Parking stories in the News/media

Snakes_Belly

B789 said:

It is strikingly obvious that the level of "intellectual malnourishment"* at BW Legal is severe if they, a firm of lawyers, think they have a case that is winnable against TrustPilot for a bad review. One only has to do a tiny bit of research to understand how futile their case is, which only goes to show why they are operating on behalf of the many PPCs who are mostly serial scammers.



*Thanks to @Taiko for that apt definition.

My understanding of these review sites is that your grievance should be genuine and not out of spite. For example if you have not been to a hotel but leave a bad review.

B789

Just had a quick look at their 5* reviews (there are only 8) and two of them are these:



Doesn't say much for them (or the posters if they got their star selection so wrong). Too many 1 star reviews to be bothered reading. What is the basis of BWs case against TrustPilot? Proof that the posters are genuine? They have about as much chance of getting a win as I do of winning the lottery.

Coupon-mad

Don't be so sure.  The 20 reviews have been found to be defamatory at the first hearing. You can find the judgment linked in one of the articles.

There are statutory defences.  Trustpilot has not had to defend yet but that is coming.

This one will run and run but I'm surprised they want such stuff aired in public this year.

Half_way

The various review sites have been at the receiving end of threats made to them by businesses that have had bad reviews , usually form the hospitality trade ( hotels/restaurants etc)

 As far as i know, a Debt isnt a real debt until the courts say the money is owed ( and there is no appeal submitted or the appeals fail)

 and the likes of BW when chasing parking invoices have as much right to call it a debt as i would by saying that you ow me £100 for reading this post 

So thats £100 then, you are now owe me £100 and are in debt

completely ridiculous of course, but I could take it to court - just with about anything and if the court agrees then its a debt .

As for news stories, this cropped up:

 Mc Donald with a play centre, a PPC and the generic 90 minutes ANPR trap

90 minutes may in some cases considered to be enough for the standard set up, but if you add in any extras such as a play centre then that 90 minutes becomes a trap

https://www.itv.com/news/central/2023-02-27/dad-hit-with-fine-after-kids-played-at-soft-play-area-at-mcdonalds

patient_dream

B789 said:

Just had a quick look at their 5* reviews (there are only 8) and two of them are these:



Doesn't say much for them (or the posters if they got their star selection so wrong). Too many 1 star reviews to be bothered reading. What is the basis of BWs case against TrustPilot? Proof that the posters are genuine? They have about as much chance of getting a win as I do of winning the lottery.

As with all Trustpilot sites there are fake posts.  
The rule of thumb must be the number of 5 stars against the number of 1 stars.

Trustpilot are only a reporting site.
Are BWL going to sue every site on the internet who says they are bad ??? They could not afford it
As they say, "you make your own bed"

Coupon-mad

This is amusing:
https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/23321530.no-parking-charges-hospital-patients-notice/

"...in a statement from Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust CEO Stacey Hunter, it has been confirmed that a number of problems with both the ANPR cameras and with the mobile phone app used for payment have been discovered. 

Ms Hunter said: "Many patients and visitors have contacted me about problems that they are encountering with the system that was introduced this week."

One woman reported that the ANPR-linked payment kiosk at the exit told her she owed £56 and that her car had been in the car park "since 1970" (she wasn't even born in 1970!). 

System suspended until the unnamed PPC gets their finger out and sorts it.

Sadly, soon it will be PCNs as usual, I'm sure.

KeithP

Coupon-mad said:

System suspended until the unnamed PPC gets their finger out and sorts it.

It's APCOA.

Snakes_Belly

"As with all Trustpilot sites there are fake posts.  
The rule of thumb must be the number of 5 stars against the number of 1 stars.

Trustpilot are only a reporting site.
Are BWL going to sue every site on the internet who says they are bad ??? They could not afford it
As they say, "you make your own bed""

There are complaints to the Financial Ombudsman about BW. Some upheld and some not. I think that many of the grievances relate to when there has been a judgment and a payment plan is put in place. 

The PPC's and their clingons tend to have a higher staff turnover that other types of business hence the comments on Glassdoor and the amount of admin errors that occur.  

B789

patient_dream said:

As with all Trustpilot sites there are fake posts.  

The rule of thumb must be the number of 5 stars against the number of 1 stars.

Trustpilot are only a reporting site.
Are BWL going to sue every site on the internet who says they are bad ??? They could not afford it
As they say, "you make your own bed"

No one will dispute that there are some fake posts, especially when it comes to the hospitality industry. However, on balance, the majority will be real. If BW believes any are fake, they are free to report them to Trustpilot and ask they either be taken down or reviewed. Trustpilot is usually fairly quick in asking suspected fake reviewers to verify their authenticity or moderate the language used.

BW will have much much more to do to have any chance of winning the case on the basis that just one fake review condemns the whole site to liability. It just goes to show how desperate BW is to whitewash itself.

Once this gets more public attention, they will most likely regret it as the fallout is likely to hurt them as much, if not more in the long run.

Snakes_Belly

"Once this gets more public attention, they will most likely regret it as the fallout is likely to hurt them as much, if not more in the long run."

I agree the fallout from this action will be worse. 

These PPC companies and their clingons never seen to own their issues do they?  If there are bad reviews then surely they should be investigating why there are bad reviews. I guess that most of the employees that work for these firms are just passing through and are not really invested in their employment.