Parking stories in the News/media

Trainerman

Sorry if this has appeared already and I have missed it.

Very interesting that the PPC and the App provider share a director

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/private-parking-firm-accused-tormenting-31168219

Nellymoser

Car park users found it very expensive to spend a penny at St Ann Way retail park in Gloucester. £100 charges are issued if you cross the road within the retail park to use the toilet.

One driver who was fined says she was told that "I am responsible to ensure that none of my passengers leave the site I am really not sure how this is fundamentally legal?"
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/shopper-hit-100-parking-fine-31926238

Councillors recognises this is damaging and have requested meetings with site owners Peel to discuss the new strict parking regulations which were introduced at the St Ann Way retail park last year.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/calls-talks-stop-100-car-9075202.amp

Nellymoser

Several people contacted the bbc after receiving numerous parking fines for people not residing at their address.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-68152945.amp

The DVLA is looking into the complaints and advises people who are sent fines for vehicles they do not own to return them to the organisation that has contacted them.

Returning them clearly has no impact as the stream of letters demanding payment continued with a reported 30/100/200 received and multiple wkly emails.

As one man said "If these companies put as much effort as chasing me into resolving the issues, it would be sorted in a few days." 

Coupon-mad

Here's a summary of all parking stories from the Sheffield Star:

https://authory.com/DavidWalsh/collection/Excel-Parking-c6486ed676f8f461ca30f31e153f19932

Makes for terrible reading. A great deal of consumer harm over the years is recounted there.

I'd also forgotten that Clive Betts MP (who chaired the weak DLUHC Committee in 2021, that parroted the exact same questions from the Public Consultation, and failed to grill any of the PPC attendees) is a Sheffield MP who has heard first hand accounts from his constituents.  So he does know...

Coupon-mad

Coupon-mad said:

The Peel Centre Gloucester named and shamed yet again.

When will retail park agents wake up and smell the coffee that they don't need a parking firm in most places and certainly not this notorious 'scam':

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/shopper-hit-100-parking-fine-31926238.amp

"When I called they said that I am responsible to ensure that none of my passengers leave the site I am really not sure how this is fundamentally legal?"

I mean - come on. This is a joke set-up.

I will loudly applaud the first retailer that tells a deluded 'PPC-partnered' site agent that they won't lease a unit until the infestation of an aggressive parking firm ends.

ANPR - or this sort of aggressive predatory ticketing on foot - has no place at retail parks.

Ocean Parking named & shamed.

Again:

Ocean Parking are named & shamed:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-68250040.amp

and

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1865501/uk-retail-park-introduces-spiders-web-parking-rule-to-catch-drivers/amp

Retail park introduces parking rule 'like a spider's web' to catch out drivers

"The leader of Gloucester City Council has asked for a meeting with the owner of two retail centres, after shoppers were hit with £100 fines.

Business leaders have expressed concern shoppers from outside of Gloucester, who are unaware of the changes, could be put off returning to the area if they have a bad experience.

'Knock-on effect'

Emily Gibbon from Gloucester BID said changes in car parks always had a "knock on effect" for the local economy and shoppers.

Yep.  Retail Parks are blighted by PPCs.

Absolute joke of a retail park brought into disrepute.

The BPA must be so proud.

Coupon-mad

Another joke of a retail park boycotted by victims:

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/24098235.weymouth-woman-successfully-overturns-euro-car-parks-fine/

Euro Car Parks named and shamed.

Quelle surprise, they dropped it once the newspaper got involved, even though debt crawlers had already got their dirty fingers on it and had been threatening 71 year old Linda Smale with court.

Mrs Smale - whose heinous 'crime' had been a 'keying error' after her VRM was inexplicably incorrectly printed on her ticket when using one of ECP's reportedly & notoriously unreliable keypads - said:

“Sometimes you can win against these bully boys. The only advice I could give is to stand your ground, don’t give in and don’t pay. You have to stand up to these bully boys - it is just not right.”

The whole ordeal now means that Mrs Smale choses to do most of her shopping in Dorchester, rather than Weymouth, where she lives. She added: “It is mainly that yes, which is a shame because I look to support local businesses."

IMHO, ANPR and keypad systems in the hands of profit-making private firms should be banned.

Weymouth high street blighted by a PPC.  

The BPA must be so proud.

Nellymoser

Debszzzz2 said:

Coupon-mad said:

Can anyone get past the paywall to show this whole Times article?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pay-parking-fine-uk-group-nexus-jill-insley-evri-o2-xgsfxg7mj

I captured enough to see it's about Group Nexus but no more:

I’ve reproduced the article below. However, it is going to make you cringe…

I returned home from a week away on November 22, and opened the mail the next day to find that I had a parking charge notice from Group Nexus with a fine of £60. The notice was dated November 9, and since I had to pay within 14 days the last day to do this was November 23.
 
I have parked at this retail park for years and didn’t even know it had been changed to limited parking. I didn’t see the notices on my way in, but I accept that that was my problem and I have tried my best to pay this fine. I tried to pay five times online on November 23 but was told each time that the transaction had failed. I tried using different credit and debit cards in case that was the problem. I then tried to pay four times by phone, and each time was told that the “parking reference number was invalid”. There is no opportunity to speak to a human by telephone because it is an automated system.

