PCN Ocean Parking McDonalds Wisemore

SG91

Thank you!!

nopcns

Coupon-mad said:

I think the second paragraph is probably good enough. It asks for the money and makes it clear you can choose not to pay.  Can't see POPLA thinking that choice of words is non-compliant.

It may be a matter of semantics, but I cannot see that second paragraph as an invitation for the keeper to pay their charge. Telling the keeper that they will lose the discount if the charge is not paid within 14 days cannot be an "invitation" to pay the charge.

If they wanted to make sure that are complying with PoFA 9(2)(e)(i), all they had to add was:

As we, the creditor, do not know both the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver you are now invited to:

(i) to pay the unpaid parking charges; or

(ii) if you were not the driver of the vehicle, to notify us of the name of the driver and a current address for service for the driver and to pass this notice on to the driver.

They have chosen not to do so. Many other PoFA compliant NtKs add that invitation. PoFA 9(2) is adamant that the NtK must include these conditions.

These points have to be rebutted by the operator and, as long as you lead the assessor by the nose, they have to be considered in full.

SG91

Hi,

My initial appeal has been rejected This is their reply. It seems that they are trying to shift the blame on to McDonalds by saying that it is readily available to customers - when it really is not. After reading similar incidents it seems that you have to ask behind the counter for access to the tablet. Is the next stage to appeal to POPLA?

Dear Sir/Madam,

Your appeal against the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) issued for the alleged contravention of Failure

to Pay for Full Duration of Stay at Wisemore Central on 16 Mar 24 has been considered by our

appeals team, having reviewed the evidence and the details supplied by yourself your appeal has

been rejected.

Your appeal has been rejected for the following reasons:

• On 16 Mar 24 at 11:14 this vehicle, Registration BV16NMO, entered Wisemore Central and

did not exit the site until 11:49.

• When parking at Wisemore Central, the driver of this vehicle agreed to pay a Parking Charge

of £100 if they did not park in accordance with the terms printed on the contractual warning

signs.

• The contractual warning signs in place state: Parking Tariffs Apply. Parking tariffs apply 24

hours a day Monday – Sunday. (Duration of stay calculated by ANPR cameras from the

point of entry to the point of exit). This vehicle was parked in contravention of this term of

the contractual warning signs.

• There is entrance signage and contractual warning signs located throughout the car park

which explain the terms and conditions for parking at this site.

• A payment was not made to cover the duration this vehicle was parked on-site. Therefore,

the PCN was issued correctly.

• All the signage at this location refers directly to parking tariffs applying, all of which includes

instructions for motorists to pay via the RingGo.

• A full and part search of your vehicle registration shows no payment was made via RingGo

on the date in question, as you are openly admitting within your appeal.

• Ocean Parking’s Permit Management shows when a vehicle has paid using RingGo, and how

long they have paid to park the vehicle for. As can be seen in the screenshot below, vehicle

registration BV16NMO, did not pay for parking at Wisemore Central on the date of the

contravention.

• The images taken by our ANPR Cameras, show the time and date your vehicle entered and

exited the site, we check this information against our Permit Management, to check the

correct amount has been paid via RingGo, to cover the time a vehicle has remained on site.

As can be seen on the screenshot above, this vehicle registration was not entered into

RingGo on the day of the contravention.

• It is the motorist’s responsibility to ensure their full and correct vehicle registration is

entered into RingGo.

• There is a grace period applied at this location however on this occasion you have exceeded

the applicable grace.

• The contractual warning signage in place throughout the site, clearly states the Parking

Tariffs which apply, if you have failed to read or chosen to ignore the contractual warning

signage in place, Ocean Parking cannot be held responsible for this, nor is this due to the

signage not being visible or clear.

• The details stated do not negate you from the parking restrictions in place, nor do they

justify you failing to comply with the Parking Tariffs in place at this location.

• Parking Tariffs apply at Wisemore Central, and any motorist wishing to utilise a space within

this car park is required to comply with the contractual warning signage in place.

• The Notice to Keeper was issued through ANPR Cameras, therefore the liability of the charge

is with the registered keeper of the vehicle. It is their responsibility to provide a Transfer of

Liability (TOL) if they were not driving the vehicle at the time of the contravention.

• You have been named as the registered keeper of this vehicle at the time of the

contravention, by the DVLA.

• There is no legal requirement for the registered keeper to name the driver of the vehicle at

the time of the alleged contravention. However, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (POFA

2012) covers the requirements of the liability of the charge regarding the registered keeper.

If the name of the driver is not supplied, the POFA 2012 allows Ocean Parking to pursue the

registered keeper for payment of the PCN.

• Being a customer of McDonalds, although you have failed to provide any evidence of this,

does not negate you from the parking restrictions in place at this location, nor does it

warrant your vehicle being on-site for a duration of 35 minutes without a payment being

made.

