MET Parking Services McDonalds

massmaster

Hi all,

I received a MET Parking Services Ticket for my trip to McDonalds in Southall claiming that I left the premises.

I followed the guidelines hear, tried speaking to McDonalds but had no luck, then appealed with the generic response in the newbie thread.

They replied today with:

Thank you for your correspondence received in regards to the above parking charge. The terms and conditions of use of the car park are clearly stated on signs prominently displayed in this area. These include that the car park is for the use of customers while they are on the premises only. A survey was carried out by our parking attendant with a member of the restaurant's staff of all customers in the restaurant, including the toilets, to check if the drivers were present in the restaurant prior to the charge being issued. There was no-one on the premises when the survey was conducted taking responsibility for your vehicle, therefore we believe the charge was issued correctly and we are upholding it. Please find a redacted copy of the survey, alongside the images taken of your vehicle, enclosed below

We are confident there are sufficient signs (copies enclosed) at this location bringing the terms and conditions of parking to the attention of motorists and it remains the driver's responsibility to check the signs where they park and comply with the terms and conditions. We are confident that our notice to keeper complies in all respects with the requirements of the Protection of Freedoms Act and you are advised that where the charge has not been paid in full and 29 days has passed since we issued the charge and we still do not know the name and address for service of court papers of the driver, we are entitled to pursue the registered keeper for payment of the outstanding charge. This decision, which has been based on the facts of the case and takes into account our consideration of any mitigating circumstances, is our final decision.

You have reached the end of our internal appeals procedure and you now have a number of options:

 1. Pay or, if you were not the driver of the vehicle at the time of the incident, request the driver to pay the parking charge at the prevailing price of £60.00 within 14 days of today's date. Please note that if payment is not received by this date the parking charge will be payable at £100.00 and further costs will accrue if the case is passed to our debt resolution agents for collection or if we need to proceed with court action to collect the money due to us. Payment may be made online at www.paymetparking.com or by phone on 020 3781 7471.

 2. Make an appeal to POPLA, the Independent Appeals Service, within 28 days of the date of this letter by going to the online appeals system at: www.popla.co.uk using verification code: 3862305118 Please note that POPLA will consider the evidence of both parties and make their decision based upon the facts and application of the relevant law. Please note that if you opt to appeal to POPLA, and should POPLA's decision NOT go in your favour, you will be required to pay the full amount of £100.00. Please note if the contravention occurred in Scotland only the driver may appeal to POPLA. By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA as explained above.


Can anyone help advise on what I should do now? I'm tempted to just pay the fine but really don't want to as I did nothing wrong other than pop to the shop after my visit (total stay under the 1 hour limit). 

Coupon-mad

"A survey was carried out by our parking attendant with a member of the restaurant's staff of all customers in the restaurant, including the toilets, to check if the drivers were present in the restaurant prior to the charge being issued."

They appear to have lied, again. MET have been playing out this little game against people for many years:

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/met-parking-operate-customer-not-here.html

LOL, of course you don't pay!

This ISN'T a 'fine'.

Just appeal to POPLA, putting MET to proof that the driver left the site. They'll give uo.

massmaster

Coupon-mad said:

"A survey was carried out by our parking attendant with a member of the restaurant's staff of all customers in the restaurant, including the toilets, to check if the drivers were present in the restaurant prior to the charge being issued."

They appear to have lied, again. MET have been playing out this little game against people for many years:

LOL, of course you don't pay!

This ISN'T a 'fine'.

Just appeal to POPLA, putting MET to proof that the driver left the site. They'll give uo.

Thank you!

Could you provide me with the information/details I should include in the POPLA appeal?

Much appreciated.

Coupon-mad

Just what I said already should do it.