Beach Car Park Charge - Appeal sent before finding this forum

PogoSheep12

Hello, after receiving a parking fine recently following a declined payment, I responded with the following letter hoping to appeal to the good faith of the parking company. Having now read through much of this forum I realise this was foolish and a waste of time, but I'm wondering what my course of action should now be given that I haven't really followed the steps outlined in the Newbies section.

My letter which explains the situation was as follows:

 

"Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to formally appeal the parking charge notice reference number '###' that I received for an alleged parking violation at Fraisthorpe Beach on 06/01/2024. I believe this charge has been issued erroneously, and I kindly request your reconsideration.

On the day in question, I visited Fraisthorpe Beach with my family and attempted to pay for 3 hours parking using the pay and display machine. I utilized my iPhone's Apple Pay feature to make the payment at the parking machine, but unfortunately, despite the payment seeming being initiated, no ticket was dispensed. Subsequently, I checked the signage nearby, which explicitly stated that displaying a ticket in the vehicle was not necessary, leading me to believe that the payment process was automatic and that a physical ticket was unnecessary.

After enjoying our time at the beach and having lunch at the café, I returned home later that day, only to discover that the payment had not gone through due to a declined transaction on Apple Pay. Upon realizing this, I promptly attempted to rectify the situation by accessing the Connect Cashless Parking website. Regrettably, I encountered technical difficulties preventing me from completing the payment. My partner and I also attempted to use the Connect Cashless iPhone app as an alternative means of payment, but to no avail.

Faced with these obstacles, I diligently sought assistance by calling the provided telephone number. However, the automated system merely redirected me back to the problematic website. Undeterred, I utilized the "Contact Us" feature on the website, explaining the situation and urgently requesting resolution. Despite my efforts, I received no response from Connect Cashless Parking.

Attached to this appeal are screenshots documenting the failed transaction, along with evidence of numerous attempts made by both myself and my partner to contact Connect Cashless Parking through various channels.

I wish to emphasize that I am fully willing to pay the appropriate parking fee of £3, as originally intended. However, I firmly contest the imposition of a £100 fine, given that I exhausted all available avenues to make payment on the day of parking.

In light of the circumstances outlined above, I respectfully request that you review my appeal and waive the parking charge. I trust in your fairness and understanding in resolving this matter fairly.

Thank you for your attention to this appeal. I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours sincerely,

Me"

 

I have received a letter back from Excel Parking Services which I can try attach a photo of if necessary but they have essentially said that they have rejected my appeal based on the following reasons:

1. The signs at the car park clearly state that a valid ticket must be purchased for all vehicles parking in the car park. Failure to do so may result in a charge of £100.
2. Despite my claim that the ticket machine did not issue a ticket, Excel Parking Services Ltd maintains that alternative options such as seeking alternative parking or contacting the helpline should have been pursued.
3. They highlight the presence of a helpline telephone number displayed on-site for motorists experiencing difficulties or queries regarding the car park. They suggest that contacting this helpline could have resolved any issues.
4. They state that Connect Cashless Parking, the service you attempted to use, is third-party software for which they are not responsible.

And have given me the following two options:

1. Pay the Charge Notice: Pay £60 by 06/03/2024 or £100 by 20/03/2024. Failure to pay may result in debt recovery action and additional costs.
2. Appeal to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS): If you believe the decision is incorrect, you can appeal to the IAS within 21 days. However, if the appeal is unsuccessful, the full outstanding amount (£100) will become payable within 14 days of the IAS decision.

 

From reading the Newbie post on here I gather that I should under no circumstances pay anything, and that I've got no chance of winning an appeal to the IAS, but my question is how should I proceed from here? Do I still proceed with Plan A and contact the land owner?

I have an email address for the Farm that owns the beach car park so should I send them an email, similar to my appeal letter, explaining the issue and asking them to get Excel Parking Services to cancel the charge? Or do I need to be more firm/assertive? 

Many thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine. 

Plan A is a complaint to the landowner and your MP, so yes, you need to do that.

Ignore debt collectors.

If you don't get a landowner cancellation, expect a Letter of/before Claim followed by a court claim within six years. If that happens, come back to this thread after reading the relevant court guides in the sticky Announcements.
If you move home inside six years, send a rectification notice to the DPO of Excel.

Coupon-mad

I see you've realised your error in sending that to Captain Clampit, thinking you were dealing with a normal company who care about consumers.

They'll have laughed:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2713705/amp/The-parking-ticket-fat-cats-one-s-chum-Prezza-two-drive-Aston-Martins-Meet-men-ve-millions-motorists-misery.html

I echo what Fruitcake said.

DO NOT TRY IAS.

DO NOT TAKE DEBT DEMANDS SERIOUSLY.

DO NOT PAY TO MAKE IT GO AWAY.

PogoSheep12

Thank you for your help.
I have contacted the land owner and he has agreed to get my PCN cancelled.
I owe you all a drink!!

Umkomaas

PogoSheep12 said:

Thank you for your help.
I have contacted the land owner and he has agreed to get my PCN cancelled.
I owe you all a drink!!

Do you have confirmation of this in writing?  Sometimes they forget to action. Sometimes PPCs refuse to accept the cancellation demand. 

Give it a few days then visit Excel's website, logging in as if to pay the PCN (obviously don't!), and check the current status of the charge. Excel aren't noted for taking things lying down. Hopefully I'm wrong, but don't fall asleep on this through any complacency. Hold the drinks offer until you are absolutely certain this is well and truly cancelled. 

PogoSheep12

Yes, our correspondence has been via email, so I do have it in writing.

He mentioned in the email that he has an annual contract with Excel for them to manage his car park, and within that contract, he is allocated an allowance that he can use to cancel a certain number of PCNs. So hopefully they will honour that, but I won't count my chickens just yet.

RogerW_3

The response given by Excel to you would seem to be false and untruthful. As Excel chose to use Connect as their preferred third party payment app and provided details on their erected signage, they are responsible for the consequences of the failure of their chosen third party app to work properly. They have a legal duty of care to ensure that their chosen third party app works at all times. Given that their chosen third party app failed to work properly any claim that they may legally have would seem to be limited to a comprensation claim against the owner of the Connect app.

Please do not allow yourself to be conned by their reference to the phone helpline. It is a red herring intended to fool you.

Please remember that Excel give you a limited time period to pay for your parking fee, and based upon the numerous complaints that have been made about their useless Connect payment app it is very obvious that not only do they know that it does not work properly but they are deliberately failing to fix the app problem because it facilitates their issue of Parking Charge Notices.

What happens when you phone a helpline. You get put on hold. By the time they have answered your call you will have already exceeded the time for buying a parking ticket and hey presto they will issue a Parking Charge Notice.

The last thing that any sane person should do is phone them. Their unscrupulous and greedy modus operandi is to delay your payment of the car park fee so that they can issue Parking Charge Notices.

If their third party payment app starts to show any usage problems, immediately drive out of the car park and park elsewhere.

If everyone adopts this simple plan, it will hit Simon Renshaw-Smith in his pockets where it hurts most because his income deceptively and often illegally obtained through baseless Parking Charge Notices will dramatically plummet and his operated car parks will be rather empty.

In addition everyone should always require Excel and Renshaw-Smith to disclose the name and contact details of the landowner of the car park. This is because they need to have the legal authority of the landowner to pursue a Parking Charge. A fair and reasonable landowner will not tolerate Excel's behaviour. Several have previously terminated Excel due to the volume of complaints.