Euro Car Parks Sainsbury’s Dartford, Kent

Bbyoda

Hi I recently appealed a pcn from euro car parks for a 12 minute overstay. I did not say who the driver was as it actually wasn’t myself. However the driver at the time had to download and set up an app to be able to park. So the paid parking time covered the exit time. The 12 minutes were  at the start of the entry period prior to parking app being set up and parking paid for. 

They rejected my appeal. Do i have a case for POPLA?

Bbyoda

Sorry I’m not sure why the letter has uploaded backwards 

Gr1pr

A grace period is at the end of the parking period,  not the start   ( consideration period   ) and the joint Code of Practice says that it's a minimum of 10 minutes at the end, note the word is MINIMUM,  not absolute,  not finite, easily explained on any appeal on busy car parks with cars queuing to exit etc, so yes is the answer to your question 

BUT

Plan A should have been tried first, and still should be tried before any popla appeal,  a loyal customer should complain about it to the business and get them to cancel it,  before the popla appeal,  but dont miss the 33 days popla deadline for submissions 

Car1980

They don't know the times, only entrance and exit.

See 



https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/NEW%20Redesigned%20Documents/sectorsingleCodeofPractice.pdf

Coupon-mad

That's not 12 minutes, it is 11. They've misrepresented it.

I would try taking a video of another phone downloading that app from scratch and demonstrating how long it takes to download and eventually pay. POPLA need evidence!

Also point out that it doesn't say on the signs how long a person has to download the payment app but the driver undoubtedly complied and 'paid on arrival'. It is not possible for a driver who doesn't have that app on their phone, to pay on arrival without first parking, reading signs and downloading a new app. Therefore, there was no breach, with all arrival time spent parking then reading the sign & doing what was necessary to pay.

Bbyoda

Gr1pr said:

A grace period is at the end of the parking period,  not the start   ( consideration period   ) and the joint Code of Practice says that it's a minimum of 10 minutes at the end, note the word is MINIMUM,  not absolute,  not finite, easily explained on any appeal on busy car parks with cars queuing to exit etc, so yes is the answer to your question 

BUT

Plan A should have been tried first, and still should be tried before any popla appeal,  a loyal customer should complain about it to the business and get them to cancel it,  before the popla appeal,  but dont miss the 33 days popla deadline for submissions 

I did try contacting Sainsbury’s first before appealing, however they were very generic and not helpful. I have attached their response.

Bbyoda

 Email response from Sainsbury’s

Le_Kirk

You should go into the store and complain personally to the manager and explain that you can't afford to shop there any more if every shopping trip comes with a surcharge of £100 or more.  You are also sure that your friends and family will feel the same way!

pixie_man

Car1980 said:

They don't know the times, only entrance and exit.

See 



https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/NEW%20Redesigned%20Documents/sectorsingleCodeofPractice.pdf

Are you going to appeal to Popla based on these grounds? I have similar situation in a different car park. It took me less that 5 min to buy a ticket and then 7 min to leave the car part, so overall also had 12 min overstay.. I appealed to Euro Car Parks and they obviously rejected. I was appealing on the ground of:

BPA’s Code of Practice (13.4) states that:

 “You should allow the driver a reasonable period to leave the private car park after the parking contract has ended, before you take enforcement action. If the location is one where parking is normally permitted, the Grace Period at the end of the parking period should be a minimum of 10 minutes.”

The BPA Code of Practice (13.2) and (13.4) clearly state that the Grace Period to enter and leave the car park should be a minimum of 10 minutes.

Kelvin Reynolds, Head of Public Affairs and Policy at the British Parking Association (BPA):    The BPA’s guidance specifically says that there must be sufficient time for the motorist to park their car, observe the signs, decide whether they want to comply with the operator’s conditions and either drive away or pay for a ticket.”

“No time limit is specified. This is because it might take one person five minutes, but another person 10 minutes depending on various factors, not limited to disability.”