKPC did, changed timings on images (not ANPR but showing you yes, some of these firms can and do SOMETIMES operate fraudulently and deliberately):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-34402322.amp

UKCPM had ticketers deliberately plonking signs up for photos, then removing them:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-47772305.amp

And we have seen ANPR in/out cameras set 5 minutes differently, even one where the PCN claimed the person paid for their ticket at a manual machine on site, two minutes before their car was 'shown' in the ANPR image, entering!

I showed that one to Government in a submission to a public consultation that we all did, during the new statutory Code of Practice journey.

They listened to me quite a lot.  I had damning stuff.  It would naive to assume they all play nicely.

MPs had it right  concerning the unregulated parking industry (Feb 2018):
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

''Rip-offs from car park Cowboys must stop''; unfair treatment; signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued; ''years of abuse by rogue parking companies''; bloodsuckers; ''the current system of regulation is hopeless, like putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank''; extortionate fines; rogue operators; ''sense of injustice''; unfair charges and notices; wilfully misleading; signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead; ''confusing signs are often deliberate, to trap innocent drivers''; unreasonable; a curse; harassing; operating in a disgusting way; appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing; loathed; outrageous scam; dodgy practice; outrageous abuse; unscrupulous practices; ''the British Parking Association is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert''; and finally, by way of unanimous conclusion: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.

These are the exact words used.  Now that the new Code of Practice is in place and due to start being implemented, things should improve but the Ministerial Foreword to the statutory Code is damning about conduct that was 'designed to extort money from motorists'.

And re the NCP situation at the IWM, it was only my complaint that forced the BPA investigation and refunds.

People had actually paid up and it was months before I blew the whistle, after seeing that NCP were actually refusing appeals weeks later, despite knowing full well there was a problem.  They were just banking payments and refusing appeals, hoping no-one would report them to the BPA.

There is no possible excuse for them to be so far out considering it's very easy to have them syncronised to the second.

To me that is extremely serious so it does look like they get away with it as others said, which i'm quite surprised by.

By hopefully all this evidence will be their downfall if the goverment are now listening.

Jenni_D

hopefully all this evidence will be their downfall if the goverment are now listening.

It was - they did. And @Coupon-mad was directly involved with Government committee hearings to get the consumer heard.