Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:49 am Post subject: Just want to let off steam
I've just got a flipping parking ticket in my post - aaarghhhh!!!!
Last Saturday I parked in a retail park, went to one of the shops there and then walked into town to get my youngest some shoes. The shoe shop had a queue, then didn't have any shoes to fit anyway. The parking fine has photographic evidence so I don't suppose I can dispute it.
My fine is £90 (or £60 if I pay it this week) for overstaying the 2 hour allowance by 16 minutes. I have a receipt from the first shop on the retail park but that probably only accounts for the first 45 minutes.
I didn't know it was done by camera either. Most retail parks have parking wardens who go round but this is clearly a photo of me entering and exiting the car park. So sneaky!
We got one just before Christmas for parking in a disabled bay. We were gone less than 15 minutes but in that time they got us.
However, we didn't know it was a disabled bay as the painted wheelchair sign had rubbed off to the point of being almost gone. There were plenty of non-disabled bays and we would have gone in one had we realised.
I disputed this on their website and in the photo of the car, in the shadow below you could make out the sign, but when we pulled out of the space in the light of the sun it was hardly visible.
I told them this but they said the fine still stands and they gave me another two weeks at the reduced sign.
I went to the park to take a photograph to prove it had almost rubbed out and lo and behold, they had been repainted!!!!!
____________ Nala, Yellow Lab 2000-2008 (RIP)
Nero, Black Lab 2002 - 2011 (RIP)
Koli, Black Lab 2011
I believe that these retail parking restrictions are not legally enforceable - get the name of the company and google it and the word scam. You will be surprised what you find out. I and several of my volunteers got them when we were doing a collection for MT at the retail park in Swansea, and we argued that we had permission from the manager of Pets at Home (we did, we'd all signed in the visitors' book) and eventually, after a few threatening letters with escalating fines quoted, they stopped trying to get us to pay. Unfortunately, most law-abiding peeps don't like to feel they are breaking the rules and will pay up without questioning the legality.
Upsetting and annoying though, so
____________ The pack of brats: Coco, Megan, Paddy, Bella, Missi
I sympathise with you,it's so flippin' annoying!!
Happened to me in Biggleswade once (Beds?) Didn't even know there was a Parking fee!! £50 fine(1996)!!
____________ Lots of labby licks,Julian and Kenko
"The loneliness of deception" Chimpanzee study 2011
I had a letter off my hire car company saying I was caught by one of those camera cars parked in a bus stop in London. However, at the time I was working near Chippenham and had a receipt for lunch 30 minutes before I was supposed to be in the bus stop. When I looked at the photo the car in the picture was a Vauxhall but it was a different model and colour! I had to fight the Council about that and the car hire company which had charged me an admin fee for passing my details onto the Council. They're all thieving so-and-so's
Well, having looked "Parking Eye" up on the www I find that these are simple invoices which are not enforceable and the advice is to ignore. The chances are that I will receive 3 letters with increasing penalties and possibly 3 further letters from fake solicitors/ debt collectors and then it will go no further.
There are people who have accumulated hundreds of letters and never had it taken any further.
Apparently the onus is on them to prove who was driving and not just charge the registered owner. If it were to go to court they could only claim their "loss" which would be minimal anyway as it is a free car park.
I have only read of one person who was actually taken to court but he had been in a pay car park anyway. He was charged his parking cost plus the DVLA fee for providing information and a very small proportion of the costs.
It's scary but I think I might just try and wait this one out.
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