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Park direct UK
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Parkingpanic
Posts: 5 Forumite
Hello, I have read through a few threads and forums but I just wondered if I could ask for some clarification/reassurance.
To summarise- I was parked in my office car park which is ‘dare I say’ managed by park direct UK back in June. I have a permit but it was half covered/ slightly obscured by another parking ticket.
They issued me with a £100 Fine initially for being parked in my own space. I spoke to our landlord who instructs them, he then had email correspondence with them which resulted in them “kindly” agreeing to invoice me for just £20 admin fees. I sent the landlord my details and expected to receive an invoice but never heard back from PDUK.
After a month of silence they followed up with another letter and I emailed to explain I was willing to pay a maximum £20 admin fee as was confined by my landlord even though I explained I have a permit and the Fine was not in my opinion justified. They even admitted they could see the permit. They offered me a £40 admin fee which I refused as was told £20 which I felt was a liberty in the first place but was happy to pay to shut them up.
They sent me an email stating I had refused their good will offer, to which I responded saying that I had not and that I was offering to pay £20 as was initially agreed with my landlord for a fine that I explained was unjust.
In the end after reading lots of forums etc I decided to ignore them and have since received a multitude of letters from DRP and Zenith collections who I understand are bogus companies. They even offered to reduce the fine to £136 from £160 (increased costs) which I also ignored and reaffirmed to me that they felt their case was weak.
After some time I have now recieved a letter headed from Gladstone’s solicitors for £160 saying our client now has the option to take you to court. The letter asks me to reach out directly to DRP which seems suspect. Based on what I’ve read I’m considering ignoring this but unsure if this is the right course of action.
I’d really appreciate any advice and clarification.
Thanks
To summarise- I was parked in my office car park which is ‘dare I say’ managed by park direct UK back in June. I have a permit but it was half covered/ slightly obscured by another parking ticket.
They issued me with a £100 Fine initially for being parked in my own space. I spoke to our landlord who instructs them, he then had email correspondence with them which resulted in them “kindly” agreeing to invoice me for just £20 admin fees. I sent the landlord my details and expected to receive an invoice but never heard back from PDUK.
After a month of silence they followed up with another letter and I emailed to explain I was willing to pay a maximum £20 admin fee as was confined by my landlord even though I explained I have a permit and the Fine was not in my opinion justified. They even admitted they could see the permit. They offered me a £40 admin fee which I refused as was told £20 which I felt was a liberty in the first place but was happy to pay to shut them up.
They sent me an email stating I had refused their good will offer, to which I responded saying that I had not and that I was offering to pay £20 as was initially agreed with my landlord for a fine that I explained was unjust.
In the end after reading lots of forums etc I decided to ignore them and have since received a multitude of letters from DRP and Zenith collections who I understand are bogus companies. They even offered to reduce the fine to £136 from £160 (increased costs) which I also ignored and reaffirmed to me that they felt their case was weak.
After some time I have now recieved a letter headed from Gladstone’s solicitors for £160 saying our client now has the option to take you to court. The letter asks me to reach out directly to DRP which seems suspect. Based on what I’ve read I’m considering ignoring this but unsure if this is the right course of action.
I’d really appreciate any advice and clarification.
Thanks
0
Comments
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You are right to ignore a Gladstones letter that suggests you pay DRP.0
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Thanks Keith, really appreciate the help. First time fighting one of these scum bags.
In case, interesting/helpful This is the last correspondence I sent them- which incidentally they ignored.
To clarify, I did not “reject” this amount. I informed you that I would not be paying more than the £20 admin fee which (account manager) agreed with the client. Incidentally, I never received an invoice for this amount.
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As far as the Client is concerned, this is how it was left:
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“The way I left it with ......... at Park Direct on the 8 June ( after she agreed to reduce the penalty to a £20 admin fee) was as follows -
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"Hi ........
Thanks for your help with this.
..... is expecting your admin invoice so please email him directly at!......."
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As far as I was concerned back in June, that was the extent of my involvement. If she failed to contact ...... and email him an invoice then she is at fault and he must tell them so.”
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I will concede that my permit was slightly obscured, but was still visible as a permit. I have been parking here for work for six months, and was advised by yourself that the only other place with similar looking permits is in South London, so it appears that you are suggesting I travelled from this location in South London to my place of work with the intention of parking here without the valid permit, which to me seems borderline comical and to be fined as a result seems characteristic of an opportunist parking warden, not an individual acting to protect the interests of the Client and his tenants from wrongly parked vehicles.
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On top of this, as you will see from above email correspondence with the Client, you have failed to email me said invoice for £20, as Emma was instructed to by Jonathan, the client.
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You have also failed to call me back several times, and, as far as I’m concerned, appear to be fabricating information such as that the admin fee is only valid for a limited time only, and then saying that it can only be paid by the Client themselves, this somehow only coming to light the fifth time I contacted you. As you insist that this is in the contract you have with the Client, I would very much like to see this contract so I am fully aware of all of the facts.
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I have worked at ........ House for over six months, and believe that your company should be protecting individuals like me who are permitted to park here, rather than harassing me with threatening letters, when even within the photographic evidence you have conceded that it is almost certainly a valid permit. I am dismayed that I even have to write this email to you.
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I am willing to pay the £20 administration fee as was agreed, so that we can move past this matter. Alternatively, I am equally happy to present this evidence and correspondence to the Client and the IPC, so that they can make their own judgement on the ‘service’ you provide.
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If you are happy to proceed with the administration fee of £20, as was agreed between ........ and the Client, please send the invoice to this email address as well as confirmation that the fine has been cancelled0
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