Fraisthorpe beach car park landowner

fairies_and_dragons

well the plot thickens!

The land owner got back to me and said the following

Unfortunately Excel parking have the contract for managing the car park and as landowner/landlord I can only step in when Excel parking are at fault. So I have checked up on the app and attached the screen shot of where you enter your vehicle registration number and make and model. I have done this by yet again re registering myself yet again. Somehow you must have missed this vital piece of information off in error. Otherwise there would be 100’s of people in the same position as yourself. 

So on this occasion I cannot step in and cancel your PCN with Excel as they are not at fault and it has been your error. I understand that you think otherwise and you are well within your rights to take this further. But if you are willing to admit that it was your mistake, out of a gesture of good will and if they have proof of payment I will request they charge you less than the £60 fee as they will need to cover administrative costs. 

I have responded with screenshots from the app which I took at the time I raised my initial complaint and appeal and have explained that the error occurred because the app is not fit for purpose, misleading and has usability issues. My screenshot shows that the app asked for Vehicle, Make and Colou (yes the r is missing off the end of the word colour) and that the vehicle field had no data entry validation applied and therefore allowed me to enter anything in this field.

Also, the app has been updated on the 19th January and it now says the word vehicle registration in the field and includes a "VRM lookup" which returns the make, model and colour - coincidentally this update to the app was released the DAY BEFORE Excel Parking responded to my appeal, with their response letter dated 20th January - now there's a coincidence! I'm so glad I took screenshots at the time.

oh and we've had our first DCBL letter :)

Thank you for the newbies thread and all the information in there, I would have panicked and paid this had I not found this forum and it saddens me to think of all the people out there who have probably paid for parking in good faith and then fallen foul of something like this and gone on to pay the fine.

Coupon-mad

Sit tight and enjoy the ride of this scam.

fairies_and_dragons

So I misread the DCBL letter - it's actually for a PCN we got for parking for more than 2 hours in a Morrisons car park - we paid this one straight away because it was true. We parked there when we had stalls at a craft fair and my partner had intended to nip out and move the car after the 2 hours but he forgot and we did actually go into Morrisons for some bits when we first parked up, anyway we paid the £60 when the PCN came through as it wasn't a surprise we were charged but we've now got a DCBL letter for it - I assume it's the same advice, don't engage with them and then respond to the notice to take us to court letter and gather the evidence that we paid it.

Coupon-mad

If this is the case then don't ignore: I would send DCB the proof this was paid. We will be interested to read their scummy reply!

You do know now NOT to pay private parking charges in future, yes?! This was a mistake. You don't pay £60 to a chancer just because "yes it happened"!

Ralph-y

leave so feedback for the car park on social media ….. warns others and sometimes helps …

fairies_and_dragons

@Coupon-mad I sure do now!

In other news, I've had quite a bit of back and forth with the landowner at Fraisthorpe Beach, he has eventually agreed to ask Excel Parking to reduce the fine to £20 to cover their admin costs. Whilst I am still loathe to let Excel Parling have any more of my money, I have a agreed to this because in reality I have a very busy and stressful day job that involves the running of a national critical NHS service and all this is taking up too much of my time that I can't really afford right now.

Coupon-mad

As a policy, we don't agree with the £20 rip off but we get it, under your circs.

Well done for making a fuss which the landowner might remember when it comes to renewing Excel's contract if it seems like too much trouble & is angering people.