APCOA PCN Manchester Airport Drop-off

doubledotcom

quizlady said:

My husband and I took a wrong turning at Manchester airport whilst looking for the Meet and Greet. We drove through the pick-up/drop off zone, without stopping, which took exactly 1 minute and 36 seconds. We even have confirmation of the M&G booking, so there is no reason for driving through the zone apart from making a wrong turning. He has now received a parking charge. He has asked me to deal with it for him, but I’m a bit confused as to exactly what to do.  We didn’t park, just drove through. Do they not accept that as a reason for appeal?  

I’ve seen messages on here about appealing without not admitting who the driver was, but I would really appreciate an explanation of exactly how to do this, and why it would/could be successful.

Just wait for the PCN to arrive in the post and then you appeal with the following and it will be cancelled:

I am the registered keeper. APCOA cannot hold a registered keeper liable for any alleged contravention on land that is under statutory control. As a matter of fact and law, APCOA will be well aware that they cannot use the PoFA provisions because Manchester Airport is not 'relevant land'.

If Manchester Airport wanted to hold owners or keepers liable under Airport Bylaws, that would be within the landowner's gift and another matter entirely. However, not only is that not pleaded, it is also not legally possible because APCOA is not the Airport owner and your 'parking charge' is not and never attempts to be a penalty. It is created for APCOA's own profit (as opposed to a bylaws penalty that goes to the public purse) and APCOA has relied on contract law allegations of breach against the driver only.

The registered keeper cannot be presumed or inferred to have been the driver, nor pursued under some twisted interpretation of the law of agency. Your NtK can only hold the driver liable. APCOA have no hope at POPLA, 

I was at Manchester Airport yesterday and I committed the ultimate sin of picking up my family in the drop off area, despite an orange jacketed MAG employee telling my family that I would be fined £100 for picking up in the drop off area. I am just going to wait for the inevitable APCOA charge notice and respond with the above. It's worked with them at Heathrow several times and also with NCP at Gatwick. No reason it won't work at Manchester.

Paul_01

It WILL work. Just follow the advice earlier in this thread.

If you require any further reassurance, also read the Gatwick/Heathrow Airport Drop Off thread.

quizlady

do I copy and paste the whole thing? including the last bit that says "APCOA have no hope at POPLA"

Umkomaas

quizlady said:

do I copy and paste the whole thing? including the last bit that says "APCOA have no hope at POPLA"

Yes. Please follow advice, it's well tried and tested. 

doubledotcom

Just use the wording EXACTLY as shown. It will be cancelled with a letter telling you not to be such a naughty person in future because it affects their profits if they have to keep cancelling these charges. Of course, they won't tell you that they have to cancel them because they cannot actually do anything about them, even if they wanted to.

Coupon-mad

quizlady said:

do I copy and paste the whole thing? including the last bit that says "APCOA have no hope at POPLA"

Obviously, you don't do it yourself if you aren't the registered keeper.

CaptainCrank

Same here. On June 8th I had paid for 5 days parking and was looking for the T2 long term parking. The roadworks at the airport at the moment are confusing so it is easy to take a wrong turn. 1 Minute 02 seconds in the zone, no stopping, no chance to turn back. I have to say this is !!!!!! poor customer service from the airport. I realise this is run by APCOA but still I am a paying customer of Manchester Airport and expect a bit better. So I have appealed using the wording from the Heathrow drop off thread since it looked a lot more comprehensive. It would be interesting to know if one of the reasons for appeal is that you did not park, demonstrated by the fact that at no time did the vehicle come to a halt, ergo park. Overall, this leaves a very bad feeling, you're trying to find your parking spot, you do not want to be late for your flight, you're not familiar with the airport, the signage is not clear so take a wrong turn and it costs you £60. 

doubledotcom

Don't overthink this. Just appeal as the Keeper and remind them that there is no Keeper liability so they should go chase the driver and good luck trying to find out who that is.

Jutah

Thanks for the tip, I got done the other week for a 1 minute wrong turn! Where abouts do you paste the above to?

Umkomaas

Jutah said:

Thanks for the tip, I got done the other week for a 1 minute wrong turn! Where abouts do you paste the above to?

Do you mean where do you send the template appeal to APCOA?  If that's it, the details for where to send the appeal should be on the letter they sent you. If it's a different question to that, perhaps do a re-phrase please.