Parking stories in the News/media

Jenni_D

Yes it is ... holding a disability badge does not exempt you from paying for parking.

Coupon-mad

ThInk he/she means the ECP case in Lichfield, where they are reportedly taking double the advertised Sunday rate from every driver (£2 per car instead of £1) and issuing PCNs wrongly.

Not legal, no.

But if reported to the BPA, they'll say it is a 'system error' and close the case.

Jenni_D

I was replying specifically to the snippet posted by @BikingBud, which regards an entirely different topic than the amount charged.  

Coupon-mad

Group Nexus reportedly ripping off shoppers again:
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/amp/well-never-shop-here-again-after-parking-fines-276442/ 

It's a retail park that simply doesn't need a 3 hour limit nor any ANPR parking firm at all.

Ashford Retail Park, Barrey Rd, Sevington - shame on your property agents for pointlessly imposing the threat of Group Nexus on the shoppers.

It's not abused, not near a train station etc, and it has multiple shops including furniture and homeware stores and a Greggs, so it would be very easy to spend over three hours if you shop and have something to eat and a coffee break.

But who gives a stuff about the business and shops and the idea of encouraging repeat custom, eh, Group Nexus, just as long as your ANPR 'PCN machine' continues to churn out £100 'fines' that clueless and scared victims will pay?

Coupon-mad

The Bay Horse pub in Chelmsford will no doubt be losing customers in droves, given they have astonishingly forgotten how to Google, and have actually contracted Civil Enforcement to 'fine' their customers:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/20260811/fined-parking-app-took-30-minutes-to-process-payment/amp/

"They are not out of pocket at all, we added extra time to our ticket and left before it ended, so they have no financial loss at all to justify £100 fine. 

"I have told them I’m happy to attend court out of principle!" Currently Hayley is in an on-going battle with Civil Enforcement as she awaits a letter to attend court.

Dumb move by the pub.

This latest victim says the failing app took half an hour to get to work.  Which app? 'Starpark' ...yep that's Civil Enforcement's trading name!

So (allegedly) their own app fails to work properly and even when people manage to pay, they still get £100 PCN.

What a clever little scheme.

Sadly, the owners of the Bay Horse pub in Chelmsford will learn the hard way, we expect.

Coupon-mad

Here's a well known scam parking site:

Crickley Hill (Minster Baywatch)

National Trust Park offering several trails with views of the Gloucestershire countryside, a picnic area & a cafe. 

Crickley Hill, Birdlip, Gloucester GL4 8JY

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g503798-d4314833-r829587980-Crickley_Hill-Birdlip_Cotswolds_England.html#REVIEWS

Wonder if Minster Baywatch are proud of wrecking the Trustpilot score of that NT area?

According to those reviews and newspaper articles, MB has been driving people away for years.

Here's the latest article (sorry to link to this dreadful rag). Nicky Dunn was fined £150 despite a pay machine not working. 

The Brockworth resident said she could not pay for her stay because the pay machine was out of order and her phone was not picking up a signal at the rural site.  She said:

“I tried to pay but I couldn’t pay. I think it’s totally unfair. I’ve never ever deliberately not paid for my parking.”

She understood that other motorists had also found pay machines at the car park were not working and that they could not get a mobile phone signal.

She added that the issues at the car park had been widely publicised and she claimed that some people were not going there any more because of it.

Umkomaas

Sadly, the owners of the Bay Horse pub in Chelmsford will learn the hard way, we expect.

As did the owner at 'We Three Loggerheads' pub in Wales, where Smart Parking's overzealous attack on genuine customers brought the pub owner perilously close to bankruptcy. 

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/loggerheads-mold-car-park-fines-13774891

patient_dream

Sadly, the owners of the Bay Horse pub in Chelmsford will learn the hard way, we expect.

What a foolish landlord .... pubs are going bust quickly now with the current crisis and taking on a parking scammer will hasten their demise

It seems that as the majority of car parks employ vermin, parking companies are having to look for other outlets and what better than pubs ?

Parking companies WILL break the back of pubs, word speads fast

There is a magazine, the landlords read called Inpub Magazine

https://magazine.inapub.co.uk/post/Inapub-Magazine-Autumn-2022

Inpub Magazine says .... 

"The essence of what makes a great pub lies in what it means to its particular area, its customers and its community"

We should be writing to the magazine explaining the dangers of pubs taking on money scammers. The media stories will assist

Coupon-mad

Don't think we've seen this latest shame of a keying error 'penalty' by Smart Parking:
https://metro.co.uk/2022/11/06/skegness-dyslexic-man-fined-170-after-typing-in-wrong-car-registration-number-on-ticket-17708862/amp/

Ruining the reputation of Fantasy Island.  How proud Smart Parking must be about what they do...as long as the money keeps rolling in, hey?

Added to the above pursuit of a person with dyslexia for making a typo, there is also this small matter that never stops PPCs:

"An investigation was launched by East Lindsey District Council in August 2022 over a potential breach of planning control at the Fantasy Island car park. The council is looking into whether the ANPR cameras, ticket machines and car parking restrictions notices were installed without planning consent."

Coupon-mad

And step forward, Premier Park, reportedly ruining people's days out to the beach:
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-11393359/amp/TONY-HETHERINGTON-Beach-blighted-parking-trap.html

"Ms N.L. writes: Visiting Kilve Beach in Somerset, we found the car park run by Premier Park Limited was monitored by number plate cameras. We tried to pay but neither of the two machines would accept coins. 

A sign said payment could be made by phone but this is rural Somerset, and we could not get a signal.  We were concerned about not paying, so we left. 

Two weeks later we received a £60 penalty notice. We found we are not the only victims of Premier Park, whose tactics are disgraceful. I won't visit this area again."

Tony Hetherington replies:

Anyone thinking of visiting Kilve Beach would do well to look at online complaints to avoid being caught out. 

One driver summed it up: 'Went to parking area to find no machine, drove back to machine, paid for ticket, then drove back to the car park with my ticket – a few days later, fined for no ticket.' 

Another wrote: 'This ruined our day out – will tell everyone we know not to bother returning.'

This is because when you first arrive, there is a small car park with machines and cameras, but the car park leads on to a lane down to a second parking area at the beach.

Motorists have ten minutes to arrive, read the signs and prices, drive down the lane to the beach, discover there are no machines there, decide to leave, drive back up the narrow lane, and exit past the cameras.

Linger longer and you get a penalty demand. There are no signs at the entrance which warn of the lack of machines down the lane.

Kilve Beach is a prime example of what the Government described as the inherent unfairness of private firms using misleading and confusing signage along with unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists.