Maximum stay at car park

drbetteridge

I have just received a fine from Horizon Parking for breaching the maximum stay in a Tesco car park.
The signage states that the Maximum stay between 06:00 - 18:00 is 2 hours and between 18:00 and 00:00 is 4 hours.

Horizon are stating that I entered at 17:56:31, but I believe it was after 18:00.

My point is that I have not exceeded the maximum as I was only in the car park for 3 minutes before 18:00 and 2:33 after 18:00, so have not exceeded the 2 or the 4 hour maximum stay within the allotted time.

Has anybody been successful in appealing these fines with a similar argument? 

Thanks

Coupon-mad

You don't have a fine. Certainly sounds like you could win this at POPLA, as what you describe is ambiguous signage.

Please show us that sign. How come they offer 4 hours in the evening? What else is onsite?

drbetteridge

The car park replaced a council run car park when Tesco took over the running of the site. The car park belongs to Tesco, but there are very few car parks to service the rest of the town.

fisherjim

Don't see how they can make that garbage stick typical ANPR systems confusion and why it isn't fit for purpose, their template rejection letters will not by design answer any logical appeal anyway.

Also that sign does not conform to make a contract the charge is totally buried in the small print what ever their silly reply says.

As CM says it's not a fine it's a charge for which you have been invoiced, the appeals procedure is a waste of time farce as you have witnessed, and what other industry sets up a two stage appeals service to challenge an invoice.

It's just to frighten the uninitiated to make them think it is a fine by mimicking authority processes and to make their ATA's look like they have designed a reasonable way to challenge unfair charges, it is abused every day.

Coupon-mad

drbetteridge said:

I have just received a fine from Horizon Parking for breaching the maximum stay in a Tesco car park.
The signage states that the Maximum stay between 06:00 - 18:00 is 2 hours and between 18:00 and 00:00 is 4 hours.

Horizon are stating that I entered at 17:56:31, but I believe it was after 18:00.

My point is that I have not exceeded the maximum as I was only in the car park for 3 minutes before 18:00 and 2:33 after 18:00, so have not exceeded the 2 or the 4 hour maximum stay within the allotted time.

Clearly the driver wasn't in breach at the point when they parked and read the sign.

Even if Horizon reckon that the car entered in moving traffic at 17:56:31, once you factor in a fair consideration period (at least 5 minutes, more like 10 in a busy town centre car park in the evening that services the town) to allow the car to be parked and the driver to read the terms, the contract started after 6pm.

This is where (yet again) the self-serving joke of a 'Joint Code of Practice' fails consumers and deliberately makes it easy for ANPR firms to issue more PCNs. The rogue PPC industry laughably say that the consideration period falls away as soon as a driver opts to stay, and this, there is no consideration period at all for genuine patrons of any retailer!

Abject scammery.

All that's needed to prevent this is a proper, independent statutory CoP with a fair consideration period (ideally a minimum TEN MINUTES in most large car parks).

Luckily for you it's Horizon and they are still cancelling on appeal when people use the special wording seen in all Horizon threads!