Smart Parking / RingGo

Left_Eternal

Hi all,

I could use some advice on a parking fine I received last week at Spring Street Car Park in Wilmslow. This car park is managed by RingGo, and there are visible signs everywhere to that effect. I paid through their app as usual, but on returning to the car I fund that a £100 fine had been issued by Smart Parking, supposedly for parking in a space reserved for a private company.

The issue seems to be that parts of the car park are sublet to companies like Emerson, but there is no clear signage to indicate this at eye level. The only notice that the space I parked in was reserved is high up on a girder, visible only at an extreme angle from the driver's seat. I had no idea I’d parked in a restricted spot and only saw the RingGo signs promoting payment options, so I thought I was following the correct process.

I'd have had to look up at an 80 degree angle to see that. I don't believe that the lights were on in the car park when I arrived. There's another sign on the other side, again inside the girder and I would have had to have driven under that but, again, difficult to see in the dark. There's also every reason to look at that and think "It's a controlled area but it's a RingGo car park and I'm going to pay using the app". I have no idea that Emerson don't operate RingGo.

To give a bit of context, this isn’t my first parking fine in a RingGo-managed car park. Earlier this month, I received a £60 fine in Stockport’s Heaton Lane Car Park, which has similar issues with signage – a single, small sign at the entrance that’s easy to miss, especially in the dark and in poor weather as it was when I arrived. I paid this fine to Stockport City Council (£30 if paid quickly) but not yet paid the Smart Parking fine.

In both cases, I genuinely believed I was parked legally, and the lack of clear signage feels like a trap, designed to catch people out rather than help them park correctly. I’ve considered challenging these fines, as it seems unreasonable to expect drivers to spot poorly positioned signs, but the process feels daunting and weighted in favour of the parking companies.

Can anyone offer any advice? 

Grizebeck

1. You don't pay smart parking. It isn't a fine
Was it a windscreen ticket? If so (and it isn't a lease car etc) then wait for the notice to Keeper in the post
When it comes use the following. Nothing else

This is an appeal by the registered keeper - No driver details will be given. Please do NOT try the usual Group Nexus Trick of asking for driver details in order to get around the fact your NTK does not comply with POFA. As there is no keeper liability then liability cannot flow from the driver to the keeper and thus is an auto win @ POPLA. Please therefore cancel the notice or issue a POPLA code where you will auto withdraw'

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

I will just highlight one point for others to comment on.

Notice that the sign you have shown us has words on the left reading "Managed by SMART PARKING on behalf of The EMERSON GROUP".

It's the words "on behalf of" that might be interesting, but for the moment I can't recall the reason why.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

The keeper should appeal around day 26 using the wording in this post provided by regular @Grizebeck.

Smart parking ticket — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Send it unaltered from the keeper. Do not reveal the driver's identity under any circumstances.

Left_Eternal

OK, need a bit more information there. 

Why am I waiting until the 26th day? That then means I have no chance of paying the smaller payment of £60 versus the £100 payment.

You say send it unaltered. Is there a specific reason for this? It doesn't look like a very polished statement and I'm concerned about this.

The message states that the "NTK does not comply with POFA". How are we certain that is true? 

Left_Eternal

Just to clarify, it IS a lease vehicle and it was a notice left on the windscreen. If they write to the vehicle leasing company, they're going to charge me an admin fee which will make this look like pocket change.

MajorDanby

You need to read the Newbies thread which will answer all of your questions. In short, if an NTK is not PoFA compliant only the driver not the keeper/hirer can be held liable. Hence the advice not to name the driver

There is specific advice dealing with leased vehicles in newbies thread

Gr1pr

Then follow the Edna basher advice at the bottom of the first post in the newbies sticky thread 

Just checking 

Was it definitely a windscreen PCN, an NtD. ?  ( Meaning no postal letters yet. ?   ). 

You are definitely not the registered keeper , you are the Hirer or Lessee 

It is not a fine, its an invoice 

Grizebeck

Lol don't doubt the appeal text. It works!!!who cares if it doesn't look polished
Love it when people doubt stuff like this. So many sceptics
But as it's a windscreen ticket then do this appeal straight away. Don't wait.
This will ensure they don't get keeper details
In addition why would you think about paying.  It's known as the mugs discount period in the industry for one reason.
When you appeal on their site you need go click submit through two screens until you can't submit any further.

I am appealing this pcn as the driver. No rules were broken. Cancel this pcn as I will win it at POPLA with the help of mse (where you always cancel and get beaten).
So either cancel the pcn now or auto withdraw at POPLA. Your choice.

Left_Eternal

I do thank you for your assistance but let me go through that in order.

"Love it when people doubt stuff like this. So many sceptics"

Unfortunately, there's a whole lot of "trust me bro" people on the internet these days and, under the circumstances, people are concerned. We don't want to end up being taken to court, dealing with debt collectors, losing our credit rating. The level of polish in the statement might just be, as you say "it works" but I'm sure you'll understand when I say that lots of people on the internet are free with their advice when they have no clue what they're talking about. I just need to make sure that this isn't the case.

"But as it's a windscreen ticket then do this appeal straight away. Don't wait."

Got it! 

"In addition why would you think about paying." 

This is the 2nd time in as many weeks that I've received a charge like this. The first time, it was easier to pay £30 then do the research. There's a lot of reading to go through and lots of checking. At some point you have to consider "is the time I'm going to invest in this worth the £30 it will save me?" . On that occasion it was definitely not.

This time I'm angry because their sign, in my opinion, is deliberately designed to be not seen. I'm also thinking that I need to test the waters.

So, to be clear, even as someone leasing a vehicle from another company, I should go to the the appeals page of Smart Parking, submit that response, word for word and wait to see what happens next?

Left_Eternal

This is on their page when I go to appeal.  Makes the sign look much clearer but, of course, I wasn't stood by the front of the car looking up. I was stood by the drivers side. Again, that smaller "Private Parking" sign would be behind me and, as far as Im concerned, it could be private parking managed by RingGo.

We still going for it?