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Bank Parking Park Management & DCB Legal

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LimeStar
LimeStar Posts: 24 Forumite
10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
Hi

Looking to get a bit of advice.  I parking in a multi story carpark that uses number plate recognition on entry & exit to calculate the change.  On the specific day in question the pay machine was not working/accepting payment. This has happened before and the usual process is to phone the operator they take a note of your reg and open the roller shutter door - this results in no charge.

On the day in question, my phone wasn't working (no signal) so i couldn't make a call, however there was someone else affected at the same time as me.  They didn't have the number to call, so we combined, i gave them the number and they made the call, they gave their reg and then i, on the same call gave my reg and was told by the operator to exit and the door would be open.

Lo & behold a few weeks later a pcn lands on the mat, ignorantly i thought it was a silly admin mistake & gave the company a ring - i was told by the guy on the phone to drop them an email and as all call are recorded all would be fine.  It all felt quite informal and so a i duly dropped them a reasonably informal email explaining the circumstances and asked that they listen to the call - in my eyes that would of course clear up the silly admin misunderstanding at their end (naïve I know).  

I've just a reply (nearly a month after the letter is dated) which seems to be a pretty stock answer about it being my responsibility to buy at ticket/pay for the full session (i don't dispute that) but doesn't address the things i flagged in my email (however informally put). I did call them back again (still thought it was quite informal) to be told i can't speak to the charging dept and to was email in again. The letter offers an appeal to IAS which, even if i was within the 3 week window, as i have read other threads seems not to be advised.

So my questions,
  • Do i sit tight and wait for court docs?
  • Do i email again asking them to ensure the recording of the call is saved? (i have the date/time it will have been made & the reg no of the other person involved). 
  • Have i misunderstood and should have submit an appeal to IAS? (even though if i did so now I would be outside the appeal window)
  • Or is it worth emailing the company and offering to pay the charge i would have incurred had their machine not been malfunctioning? I have always been happy to pay that amount, i park there at least twice a week for work.
     
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Comments

  • Gr1pr
    Gr1pr Posts: 8,713 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    Which parking company. ?

    Location. ?

    No point trying the IAS, plus you can't appeal to the IAS if the deadline has passed 

    No phoning anyone about anything, no contact, no stories, no emails 

    No offering to pay the missing charge, it won't be accepted and may mean that you make things worse, even though it seems fair to us, the private parking company wont care, they only want full payment, typically £100 or less

    Its already cost them money to obtain keeper details from the DVLA database and postage etc to issue the postal notice. They definitely wont accept a few pounds as a goodwill gesture. But will insist on the figure on the signs 
  • LimeStar
    LimeStar Posts: 24 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Thanks for the reply, that's what i suspected might be the case re offering payment/further phone calls/emails

    Company is Bank Parking Management ltd

  • Grizebeck
    Grizebeck Posts: 3,967 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    come back when you get the court claim
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 152,543 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yep, ignore everything until the LBC or claim. As per the NEWBIES thread. Ignore £170 demands (and don't show those here, please).
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • LimeStar
    LimeStar Posts: 24 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
     I suspected phone calls/emails at this point would be fruitless, I am a bit concerned that the recording of a call where i give my reg and am told to leave without charge will disappear between then and now, i can't give the phone number it was made from but of course know the time it was made because of the PCN.

    Anyway thanks folks, i'll do some more reading of threads on here and I'll hang tough until LBC or claim lands.
  • LimeStar
    LimeStar Posts: 24 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 6 December 2024 at 1:03PM
    By way of update, I received 4 of the £170 demand letters. I have now received a letter of claim from the solicitors.  Referring back to the 2nd post of the newbies thread I have crafted a reply based on the generic email response. I have briefly set out that I dispute the alleged debt and why.  

    I plan to send to the info@ email address that is on the letter. 

    At this point, as far as my reading of the sticky thread goes, that seems to be all I should do for now?  Happy to take any wisdom from those of you more experienced than I before I press send - is that all i need to do?
  • KeithP
    KeithP Posts: 41,296 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Looks good. Make sure your reply has the 'delay 30 days' wording to avoid something landing on your doormat before Christmas.
  • LimeStar
    LimeStar Posts: 24 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper

    @KeithP thanks - that's a good shout.  Given the date of the letter of claim I think I'll wait a little further into the allowed 30 days to reply to cover me for new year also.

    A question has come to mind.  I've read a fair few threads where people are going to the parking firm with a SAR - I've re-read the 2nd post of the sticky and can't see it there......is that something i should do as well?

  • LimeStar
    LimeStar Posts: 24 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 7 December 2024 at 1:55PM

    On a similar but unrelated note, I just got a second NTK for the same carpark. Similar circumstances as my OP. The carpark uses ANPR on entry & exit, on the night in question the pay machine (its a pay while you're in the car at the exit machine) was malfunctioning (again) - there's only 1 - the difference between this & my OP is that I was able to make the call to the parking company from my own phone.  My call history demonstrates 4 calls (on the 4th attempt I got through) and I also took a video of the machine not working.  Like my OP the operative (I have their name) told me to leave and they would mark the parking free of charge.  I know one other vehicle was unable to pay at the same time as me. 

    There was no windscreen ticket it, the first I knew about this was receiving the NTK letter.

    Referring back to the newbies thread (which I hadn’t found when I got the first NTK), I should send a template first appeal by email?  

    Because this carpark uses ANPR and a pay on exit machine – is there any value in my asking then to demonstrate the machine was working at the time I was trying to exit? Also, given that I have a call history log showing my calls to them and a video of the machine showing a ‘comms fail’ message which is what led to my phoning do I reference that now? When you phone the message does say all calls are recorded, can ask them to make sure not to erase my call?

    If the above is advisable I presume i would insert that in the template appeal in the 'in order to resolve the dispute I attach copies of...': section?

    I park here quite frequently and have had a number of incidents where the machine is not work but they haven’t led to NTK (or any other) letters.

    Thanks v much
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 152,543 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 7 December 2024 at 8:42PM
    I wouldn't use a template appeal for this new NTK but instead talk about THE DRIVER'S efforts to pay...and attach your screenshot/photo proof, WITHOUT saying who was driving.

    Re the one that's at LBC stage: do not do a SAR.  That's old advice. You actually want a vague claim. Makes your defence stronger and makes the case more likely to be dropped (or even struck out by the court) before any hearing, later in 2025.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
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