The charge information said that in the event of a problem I should email appeal@appealpcn.co.uk, which I did on November 23 explaining my difficulty in paying. I received an automated response saying my query would be answered within 35 days and that in the meantime my fine was on hold. Two weeks later, on December 7, I had an email reply that didn’t answer my questions but reiterated the information in the original correspondence. I tried again to pay the charge online and by phone with the same outcome: “transaction failed” and “reference invalid”.

In a fit of anger I sent Group Nexus a cheque for £60 by first-class post with a scribbled note explaining that I had tried to pay this fine but it was making it impossible to do so by any means other than cheque.

I thought no more about it until last week when I received a further notice advising me that I have to pay £170 or the charge will be passed to a debt recovery agent. This is outrageously unfair. I don’t deny that my car was parked over the allocated time, but when I have tried so many times to pay and I can’t get to speak to a human to explain the situation why should I be penalised?

Jill replies

I explained your situation to Group Nexus and asked it to reconsider. It confirmed that it had received your cheque and said: “As such, we will not be enforcing the increased amount. We understand that on occasion motorists may have difficulty paying using some of the different methods, which is why we provide a number of ways to pay for a parking charge.” What a shame that none of the methods provided included speaking to a human being.

This Group Nexus article doesn't make me cringe it disgusts and enrages me.

The same pcn paying difficulties the person in the article experienced are reported many times on Group Nexus google and Trustpilot review websites. A few on BPA's too.

What an impression the private parking industry will have left on a 17yr old new driver. His Trustpilot review reveals he frantically tried numerous times to pay his pcn at the discounted rate. All attempts failed and he saw his charge cost quickly spiral from £60 to £170. He thinks it's unfair...he tried to pay Group Nexus within their timeframe but their systems wouldn't let him.

Nexus clearly wants customers to use their problematic pcn paying systems as they've now stopped accepting cheque payments (+£2.50 admin fee). The only reliable payment method (with proof of posting) to ensure pcn was paid on time and evade the same increase pcn costs as that 17yr old.

These unable to pay issues are not happening on "occasion" as Nexus implied. The available evidence shows
it's a longstanding problem with their business processes and systems. A system incapable of putting the charge cost on hold and a dept that sends pcns with "keying errors" in the ref no. making them invalid according to their payment system. Incompetence or intentional?

Similarities could be seen here between Group Nexus BPA and the Post Office...aware of the problems but it's more beneficial to business if the problems are not acknowledged, properly investigated and corrected.

That article would have been good evidence for the Call for evidence consultation. Hopefully the evidence l sent is sufficient to show DLUHC how this operator stops motorists from paying their pcn.

Coupon-mad

Hope so, @Nellymoser - we all tried so hard and have to rely on the DLUHC to get it right.

If they don't get it right, that will soon become apparent I think.  The industry won't be able to stop themselves if any loopholes still exist at first.

The number of PCNs and the numbers of court claims will suss them in the first 2 years

Coupon-mad

This one is about ParkMaven and 'YourParkingSpace' blaming the public for keying errors, but it is terribly written by the so-called journalist:

https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/business/halifax-car-parks-heres-the-advice-from-the-firm-that-runs-halifaxs-woolshops-car-park-about-how-to-avoid-a-fine-4513204

"A spokesperson for YourParkingSpace claims ParkMaven – which issued the fines – does not have proof of Irene’s payment at the time of her parking stay and has not received the proof she has posted. But the fine has been cancelled “as a gesture of good will”.

Yeah, right. That old chestnut.

Since when did YourParkingSpace become an apologist voice (perpetuating the usual consumer-blame-culture) for Parkmaven?  Can't they speak for themselves?

Yet another car park blighted by a PPC whose voice-piece blames the public.  

The BPA must be so proud.

Coupon-mad

Dad ‘appalled’ after ‘free parking’ comic fayre results in £100 fine

https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/24105089.dad-appalled-free-parking-comic-fayre-results-100-fine/

"The event flyer that was shared advertised free parking at the Mercure, so after staying for just over an hour, Colin expressed his shock when receiving a £100 fine through the post.

An updated flyer looks to have added that visitors need to register their vehicle at the hotel reception to receive free parking."

That's very 'unfortunate', innit ParkingEye?

You'll cancel this one to sweep it under the carpet but LOTS of people shared the same issue and the damage you are reportedly doing to consumer confidence in shopping in this area is already done.

The article says:

"Colin’s fine adds to the long list of frustrations about parking in St Helens town centre, with ParkingEye administering numerous fines at the nearby Range. This has been a common complaint for customers over the years, with some charged for returning products when not in the allocated time.

Venting his frustration, Colin added:

"I think the town centre is in dire straits at the minute and the parking situation is the final nail in the coffin.  People don't want to pay for parking when they can park for free in other places, or they are scared to come out in case they are fined, so more and more people will just avoid the town centre altogether."

Hear, hear.

Yet another town reportedly blighted by ANPR in the hands of profit-making private firms. This needs banning.

The BPA must be so proud.