Should I further appeal a Napier Parking Fine ?

[-]

Southern-Orchid-1786@reddit

Where do their T&C's say you should pay before you park? Have they provided spaces to facilitate such waiting?

[-]

PotStirringShatHouse@reddit (OP)

This was in their reply letter. It does not state this in the T&C’s in the car park signage. I have photos of the signage. Outside the car park there is on street parking, which was all full at the time, otherwise we would have just used this in the first place, and everywhere else is double yellow lines. It’s a small car park really, maybe for around 40 cars, and is located off a single lane side street

[-]

Southern-Orchid-1786@reddit

Just respond saying this and provide a copy of signage.

[-]

Psychological-Arm844@reddit

Assuming private parking company. Ignore. Never engage.

[-]

chillinoodle@reddit

Bad advice, they can take you to court and get enforcement officers to take your stuff. By all means don't roll over but don't ignore either.

[-]

Psychological-Arm844@reddit

Sorry, realised I said this in a moment of haste, I’m Scottish and didn’t check the sub, thought this was referring to a parking fine received at Napier University in Edinburgh. My advice applies to Scotland only.

[-]

MorningToast@reddit

If you let it go all the way to court by refusing to pay, ignoring the letter before action and dealing with the pushy third party collectors, then lose. You're looking at the original fee, the debt collector/admin fee, court filing fee, hearing fee and interest of 6-8%.

Likely ~450 to 500. Plus the stress, loss of time and travel/parking expenses. They'll also ccj you and if you decide to get silly or can't pay that it'll negatively affect your credit rating.

Just pay the £60 imo. It's just not worth the hassle unless you want to make some sort of futile statement.

[-]

ohhallow@reddit

I’m a solicitor. I had very similar situation not long ago at a BS privately managed car park in Greenwich (by the Aldi/Sainsburys, avoid it) with a machine that wasn’t working an an app that wouldn’t connect. I appealed and they rejected it. I took it to the (clearly bent as hell) industry body and they rejected it.

I was then faced with a decision to either ignore it and fight it in court, or pay £100. I paid it, and I still resent it. I am confident I would have won in court, but I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle, the time or the (low) risk of a court judgment against my name and all that meant.

I’d pay the £60 if I were you, but good luck to you if you fight the bastards.

[-]

PEBKAC-Live@reddit

Just ignore it, don't respond to letters, phone calls or anything. Only respond if it comes from an actual solicitor or court.

They cant force you to pay.

I went through something similar, where I paid by app, but selected the wrong reg. They sent naby letters, including bailiff letters.

They took it all the way to court, judge threw it out in about 20 mins

[-]

Jimmy90081@reddit

My only question is why did it take 15 minutes to leave? I mean, car parks have a grace period for this reason… I’d imagine trying the app and machine was 5 minutes, maybe 10 min…….. but 15 min?!

[-]

QuiteFrankE@reddit

Doesn’t sound unreasonable to me. Finding a space, getting to the machine and several attempts to pay and then download different apps before giving up, going back to the car and exiting could take at least that amount of time.

[-]

PotStirringShatHouse@reddit (OP)

Thank you for the understanding, this was how it played out. Never had this issue before using Ringo and also Just Park. Hence why we did not foresee a fine coming. It’s not about the money, it’s purely the principle of it. They’re robbing tax paying members of the public

[-]

QuiteFrankE@reddit

You will win this. They rely on people being scared or tired of it and giving up. I had a similar issue with parking eye and they ended up backing down after a year and a half of fighting on my own. I knew I was in the right but that’s their business model and it’s how they get money.

[-]

Jimmy90081@reddit

Oh, don’t take my questions as not on your side. I sincerely hope you don’t pay them and find a way to cancel the fine. They’re all bastards with the parking costs. But those are the sort of questions folk will ask…

[-]

PotStirringShatHouse@reddit (OP)

Fair question, but we tried the machine twice and then there was a small queue of customers. So for the third time we had already stepped away from the machine to let others try and during this period we would attempt to connect to the app, which was unsuccessful due to very poor signal. So we then joined the back of the small queue for the third and final attempt before leaving

[-]

Jimmy90081@reddit

Did you get video proof for screen shots from the app failing? If everybody in the queue was failing, did you really need the third attempt?

[-]

PotStirringShatHouse@reddit (OP)

No we didn’t as I’ve never had this kind of situation before. My partner is a lawyer and even she did not think of this kind of thing happening.

As for the third attempt, we just wanted to pay for the parking and avoid the hassle of having to leave and find somewhere new, which we unfortunately had to do in the end anyway

[-]

Jimmy90081@reddit

Fair enough. At least you know for next time. Screenshots and recording… 100% in situations like this. Were there other machines in the car parks, usually they have several

[-]

PotStirringShatHouse@reddit (OP)

One machine in the car park then the only other machine around was in the street further along the road for on street parking (which was all full) with different Ringo codes on it

[-]

arseache@reddit

Reply asking for payment for wasting 15 minutes of your time

[-]

thevo1ceofreason@reddit

1: Go to ombudsman just to cause them pain

2: check Google and other reviews to see if others have had same problem and successfully evaded

3: if so, copy their approach

[-]

Alexander-Wright@reddit

Keep all correspondence, the judge would have great amusement reading their messages that you should stop outside the carpark and then walk in to buy a ticket.

[-]

PotStirringShatHouse@reddit (OP)

Honestly I couldn’t believe the logic.

Park on double yellow lines, leave your car, pay for a space and then drive around the car park hoping there’s a space vacant for you

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

Please help keep AskUK welcoming!

When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.