Parking Eye

[dicko]

Re: Parking Eye

Been following these pages for a few months now after parking eye blinked me in a hospital car park. (car park completely empty, side streets completely full so parked for only 15 minutes with no cash on me).
Anyway - nearly paid up their £120 demand but decided to check them out first - hence this message.
Have now received 6 letters from them, each one telling me the next step will be court. I followed the advice from this forum and have just ignored every letter and stored them under "bin".
Keep up the good work - cheers.

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking Eye

Been following these pages for a few months now after parking eye blinked me in a hospital car park. (car park completely empty, side streets completely full so parked for only 15 minutes with no cash on me).
Anyway - nearly paid up their £120 demand but decided to check them out first - hence this message.
Have now received 6 letters from them, each one telling me the next step will be court. I followed the advice from this forum and have just ignored every letter and stored them under "bin".
Keep up the good work - cheers.

Hi dicko

Speaking for myself, although I would take any info as gratefully received, I would be careful about acting on it.
It would, in the final analysis, be my decision to make & therefore my responsibility.

[labman]

Re: Parking Eye

I agree Chaz. I'm glad what was suggested to you has worked so far though Dicko. You'll know too, if you've been following the pages for a while, that the suggestion to simply ignore has now changed as more and more people are taken to court, especially by two PPC's. That's why we've put up a pretty strong appeal letter.

I hope your approach, which was the suggestion at that time, works for you (as it did for me!) If you haven't read the new stuff, go and have a look - it's in the bailiffs section (top of the page) under Parking Fines.

[HeatherC]

Re: Parking Eye

Hey evryone, im posting on your thread as my fine is quite similar...I know this is long but this is my full appeal that was sent to parking eye and POPLA,
please someone tell me if I should just ignore them like advice given above or keep fighting and wasting time and stress energy?


On 11th July I entered Tower road Newquay car park (PARKING EYE) at 14:29:29, I got out of my car (1minute max) checked the price, didn't have sufficient change so proceeded to the snack hut on the car park to get change literally took me and my boyfriend 2 minutes, I walked to the closest machine and blindly started typing in my car reg then went to put money in, the machine wouldn't accept my money, the screen had only the date and time and appeared to be frozen, wasted 2 more minutes, I walked across the car park to the other machine and this was doing the same thing, wasted another 2 minutes trying it, neither machine would accept my money. I tried repeatedly and got my boyfriend to look just in case it was me.


Myself and my boyfriend saw and spoke to another confused man on the car park who also was unable to pay and we noticed that there were other cars parked without tickets in their windows. Wasted 3 more minutes puzzled.


We decided to leave the car park. As a consumer it is my right to choose how I pay.if I am offered and then said service is out of order should I be penalised?


The car park does have a pay by phone service but I flat right refuse always have always will to sit on a car park typing in my card details to pay by phone, it's time wasting and I don't trust it all. Especially not when I now have change in my hand.


At 14:43:16 I departed the car park and went to the one next door where I paid for my ticket at the machine and enjoyed the rest of my day.


I spent 13 minutes on the car park! That's not enough time to get my nan out of the car if she had been with us!


On the 29th of August I received a letter dated 26th August telling me that I had a REMINDER to pay my fine dated 11th July. I hadn't received an initial letter let alone a reminder! To make matters worse I had until 31st August to pay the £60 fine. Otherwise it would become £100. 3days to respond to reminder when I haven't received a first letter? I understand the ticket must be issued 28days after the initial parking charge incident other wise it's a breach of the data protection act, but I wasn't contacted and had no correspondence from the 8th August at all until a reminder on the 26th?


I immediately responded to this by trying to call the company. Conveniently it is an automated service where I can speak to no one.


I then responded with an appeal, I included all the information you see above as well as reminding them that all of my actions above can be seen on CCTV. I asked that I be given a route to complain as customer service is zero and the fact they are trying to charge me to walk around a car park with faulty machines FOR 13 MINUTES is ridiculous.


