4 weeks ago I was in Aberdeen working at Royal Infirmary, I stayed in a hotel in town the night before. Holiday Inn Express on Chapel Street for those who know the city.
Hotel website says parking is onsite. So I parked in it, went into the hotel and checked in, asked the guy on reception if I had to register the car reg. Everywhere you go nowadays the hotel will ask you to put your reg on the car park owners tablet on the check in desk and then they charge you for the period (sometimes if you're lucky its included).
Anyway, guy tells me that I needed to pre register for parking as it is limited, he recommended the multi at the bottom of the street. I put my bag in my room and went to shift the car.
3 weeks later through the letterbox pops a fine for £100 for non payment of parking, 22 mins parking to be precise.
I appealed the fine, I said the hotel was booked for me by a colleague and I was quick to move the car once I had checked in and understood I was not allowed to park there. The car park was only half full but I was not allowed to register for parking once I had arrived, 24hrs notice apparently. I took the car down to the multi and bought a ticket, a full 58 seconds after leaving the hotel car park.
Appeal rejected. I had not complied with their terms and conditions.
I hate these organisations, designed to obfuscate and confuse at every step. You have to pre register your car, you can't pay on site unless you have pre registered, you can't avoid a fine even if you drive in and out without stopping.
Writing to the POPLA thing tomorrow with an email, wish me luck.
I've had a ticket overturned through POPLA a couple of years ago, not in Scotland but the car park operator refused my initial appeal as they claimed I'd parked in a staff car park at a hospital in Gateshead when it was clearly signed as for public use, and I had proof of payment. I think the car park operator was called Parking Eye, no way of speaking to them and lots of reviews on Trustpilot with similar issues, good luck
Appeal rejected. I had not complied with their terms and conditions.
Do you have a copy of the full T+Cs? Worth looking for a reasonable period or similar being mentioned. I was in an app-only car park not that long ago and was sent a ticket via the NPR camera that timed your stay. In the T+Cs they mentioned a 'grace period' but not how long that period was, so with evidence and reasons for a very short stay but no ticket plus a photo of that grace period in the T+Cs listed on site, the appeal was successful.
you can't avoid a fine even if you drive in and out without stopping.
Consumer Rights Act is on your side in that a system can't be designed in a way that makes it unreasonably difficult to comply or understand how to.
Plus you had to stay in that Holiday Inn Express. It isn't a nice example of the brand to say the least. On my banned list alongside the nearby Travelodge for having really smelly and dirty rooms whenever I've stayed there.
Hotel website says parking is onsite.your best bet is to politely point out the problem to the hotel management - they usually have some way to tell the parking company to piss off. You don’t need to threaten them directly but it should be obvious to them that avoiding negative feedback on trip advisor and any booking website used makes it worth their while solving the customers issue.
presumably actually a parking charge notice (invoice) only courts can issue fines. If it actually says fine anywhere on it you will have a good chance of getting off. If it is an invoice it’s a contractual matter between you and the car park operator and the question then becomes were there unfair contract terms. I think you may come unstuck with this:3 weeks later through the letterbox pops a fine
because as soon as you identified there was a problem you didn’t rectify it immediately - you took some extra minutes by completing going to your room. But of course the important point is what does the signage say. If the signage very clearly says “prebooked car park users only” your case is very weak. If it says “hotel customers” that is different. But if the signage states “pay X here” and you just moved the car that is also a problem. The industry seems to expect a grace period to allow you to read the T&Cs and decide to park / use the payment app etc, but I think 22 minutes would be exceptional.I put my bag in my room and went to shift the car.
Speak to the hotel and get them to waive the charge. This must happen all the time with that sort of setup.
you can't avoid a fine even if you drive in and out without stopping.
Yes you can - any decent PPC has to be a member of either BPA or IPC and hence comply with the codes of practice and that lays out times that you are allowed before you are ticketed to enable you to identify the T&C and decide if you want to park. I think 10 mins broadly, but can vary depending on size and type of car park. And if you aren't a member of one of these two then you can't (legally, at least) obtain details from the DVLA which severely limits ability to operate.
Yes, appeal to POPLA but have a good reason why it took 22.
And also appeal to the hotel directly, the PPC is their contract and they have some clout in keeping their customers happy
Just tell them you weren’t the driver……. 😉
...or just ignore them, and then claim your dog ate the dox, or some such thing. That works brilliantly, recent threads suggest.
(Don't. It doesn't)
If it's a private company chasing you just ignore...... https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/law-and-courts/parking-tickets/parking-tickets-on-private-land-s/
There is a grace period of 10 minutes in their Code of Practice, which I (my wife) have successfully used twice through POPLA, after Parking Eye rejected my appeal.
You might want to have a look at THIS forum, and maybe post there for advice, before submitting an appeal to POPLA - you only get one shot
Another thought, you say it was three weeks after the "incident" you got the letter. I'm sure they have to contact the registered keeper within 14 days for it to be a valid charge. This might be outdated now, or different for Scotland.
If it's a private company chasing you just ignore......
As per previous post I wonder if tpbiker has managed to get his Sheriff's court judgement reversed and credit rating restored after 'ignoring' (gross oversimplification of a complex problem)
Bluntly, that's crap advice nowadays.
your best bet is to politely point out the problem to the hotel management - they usually have some way to tell the parking company to piss off
this should definitely be the next move. Had to do similar in the past and the issue vanished in no time
Thanks all for the advice.
I'll get onto the hotel tomorrow, it was the guy on reception that suggested I put my bags in the room first as I had plenty of time.
The reason for the 22 mins is a combination of parking the car, a 27 point turn was involved due to the massive amount of space you get in car parks these days, getting bags from car, walking to reception, standing in a queue whilst 3 other people checked in, putting bags in 3rd floor room and returning to car. The camers are at the entrance to the car park which is underneath the hotel.
or just ignore them, and then claim your dog ate the dox, or some such thing. That works brilliantly, recent threads suggest.
(Don't. It doesn't)
Aimed at me..
No don't ignore it..(not sure why you are making out i did, when ive been entirely transparent on what happened)
As an aside, there have been some positive developments in my case..
Selective quote there / read on a bit to a response where someone said ignore it (at least I was joking) - I comment that it wasn't simple.
As per previous post I wonder if tpbiker has managed to get his Sheriff's court judgement reversed and credit rating restored after 'ignoring' (gross oversimplification of a complex problem)
- but it's not for me to rerake your coals in a thread that has gone quiet and maybe for good reasons; up to you if you want to but glad to hear of positive developments.
Fair play, hadn't read your follow-up post.
Basically..sheriff has arranged a call with me this month, where he will decide if i intentionally ignored the letter and if I have a solid defense in law as to whether I am responsible for paying the fine in the first place. I didn't, and I'm not.
The latter (im informed) isn't up for debate, the former we'll have to decide what he says. If he agrees the original ruling is overturned and I'll be invited to court to state my defense.
Good stuff, hope the other situation got fixed, whatever that looks like.