Parking fine hassle. Any tips?

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Chipper

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Linda
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we parked at Fistral beach in Cornwall. I checked out the eats and then we paid for parking. When we came back to the car after a walk along the beach, I topped up the time, as per instructions on signage.

A week later, a fine comes! We query on line the day after the envelope arrived - April 17th. Rung twice to get info as going away. Told it will take up to 35 days. We have both tickets and took a photo and uploaded it in our original email. We realised that one is showing the wrong digits in the number plat - our fault. So the result could come when we are away. My other half gave them an email address.... All a bit vexing. Any tips, please? Thanks.
 
Is this a council car park or when run by a private company. If council you would be better paying as long as all is in order. If it is a private company then it ISN'T a fine but an invoice. These usually charge £60 if you pay within 14 days then it goes up to £100. Depending on the details you could challenge then say 'No'. After several threats they should go away.
 
Ok. Will have a look. We didn't contact any council in Cornwall. Thanks. Anybody else know Anyang about this process, please?
 
Post the Supreme court rulings on Beavis and Cavendish square holding, the law on penalty in contracts has been substantially changed. It is no longer necessary for a penalty to be a "genuine pre-estimate of loss" ( a phrase trotted out by the "I can park on private land for as long as I like for free because you don't put barriers up" crowd a lot until the end of last year, which itself came from another precedent case 100 years ago known as Dunlop) and the charge in Beavis of £85 was considered reasonable. The judges gave a very thorough judgement which is well worth reading in full. The consequence of this is that with a precedent from the highest court in the land, and with this being a common law juristiction which consequently relies on precedent, the parking companies are much less likely to just go away than they were before the end of last year.

In your case, since you paid but made a mistake with the number, they ought to cancel it. Whether they will or not is another matter.
 
Next time find a free spot to park. I religiuosly avoid feeding these greedy places as later this happens or you are running all freaked out the time is running out, etc. I just say NO to all of them.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Next time find a free spot to park. I religiuosly avoid feeding these greedy places as later this happens or you are running all freaked out the time is running out, etc. I just say NO to all of them.
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Or just feed it the right amount of money and enter the correct registration number, then return to the car before the time expires.
It doesn't require a degree.
 
viv1969 said:
Or just feed it the right amount of money and enter the correct registration number, then return to the car before the time expires.
It doesn't require a degree.
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I think some of that is harsh; yes I agree about the paying the right amount of money and returning in a timely manner but the registration bit annoys me. The keypad isn't the biggest, often a queue of peeps adding to the pressure and tbh, I can't always remember my regards even though I have had it 3 yrs.
 
I would try and apeal to their generosity and state you punched in the wrong numbers by mistake and as a visitor you are hardly liikely to ever do it again. If it's a council or even ncp they are usually pretty OK and forgiving as long as it is a once off.
Matt
 
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skiking said:
I think some of that is harsh; yes I agree about the paying the right amount of money and returning in a timely manner but the registration bit annoys me. The keypad isn't the biggest, often a queue of peeps adding to the pressure and tbh, I can't always remember my regards even though I have had it 3 yrs.
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Write it down?
 
viv1969 said:
Write it down?
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Hmmmm! The bottom line is an individual makes a mistake and a company will throw the book at you or at least threaten/bully you until you pay. Same company makes things difficult for you or gets it wrong and they may say sorry if you are lucky!

Sorry, I've had my fill of parking companies and train operators this last couple of weeks and no, I've not avoided or tried to evade what I owe for a service. Regulators and political figures now involved!
 
skiking said:
Hmmmm! The bottom line is an individual makes a mistake and a company will throw the book at you or at least threaten/bully you until you pay. Same company makes things difficult for you or gets it wrong and they may say sorry if you are lucky!

Sorry, I've had my fill of parking companies and train operators this last couple of weeks and no, I've not avoided or tried to evade what I owe for a service. Regulators and political figures now involved!
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Just put in an appeal explaining. It was your mistake at the end of the day and while the councils will often be accommodating for that sort of thing on appeal. The attendants are normally allowed no scope to stop any accusations of poorly applied rules
 
viv1969 said:
Or just feed it the right amount of money and enter the correct registration number, then return to the car before the time expires.
It doesn't require a degree.
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Well, in my world, we make mistakes. The notice in the car park states quite clearly not to worry if you overstay, just pay the extra which we did. Not sure why you feel the need to be sarcastic. Not helpful.
 