They declined my appeal, they replied with a bog standard reply dated 6th August, "your recent appeal has been unsuccessful due to the fact the car park is a 'pay&display/paid parking' only. Our records show you did not purchase a valid parking ticket or the appropriate parking time on the date of the parking event. However, as a gesture of goodwill, we have extended the discount period for a further 14days from the date of this correspondence"


So they didn't read a word I said in my appeal? They mention nothing about the fact that their pay and display service was not in working order and the fact they should be apologising for MY inconvenience on the day, they mention nothing about complaints to their own customer service department (as i believe there is none) It seems to me they only care about the money not the actual circumstances. I am not very happy that they can get away with this, how many other people that day drove away not being able to pay with their change, didn't have a phone, had no battery on their phone to pay had no signal, was 82years old and didn't even own a phone and have also been charged for their 10 minute stay?
I'm not making excuses for this I just know I have a right to choose not to pay by phone and leave the car park if the only other suggested method of payment is out of order.
Especially when I was standing there as a paying customer in the first place.


I hope you can help me on this matter,


Heather Corbett

[labman]

Re: Parking Eye

When they responded to your appeal, they should have given you a POPLA code, so you could escalate your appeal higher.

About two thirds of strong POPLA appeals are succeeding at present and you can read what this site says about Parking Charges in the link HERE. You may find further grounds for appeal there. If you want to run it past someone here, feel free to post it up.

[mystery1]

Re: Parking Eye

Hey evryone, im posting on your thread as my fine is quite similar...I know this is long but this is my full appeal that was sent to parking eye and POPLA,
please someone tell me if I should just ignore them like advice given above or keep fighting and wasting time and stress energy?


On 11th July I entered Tower road Newquay car park (PARKING EYE) at 14:29:29, I got out of my car (1minute max) checked the price, didn't have sufficient change so proceeded to the snack hut on the car park to get change literally took me and my boyfriend 2 minutes, I walked to the closest machine and blindly started typing in my car reg then went to put money in, the machine wouldn't accept my money, the screen had only the date and time and appeared to be frozen, wasted 2 more minutes, I walked across the car park to the other machine and this was doing the same thing, wasted another 2 minutes trying it, neither machine would accept my money. I tried repeatedly and got my boyfriend to look just in case it was me.


Myself and my boyfriend saw and spoke to another confused man on the car park who also was unable to pay and we noticed that there were other cars parked without tickets in their windows. Wasted 3 more minutes puzzled.


We decided to leave the car park. As a consumer it is my right to choose how I pay.if I am offered and then said service is out of order should I be penalised?


The car park does have a pay by phone service but I flat right refuse always have always will to sit on a car park typing in my card details to pay by phone, it's time wasting and I don't trust it all. Especially not when I now have change in my hand.


At 14:43:16 I departed the car park and went to the one next door where I paid for my ticket at the machine and enjoyed the rest of my day.


I spent 13 minutes on the car park! That's not enough time to get my nan out of the car if she had been with us!


On the 29th of August I received a letter dated 26th August telling me that I had a REMINDER to pay my fine dated 11th July. I hadn't received an initial letter let alone a reminder! To make matters worse I had until 31st August to pay the £60 fine. Otherwise it would become £100. 3days to respond to reminder when I haven't received a first letter? I understand the ticket must be issued 28days after the initial parking charge incident other wise it's a breach of the data protection act, but I wasn't contacted and had no correspondence from the 8th August at all until a reminder on the 26th?


I immediately responded to this by trying to call the company. Conveniently it is an automated service where I can speak to no one.


I then responded with an appeal, I included all the information you see above as well as reminding them that all of my actions above can be seen on CCTV. I asked that I be given a route to complain as customer service is zero and the fact they are trying to charge me to walk around a car park with faulty machines FOR 13 MINUTES is ridiculous.


