Visitor bay, permit not "clearly displayed", linkparking, do we have a case?

Hi all,

I've read the FAQ's, a lot of info but we're clueless on this kind of thing so a bit intimidating! So I wonder if we could get an appraisal of our situation? Obv don't mind searching through the FAQ's, just asking for a bit of initial help if possible?

EDIT: Having just registered I'm not allowed to post links, I've edited so you can still follow, hope you don't mind? (No spam, I promise!)

Just as a bit of background, on 6/8/17 we found a private ticket from Link on my gf's car - it was parked in a visitor bay around my flat, we have a valid permit which we'd moved onto an indented bit of the dashboard (more later). We appealed with Link on the basis that it was clearly visible if the attendant had moved around the car (which he had, photos from every angle but steering wheel was blocking the permit on their photo!!). They rejected the appeal with a pretty ignorant response, which didn't address the point. I replied with some mild abuse then we paid the ticket. Thisis background, I appreciate probably no comeback on this now we've paid.

Yesterday we retured from holiday to find a "Notice to Keeper" in the post, dated 6/9/17, relating to parking on the date of 4/8/17 (two days before the ticket referred to above). Link to this below as pic is huge:

imgur dot com slash GnBxnMY

First thing, we never saw a parking ticket for this one. Their photos on website do show a parking ticket stuck to windscreen, so I can only assume either the attendant or a passer-by removed it before we had a chance to see.

Again, their website has photos of the car, but this time they've actually left the permit slightly visible in one of them (interestingly, their URL for this photo includes the word 'penalty', which I understand is what they're trying to avoid with the "contractual agreement" wording?) Link below, the permit is by the left of the wheel, it had been blocked by wheel in photos on the one we paid:
imgur dot com slash iVIByLm

We think this is ridiculous. There's no wording on the sign about how clear it needs to be, link to sign below:

imgur dot com slash KA5rZFk

And more so, we think that as mentioned above, the attendant must have seen the ticket was there, even if it wasn't in the 'correct place' on the front window. Pretty much the only thing I know about this parking stuff is that they rely on a 'contractual agreement'. It cannot be reasonable to believe we'd have aticket but leave it slightly out of the way because we actually preferred to pay a parking charge rather than park for free! Some photo's Ive taken below having replaced the permit in the same position it was, to demonstrate how easy it is to see from various positions around the car (none are zoomed in!):

imgur dot com slash a slash ezC1C

The back of the letter we received yesterday says in small print:

"At the time the parking charge was incurred, a Notice to Driver was affixed to the vehicle. This offered the driver the ability to appeal within 21 days from its imposition. This opportunity has now lapsed and we regret the ability to appeal against this charge is nolonger available. If you consider there to be exceptional circumstances as to why you should be allowed to appeal outside of this period then please write to/e-mail (appropriate addresses).

My gf phoned them yesterday and was told to put an appeal in anyway, but amount would not be reduced because they've had to pay DVLA for our details. (Which they already had from the previous ticket we paid!!).

That's all the pertinent info I can think of. I'd really appreciate it if you guys could advise if we'll need to pay this or not? As above, I think it's ridiculous on the basis that the permit was there in the car and I don't believe that the guy won't have seen it. The money isn't in itself a problem but I hate companies like this.

Thanks,

-parking noob