Chipper said:
Well, in my world, we make mistakes. The notice in the car park states quite clearly not to worry if you overstay, just pay the extra which we did. Not sure why you feel the need to be sarcastic. Not helpful.
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Well, aren't we snippy this morning? :lol:
I wasn't addressing you with that comment, that's why I quoted the one I was addressing.
 
boyfalldown said:
Just put in an appeal explaining. It was your mistake at the end of the day and while the councils will often be accommodating for that sort of thing on appeal. The attendants are normally allowed no scope to stop any accusations of poorly applied rules
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We have put in the appeal. They seem to be dragging their feet and our time is short before we go away. There were no attendants at this particular car park and a lengthy walk ( leaving all my kit in the car ) would not have been practical with my knee injury. Ah well... Que sera... Although I will keep arguing with them for a while anyway! Genuine mistake.
 
viv1969 said:
Well, aren't we snippy this morning? :LOL:
I wasn't addressing you with that comment, that's why I quoted the one I was addressing.
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Well, that's the problem with forums like this. Tones can't be read.. I think you were being sarcastic - stating the obvious - and you think I am being snippy. There you go.
 
Chipper said:
Well, that's the problem with forums like this. Tones can't be read.. I think you were being sarcastic - stating the obvious - and you think I am being snippy. There you go.
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You're right, tone cannot be read....but quotes can.
I WAS being sarcastic, just not to you.
 
Read the moneysaving expert guide on appealing parking tickets.

There are good systems which won't let you put in a wrong number. Parking eye's system is deliberately designed to encourage simple mistakes so they can screw people. In future don't park anywhere they operate and contact whoever is running what every you would have seen and tell them. The more people boycott anywhere with Parking Eye the better.
 
It's a well known car park now run by a new lot of bottom feeders after the last lot were kicked out for excessive ticketing.
It is beatable but you will need to put a bit of effort in. Unfortunately, over 60% of people pay these without question. This then encourages them to continue even more.
Check out the private car parking ticket section of moneysavingexpert.com on how to beat this.
 
viv1969 said:
Or just feed it the right amount of money and enter the correct registration number, then return to the car before the time expires.
It doesn't require a degree.
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Actually you say that, the first time I encountered one of these machines in Liverpool it was pouring down with rain and located in a dark recess of a car park up against the wall.

The machine was poorly illuminated and it was actually quite hard to read the instructions. Sussed it in the end but after five minutes I got soaked in the process. To make matters worse there were three other people in the queue who were equally clueless !
 
Blank_Canvas said:
Actually you say that, the first time I encountered one of these machines in Liverpool it was pouring down with rain and located in a dark recess of a car park up against the wall.

The machine was poorly illuminated and it was actually quite hard to read the instructions. Sussed it in the end but after five minutes I got soaked in the process. To make matters worse there were three other people in the queue who were equally clueless !
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Oh yes, they're a pain in the a.r.s.e alright, certainly not disputing that.
 
My advice is Don't go to Cornwall !
Years ago, on the last night of our holiday, I picked up a parking ticket in Fowey at 10 o'clock at night having parked at 8pm to go into a restaurant, not realising their 'pay and display' hours go right up until 11pm in Summer to catch the holidaymakers.
We found everything in Cornwall to be so expensive as to be considered a rip off - and the fine was the last straw.
We were in a self catering caravan.
We have since gone to a hotel in Brittany, France, for our holidays.
The cost of a half-board hotel by the sea near Quiberon in high season and the ferry fare come to little more than about half the price of a Cornish holiday.
The bonus is FREE PARKING almost everywhere.
 
skiking said:
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit or so I am frequently told.
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Not as bad as ignorance though and yours could have cost the poster a lot of money. You can no longer ignore penalty notices from private contractors as Mark @onomatopoeia pointed out a few posts below yours. You ignore these notices at your peril.
 
jakeblu said:
Not as bad as ignorance though and yours could have cost the poster a lot of money. You can no longer ignore penalty notices from private contractors as Mark @onomatopoeia pointed out a few posts below yours. You ignore these notices at your peril.
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I don't think I have stated to ignore. I said to challenge!

I could go on to name call but I'm bigger than that!
 
skiking said:
I don't think I have stated to ignore. I said to challenge!

I could go on to name call but I'm bigger than that!
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Actually, you pretty much did.....

skiking said:
Is this a council car park or when run by a private company. If council you would be better paying as long as all is in order. If it is a private company then it ISN'T a fine but an invoice. These usually charge £60 if you pay within 14 days then it goes up to £100. Depending on the details you could challenge then say 'No'. After several threats they should go away.
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The advice in dealing with these has changed quite considerably, as per post four.
 
Ignoring means doing nothing. I said challenge (that is actively doing something) and then I said, say No. Again, that means I have actively done something.

I have 3 notices over the last 18 months and I have taken that approach. So far , so good.
 
I currently have about 6 of these tickets on the go at the moment, but then I just like baiting them.

For the sake of clarity ...