They declined my appeal, they replied with a bog standard reply dated 6th August, "your recent appeal has been unsuccessful due to the fact the car park is a 'pay&display/paid parking' only. Our records show you did not purchase a valid parking ticket or the appropriate parking time on the date of the parking event. However, as a gesture of goodwill, we have extended the discount period for a further 14days from the date of this correspondence"


So they didn't read a word I said in my appeal? They mention nothing about the fact that their pay and display service was not in working order and the fact they should be apologising for MY inconvenience on the day, they mention nothing about complaints to their own customer service department (as i believe there is none) It seems to me they only care about the money not the actual circumstances. I am not very happy that they can get away with this, how many other people that day drove away not being able to pay with their change, didn't have a phone, had no battery on their phone to pay had no signal, was 82years old and didn't even own a phone and have also been charged for their 10 minute stay?
I'm not making excuses for this I just know I have a right to choose not to pay by phone and leave the car park if the only other suggested method of payment is out of order.
Especially when I was standing there as a paying customer in the first place.


I hope you can help me on this matter,


Heather Corbett

The reason that popla appeal successes are not a lot higher is because people think it's a fair system and genuine issues like yours will be treated fairly so they do not feel the need, or know, to prepare an appeal which is normally a winning hand because they focus on the injustice.

That is not to say your issue shouldn't appear in an appeal to popla but it's unlikely to win you much.

What you need to do is get a popla code then formulate a great popla appeal.

I suspect they now know who the driver was which is a pity as that rules out PoFA 2012 failures but a lack of contract between the landowners and parking eye as well as not explaining the pre estimate of loss is currently the key to popla. You also need to look out for breaches of the BPA code of practice which again helps greatly so if you get pics of signage etc it'll help.

M1

[blondjoe]

Re: Parking Eye

Hi, I got a ticket off parking eye in Dec 2012 for overstaying 29 mins on a Sunday morning in 1 of their carparks. I looked at this forum & decided to ignore it. I have just received a letter from the court. Any advice because they now want £165. Its not as if I was stopping customers from using the shop as the carpark was virtually empty. thanks.

[labman]

Re: Parking Eye

It's a shame you didn't post then, as you may not have received the same advice as is written in the stickies. I edited them on July 31st, but they are already out of date again. Unfortunately a glitch in the system means I can't change anything at the moment, so it will remain out of date.

As regards your court appearance, can you give us full details of your Parking Charge Ticket please? Was it a free car park or a pay and display one? Where was it? Have you approached the shop to which you went to tell the manager the hassle it has caused you? etc.....

[mystery1]

Re: Parking Eye

Hi, I got a ticket off parking eye in Dec 2012 for overstaying 29 mins on a Sunday morning in 1 of their carparks. I looked at this forum & decided to ignore it. I have just received a letter from the court. Any advice because they now want £165. Its not as if I was stopping customers from using the shop as the carpark was virtually empty. thanks.

The advice depends on you.

If you think you can turn up at court and defend yourself and in rare cases go to appeal then that's what to do. There is a strong case to be made.

If you think you can't do court yourself then try and negotiate a smaller payment and pay.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...yedefence1.pdf

That is the kind of stuff they will throw at you. (not mine so if the user changes it i can't help that)

Note the standard parking eye sign.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=62757

Compare that to the sign. You have a case don't you ?

Read all the guff from parking eye about costs.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?...post&id=16231)

http://www.farrarsbuilding.co.uk/cms...-v-B-K_001.pdf

Bull$hit baffles brains.

You have a case. Do you have the will ?


Also the post on pepipoo you wrote is going to get the reply " one case one thread start you're own thread"

M1

[labman]

Re: Parking Eye

Excellent post M1 thank you. I'm trying to get the headings changed here so that people can start their own threads, but I don't think it is possible to do at present sadly. I can't help feeling members are getting lost and suffering here because everything gets muddled in one massive thread.

LB is even struggling to get editing permissions etc... resolved at the moment which is very unfortunate.