• You have failed to provide any evidence from the date of the contravention, we are

therefore unsure if this would have justified you using the McDonald’s customer tablet to

authorise this vehicle parking on-site.

• Nonetheless, it is the motorist’s responsibility, if applicable, to enter their vehicle

registration into the tablet provided.

• The tablet within McDonald’s is readily available to genuine customers. If the staff on-site

had not made you aware of this and you have failed to see the businesses individual

advertisements of this, this is not down to Ocean Parking, nor does it alter what is stated on

the contractual warning signage in place.

• There is no requirement for drive-thru customers to use the customer tablet at this location,

and it is intended for McDonald’s customers utilising the restaurant facility, if you have

chosen not to use this facility, then Parking Tariffs apply.

• The contractual warning signage at this location clearly states ‘Parking Tariffs Apply. Parking

tariffs apply 24 hours a day Monday – Sunday’ as shown on the evidence above, and as you

are openly admitting within your appeal, you have failed to pay for the duration this vehicle

was on-site.

• Ocean Parking’s entrance signage and contractual warning signage is fully compliant with

the ICO Code of Practice and the BPA Code of Practice, with all the relevant information

displayed.

• As can be seen on the signage map below, there is contractual warning signage visible

throughout Wisemore Central.

• The contractual warning signage throughout Wisemore Central, clearly states the parking

restrictions in place and the costs of non-compliance.

• Your vehicle was on-site for a duration of 35 minutes, without a payment being made to

authorise your vehicle parking at this location.

• Ocean Parking’s charges are a contractually agreed sum as shown on the contractual

warning signs in place and comply with the recommendations made in Clause 19 of the

British Parking Association AOS Code of Practice.

• The signage and the PCN both state the details of the charge and the discounts offered with

the applicable timeframes.

• There is a 20-minute free parking period and a grace period in place at this location,

however on this occasion you have exceeded both the free parking period and the

applicable grace.

• On the date of the contravention, over 200 motorists used the customer tablets or paid for

their parking on-site, it is therefore evident Parking Tariffs apply at this location.

• Ocean Parking have a contract with the landowner to enforce the parking terms and

conditions in place, and you parked in contravention of those terms. Our signage clearly

states the parking requirements and the costs of non-compliance.

• You have failed to pay for the duration this vehicle was parked on-site.

• You have also failed to provided any evidence to support the claims within your appeal.

• Ocean Parking would therefore conclude that this vehicle entered site and remained on site

in contravention of the contractual warning signage in place, and that this PCN was correctly

issued.

Coupon-mad

Why do you want to try POPLA? I advise people not to bother.

SG91

Coupon-mad said:

Why do you want to try POPLA? I advise people not to bother.

Sorry, I just went off the letter (see below). I'm not sure what I need to do now? It is really annoying because these people are crooks and the last thing I need is to fork out £60/100 at the moment. There is a petition to change this and there has also been an article in the local paper.

https://www.change.org/p/mcdonalds-increase-time-limit-for-parking-at-walsall-mcdonalds
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/walsall/2021/11/12/mcdonalds-customers-fined-for-spending-more-than-10-minutes-in-walsall-car-park/

You now have several options from which to choose:

1. Pay the parking charge

2. Make an appeal to POPLA - The Independent Appeals Service by making your appeal online

at www.popla.co.uk

a. Your POPLA verification code is: 0360994008. Please be advised that if you opt for

independent arbitration of your case, the ability to pay the parking charge at the

reduced rate of £60 will immediately end. If you opt to pay the parking charge you

will be unable to appeal to POPLA. If you wish to appeal to POPLA this must be done

within 28 days of the date of this notification.

b. By law we are also required to inform you the Ombudsman Services

(www.ombudsman-services.org/) provides an alternate dispute resolution service

that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to

participate in their alternate dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to

appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.

3. If you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via our debt

recovery procedures and may proceed with Court action against you.

Coupon-mad

Stop reading what they say.

Do POPLA if you want but obviously, no paying even if you lose.  Did you miss the POPLA section of the NEWBIES thread?

 the last thing I need is to fork out £60/100 at the moment. There is a petition to change this and there has also been an article in the local paper.

Eh? Petition? What's the point of that? The law is already changing this year and I have been involved on the new Code of Practice Steering Group since 2020:

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8736/

You won't be forking out anything. 

Castle

SG91 said:

Hi,

My initial appeal has been rejected This is their reply. It seems that they are trying to shift the blame on to McDonalds by saying that it is readily available to customers - when it really is not. After reading similar incidents it seems that you have to ask behind the counter for access to the tablet. Is the next stage to appeal to POPLA?

Point out that McDonalds are/were acting as Agents of Ocean Parking.