These are not fines, even the parking companies are not legally allowed to call them that. They are charges. Private companies cannot fine anyone!

Most parking companies use the threat of court to intimidate you into paying their charge. They have even been known to use red ink on occasions. Very few of them will take anyone to the small claims court because it will cost more than they get back.

Parking eye started over 30,000 court claims last year though.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Next time find a free spot to park. I religiuosly avoid feeding these greedy places as later this happens or you are running all freaked out the time is running out, etc. I just say NO to all of them.
Click to expand...

That's very easy to say when you like me live in rural Yorkshire but a lot of places especially holiday vilages and seaside towns have zero free spaces near the town.
Also some people have difficulty walking or children in tow, maybe elderly.

sometimes you just have to pay and enjoy.
 
If it is not a council car part then it is not a parking fine.

Go through the appeal and provide your evidence that you did in fact pay for parking. If they deny your appeal then tell them to do one. The cannot force you to pay without going to court, and in your situation I would be very surprised if the court found in their favour.
 
hypnotic said:
I currently have about 6 of these tickets on the go at the moment, but then I just like baiting them.

For the sake of clarity ...

These are not fines, even the parking companies are not legally allowed to call them that. They are charges. Private companies cannot fine anyone!

Most parking companies use the threat of court to intimidate you into paying their charge. They have even been known to use red ink on occasions. Very few of them will take anyone to the small claims court because it will cost more than they get back.

Parking eye started over 30,000 court claims last year though.
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Just what I said in my first post but that was deemed to be ignorance.

Interesting about Parking Eye as I suspect the one I got last week is from them. I've already appealed (note, not ignored) and I am awaiting the usual rejection of my appeal on the grounds that they ignored all the mitigating factors.
 
RichardtheSane said:
If it is not a council car part then it is not a parking fine.

Go through the appeal and provide your evidence that you did in fact pay for parking. If they deny your appeal then tell them to do one. The cannot force you to pay without going to court, and in your situation I would be very surprised if the court found in their favour.
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I would say this is more likely the answer, just be relaxed about it and press your case and appeal.
Very few of these go to court it is usually multiple offenders that do.

I think a local supermarket to us had all the train users filling up their car park so they had to introduce these schemes.
 
viv1969 said:
Or just feed it the right amount of money and enter the correct registration number, then return to the car before the time expires.
It doesn't require a degree.
Click to expand...

No, but it creates so much inconvenience, hassle and financial incentive to just park wherever else you can for free and walk to the place and enjoy the freedom. Usually I would just turn around and leave and change my plans if I am truly cornered. I am not paying for parking. EVER. Period.
 
Mr Bump said:
That's very easy to say when you like me live in rural Yorkshire but a lot of places especially holiday vilages and seaside towns have zero free spaces near the town.
Also some people have difficulty walking or children in tow, maybe elderly.

sometimes you just have to pay and enjoy.
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Just go somewhere else if it is that bad.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
No, but it creates so much inconvenience, hassle and financial incentive to just park wherever else you can for free and walk to the place and enjoy the freedom. Usually I would just turn around and leave and change my plans if I am truly cornered. I am not paying for parking. EVER. Period.
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That's fine but I don't understand you to be angry at other peoples reasoning.
If I visit a place and I have to pay a few quid to park my car in a car park that has cost money to maintain, may be also covered by CCTV and lighting when its dark and gives good close access to where I want to be its part of life.

if you insist on seeking a back street or maybe further from your intended location, or decide as you say to turn around and go home that is your choice.
 
Mr Bump said:
That's fine but I don't understand you to be angry at other peoples reasoning.
If I visit a place and I have to pay a few quid to park my car in a car park that has cost money to maintain, may be also covered by CCTV and lighting when its dark and gives good close access to where I want to be its part of life.

if you insist on seeking a back street or maybe further from your intended location, or decide as you say to turn around and go home that is your choice.
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You actually get little to no value. They will usually say they are not liable for any damage, etc and granted there will be a scruffy landrover and dented corsa scraping other cars around.

What I particularly hate about parking charges is every time you pay you encourage these establishments to continue restricting your freedom and expand it to other places. It is like feeding rats and cockroaches in your garden. As if it weren't enough that you pay for the attraction ticket, their product or food, etc and sometimes far over the odds.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
You actually get little to no value. They will usually say they are not liable for any damage, etc and granted there will be a scruffy landrover and dented corsa scraping other cars around.

What I particularly hate about parking charges is every time you pay you encourage these establishments to continue restricting your freedom and expand it to other places. It is like feeding rats and cockroaches in your garden. As if it weren't enough that you pay for the attraction ticket, their product or food, etc and sometimes far over the odds.
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o_O
 
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