[DavoDavo]

Parking Eye at Sheraton Heathrow

Hello All,
I just found this forum/thread.
I recently got back to Australia and have just received a demand from Parking Eye, dated 1/8/13 for Date of Event of 27/7/13, for 60 pounds - or 100 pounds if I don't pay by the discounted due date.
The parking charge notice is for overstaying by 13 minutes at the Sheraton Heathrow car park.
I spent about 15 minutes checking in and unloading our luggage from the rental car, then parked the car in a vacant parking spot (the parking lot was nearly empty) while we cleaned out the car prior to returning it to Europcar at Heathrow.
Europcar have charged my credit card 30 pounds + VAT of 6 pounds for the 'service' of sending me the parking charge!
So, given that I live permanantly in Australia can I ignore the parking charge?

Also, since the parking charge is not a fine, can I demand a refund from Europcar for the 36 pounds, reason being it is not a speeding or parking fine issued by the authorities, i.e., not a "traffic violation" as the Europcar covering letter states?
The letter also states that they are complying with their legal obligations of supplying my details to the issuing body, my thoughts are that if it is not a traffic violation then they have no legal obligation to do so and, ergo, they had no right to charge my credit card.

I await a quick answer from a reliable source please as the discounted due date is only four days away - the demand has only just lobbed into my letterbox! (it was date stamped 05 AUG 2013 as being received by Europcar).

Note:
The photocopy of the parking charge notice says at the bottom "Further information including how to pay, the right of appeal etc. can be found on the reverse of this notice." The reverse of the page is blank - obviously Europcar did not think to copy that side! So if I want to appeal or, (heaven forbid) pay, I don't have that information (yes, I know I could probably get that info from their web site, I'm just outlining all the facts).
Also, I live in Australia, Parking Eye can take me to court if they want to but they aren't going to get far with it I'd think - would they even bother?

Many thanks,
Dave

[mystery1]

Re: Parking Eye

So, given that I live permanantly in Australia can I ignore the parking charge?

You can but to be honest for the sake of a few emails you should be able to put it to bed forever.

Also, since the parking charge is not a fine, can I demand a refund from Europcar for the 36 pounds, reason being it is not a speeding or parking fine issued by the authorities, i.e., not a "traffic violation" as the Europcar covering letter states?

Read the terms and conditions and see what they say. Even if they are against you a few emails may see them drop it. If the t&c's are with you then happy days.

I await a quick answer from a reliable source please as the discounted due date is only four days away - the demand has only just lobbed into my letterbox! (it was date stamped 05 AUG 2013 as being received by Europcar).

I wouldn't pay it whatever i did.

Also, I live in Australia, Parking Eye can take me to court if they want to but they aren't going to get far with it I'd think - would they even bother?

Stupidity and greed are not a good mix for common sense. They may or may not drop it.


Get on the Europcar case.

Appeal to parking Eye. I owe you nothing. Your charge is a penalty. I was not parked but merely unloading. I never saw any signs. Etc etc.

They say p!ss off you appeal to popla and win.

Simples.

M1

[labman]

Re: Parking Eye at Sheraton Heathrow

Hello All,
I just found this forum/thread.
I recently got back to Australia and have just received a demand from Parking Eye, dated 1/8/13 for Date of Event of 27/7/13, for 60 pounds - or 100 pounds if I don't pay by the discounted due date.
The parking charge notice is for overstaying by 13 minutes at the Sheraton Heathrow car park.
I spent about 15 minutes checking in and unloading our luggage from the rental car, then parked the car in a vacant parking spot (the parking lot was nearly empty) while we cleaned out the car prior to returning it to Europcar at Heathrow.
Europcar have charged my credit card 30 pounds + VAT of 6 pounds for the 'service' of sending me the parking charge!
So, given that I live permanantly in Australia can I ignore the parking charge? Technically the advice would be to appeal, get a POPLA code, defend and see if you are successful there (approx two thirds of appeals which go to POPLA are successful - there is a letter HERE which would give you ideas for grounds of appeal). Realistically though, waht are they going to do if they get a court judgment against. It's a long way to go to enforce it.

Also, since the parking charge is not a fine, can I demand a refund from Europcar for the 36 pounds, reason being it is not a speeding or parking fine issued by the authorities, i.e., not a "traffic violation" as the Europcar covering letter states?
The letter also states that they are complying with their legal obligations of supplying my details to the issuing body, my thoughts are that if it is not a traffic violation then they have no legal obligation to do so and, ergo, they had no right to charge my credit card.

