Parking stories in the News/media

patient_dream

 Kilve Beach car park ?

What a scam, this is a mega money trap

Premier passes the buck to the landlord because of no electricity ?
The landlord will not respond ?
Park in the second car park and walk back to the pay machine is 285 meters, that's 935 feet and then treck back again ...... what about the elderly and disabled, 
WHAT A SCAM.

And Premier are stupid enough to say .. "that other drivers did pay on the day"
They must be talking about sprinters ?

The car park fees are supposed to finance rubbish collections, site maintenance and public toilets

It is unclear who actually pays for this and who they pay to. One assumes that Premier should pay Kilve Parish Council. If they are, why is the site in such a mess ..... 

Premier Park are BPA members .... anyone with half a brain can see that Kilve Beach car park is a scam ... approved by the BPA

And the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities were asked about the new code of practice ?
It failed to answer or to offer any comment whatsoever ...

And the answer to this one is that Rishi has employed "has beens" who are "jobs worths" and clueless

Fruitcake

I don't know if it was a repeat, but I watched an episode of Parking Hell last night. A lady called Sue Prior, referred to by the narrator (Stephen Tomkinson) as a parking hero, was helping a resident fight a parking claim in court. The name of the PPC wasn't mentioned but the defendant won. Huzzah!

The programme then showed Sue in a car park warning people about getting parking charges. There were parking spaces on both sides of the car park with the whole area in between covered by a yellow grid like a box junction. She was pointing out the scameras to motorists and telling them that if they stopped, they would get (or had already got) a PCN.
Stop to wait for another vehicle to leave so you can park, get a PCN.
Back out, stop, and drive off, get a PCN.  

The whole car park was nothing less than an entrapment zone.

Umkomaas

A lady called Sue Prior,

Software_mad2 of South Wales cases fame, I believe. 

Coupon-mad

Yep, she is in the off forum BMPA group.

Coupon-mad

Looks like this latest farce is perpetrated by CCP (aka ParkingEye) as tracked down by a Google search:
https://www.carparkingpartnership.co.uk/esneft-good2go/

Apparently there were no signs at all at the primary care centre, which is part of the Colchester Hospital complex, so people had no idea this section was operating with ANPR or that they were required to either pay & display or exempt their vehicle if applicable.  £70 parking charges galore:

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/23097915.colchester-pensioner-70-primary-care-centre-parking-fines/

Graham Leuner, 71, visited the primary care centre on two occasions so specialists could treat a hearing problem, but is now facing a £70 fine for not having paid the parking tariff.

Mr Leuner said not only were there no signs in the car park instructing drivers to pay, he added that a member of staff at the care centre said signs have been put up since patients complained to reception.

He said: “There was no signage at the car park at all, and in fact there were two or three other guys asked me other there was free parking – I said that as far as I know, there is.

“There were no signs to say ‘go and buy a ticket at the office’ or anything."-

Nice work by the PPC.   Kerchiiing!!  Slam in the ANPR 'auto PCN machines' and let the money roll in, regardless of whether all the complex actually has ANPR alert signs and pay & display machines clearly and conspicuously signed.  

Any refunds ordered, BPA?  After all, no signs is a serious Code breach...

Coupon-mad

Take a bow UKPC, for reportedly giving a nurse a CCJ, for a double dip case where they should never have had her data:

https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/people/chesterfield-nurse-fined-almost-ps500-after-using-mcdonalds-drive-through-two-nights-in-a-row-3910386

Rachel Fairchild, 47, a complex care nurse, was shocked when she found out she has been fined over £300 five months after using a drive through at Barlborough McDonald’s two nights in a row.

Rachel who specialises in spine injuries and helps paralysed people, wanted to complain but there were no numbers to contact them and the only phone number on the document was an automatic pay line.

She said: “ I got through to a woman from the second company. I asked for a photo proof of my car actually in the car park, not the drive-through, and she said they can’t provide it. She also said it was too far gone and I couldn't contest it and added I would have to wait until I have received another letter from the court to complain. And then I received the third letter, still not from the court but a different company that just had the pay number on it again. I couldn't get in touch with anyone.”

Rachel has now received a final court letter charging her for over £466. She was informed she can contest the decision, but will need to pay over £100 to do so and if she looses the case, she will have to pay the court costs on top of the fine.