No, you can't reclaim the money. Their T&C's for the UK state:

Fine & Charges


You are liable for the payment of all charges, fees & costs arising from any congestion charge, bus lane penalties, speeding fines, road traffic offence, or parking offence involving the vehicle, including costs from the vehicle being clamped, seized or towed away & any charges/costs (or failure to pay) of the appropriate organisation if & when they ask for these payments and our administration fee.



I await a quick answer from a reliable source please as the discounted due date is only four days away - the demand has only just lobbed into my letterbox! (it was date stamped 05 AUG 2013 as being received by Europcar).

Note:
The photocopy of the parking charge notice says at the bottom "Further information including how to pay, the right of appeal etc. can be found on the reverse of this notice." The reverse of the page is blank - obviously Europcar did not think to copy that side! So if I want to appeal or, (heaven forbid) pay, I don't have that information (yes, I know I could probably get that info from their web site, I'm just outlining all the facts).
Also, I live in Australia, Parking Eye can take me to court if they want to but they aren't going to get far with it I'd think - would they even bother? Possibly, just to get a default judgment against someone to add to their list of supposed "successes."

Many thanks,
Dave

As you live in Australia, it is highly improbable they would ever catch up with you, or even pursue you. However, they would almost certainly get a County Court Judgment against you in the UK which is a civil issue, not criminal. Only you can decide whether you are prepared to have one of those.

I don't know how long you are due to remain in the UK, but if I were you, I'd be inclined to use the letter linked above to put together an appeal, get a POPLA code and appeal to POPLA. The chances are your appeal, if good, would be upheld and there would be no further issues.

If you're due to leave the UK imminently, again personally, I'd be inclined to ignore it. What can they do?

I hope this helps. As ever on this site, all we can do is offer opinion, and you must decide for yourself. In your shoes I wouldn't be worrying unduly though.

Shame really they don't still deport people to Australia - it could have saved you some money! lol :beagle:

[DavoDavo]

Re: Parking Eye at Sheraton Heathrow

Hi All,
Thanks for the replies.
I have read the sample letter you have referred to but it doesn't seem to apply to my case much at all. Still thinking about it though.

To clarify:
I was on holiday in UK and returned to Australia, where I am permanently domiciled, on 29/7/13 - arriving home on 31/7/13.

I have not received any communication from Parking Eye, just a copy of the first page of the parking charge notice which was included with the Europcar letter.

Further thoughts...
The invoice from Europcar is headed TRAFFIC VIOLATION INVOICE; since I have not violated any traffic laws it would seem to me that they don't have any grounds to charge my credit card. Their T&Cs may well include 'other charges' but they have sent me an invoice for a traffic violation, which I have not incurred.
Additionally, they have charged me VAT on the 30 pounds fee. I live in Australia and UK VAT does not apply to anything I buy online from the UK. Europcar have provided a service that, legally, I 'bought' from them after the time I arrived back in Australia (their invoice is dated 13/8/13 and the charge on my credit card is dated 20/8/13). It seems to me that they should not have charged me the VAT. In any case I have yet to closely examine my rental car contract with Europcar, so I am as yet undecided what to do about them.

What does concern me is that Parking Eye may well send further correspondence regarding the parking charge to Europcar, if they do then Europcar will undoubtedly charge my credit card again for a further 36 pounds - despite the fact that they have stated that they have given Parking Eye my details and the assumption is that they have washed their hands of the affair. I'm seriously thinking about cancelling my credit card right now to avoid any further charges by Europcar.

Finally, if Parking Eye do decide to do the County Court thing, how could they possibly think it could be enforced seeing as I do not live in the UK and have no address there? What would be the ramifications, if any, if that were to occur?

Thanks,
Dave.
:yo:

[charitynjw]

Re: Parking Eye

Pssst labman, I've searched on here http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/...uides/convicts for DavoDavo, but can't find anything.

1867 since the last ship sailed, & they're still at it!