Coupon-mad

And NorthWest Parking Management must be so proud of putting this pensioner off ever returning to Hartlepool Marina:

https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/people/oap-left-with-foul-taste-and-may-not-return-to-hartlepool-after-parking-fine-appeal-is-refused-3906389

Dereck Bullock, 74, was served with a £100 penalty after a fishing trip to the town at the end of July.

It caught him by surprise as he had paid £8 at Hartlepool Marina car park and left within the allocated time.

Following an initial appeal to the car parking operators, he was told he had not entered the vehicle registration correctly as he had put in twice the letter “O” instead of two zeros.

NorthWest Parking Management rejected the appeal and so did POPLA. 

Nice work, POPLA.  Don't be ridiculous.

Was the BPA only paying lip service to the new statutory Code of Practice when they said they were telling AOS members to start adhering to the new code 'straight away'?

Under the new incoming DLUHC Code (that they all know about) ALL keying errors mean PCNs must be cancelled, and in fact because this was zeros instead of the letter 'O' there was no error anyway...it is the same on a UK numberplate.

But no, it seems that BPA members are still happily gouging £20 from people for what they call 'major keying errors' because the BPA says they can, and then when a set short time period is up, the AOS member can yell 'tough, it's back to £100 now!"

Thank God the new DLUHC Code won't allow that sort of 'extortionate charge' any more. Eventually...

Coupon-mad

And Britannia have spouted a load of hot air in response to the journalist in this case:

https://www.dorset.live/news/dorset-news/poole-quay-car-park-fury-7785786

Looks like a (driver error, possibly) typo with the Site Code.

Can Britannia confirm that?  Apparently not, and the lady has gone round in circles trying to get to the bottom of what happened.  Even if it's her error, for Goodness sake explain it in simple terms, but no, we get this blizzard of blather:

BLAH BLAH BLAH
"A spokesman for Britannia Parking said that it "takes all concerns about our site very seriously". They said: "The Poole Quayside car park is a surface site operating on a pay on arrival system and is long-established in our portfolio of sites.

"Payment for parking can be made by card at the pay machines, or by using the pay by phone service and following instructions provided within the car park. Customers are advised to take care to ensure the correct site code is used when making payment using pay by phone. In the event that a customer receives a parking charge notice, full details of the appeals process are provided on the reverse."

We are a member of the British Parking Association and operate strictly in accordance with the industry’s Approved Operators Code of Conduct."
BLAH BLAH BLAH...
 
Nothing helpful at all then?  Just the usual propaganda. 

Snakes_Belly

Coupon-mad said:

Here's a Lichfield article, about Euro Car Parks:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/motorist-fined-100-over-1-28392685.amp

Not only are they getting £2 from every single driver, instead of the £1 Sunday rate (due to a reportedly wrongly set machine) but they are (allegedly) automatically churning out PCNs on Sundays for all those visitors who stay over 4 hours...even though the £1 is an advertised all-day Sunday rate.

Kerchiiiing!  Rip-off money accumulating every Sunday for ECP.

The BPA must be so proud of how their ANPR AOS members 'work'.  Appallingly, in our experience.

It's like Animal Farm. Get rid of Excel and appoint Euro. They could have gone back to letting the council run the car parks after the Excel fiasco. 

It has always been a £1.00 on a Sunday on all the car parks whether council run or private. It's to encourage people into the city to spend money. 

Jenni_D

Coupon-mad said:

Take a bow UKPC, for reportedly giving a nurse a CCJ, for a double dip case where they should never have had her data:

https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/people/chesterfield-nurse-fined-almost-ps500-after-using-mcdonalds-drive-through-two-nights-in-a-row-3910386

Rachel Fairchild, 47, a complex care nurse, was shocked when she found out she has been fined over £300 five months after using a drive through at Barlborough McDonald’s two nights in a row.

Rachel who specialises in spine injuries and helps paralysed people, wanted to complain but there were no numbers to contact them and the only phone number on the document was an automatic pay line.

She said: “ I got through to a woman from the second company. I asked for a photo proof of my car actually in the car park, not the drive-through, and she said they can’t provide it. She also said it was too far gone and I couldn't contest it and added I would have to wait until I have received another letter from the court to complain. And then I received the third letter, still not from the court but a different company that just had the pay number on it again. I couldn't get in touch with anyone.”

Rachel has now received a final court letter charging her for over £466. She was informed she can contest the decision, but will need to pay over £100 to do so and if she looses the case, she will have to pay the court costs on top of the fine.

I think this is the case that the Black belt Barrister refers to in his video today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67jY_G9xiXY