Parking Fines - Fight the Power!

[dragstaar]

Technically this happened in my car, but its pretty much universal for bikes and cars so I thought I'd chuck it here.

Now, everyone bangs on about how you don't have to pay parking fines issued by private car parks because they are not, in fact, fines, but more of a contractual dispute (you apparently enter a contract when parking in a car park after reading all the signs). They alll say just ignore the letters and bin them. Nothing will come of them. I decided to fight the power and find out what happens, because usually I'm a big pansy and don't like the hassle and would rather just pay.

Scenario

Lidl Car park in Thornton Heath, managed by Athena ANPR Ltd. www.athena-parking.com

Athen ANPR Ltd
PO Box 306
Chertsey
KT16 6ED

They claim that on a sunday afternoon I parked in the Lidl Car Park for 3 hours, when the limit is just 1.5hours. they sent me a letter with two CCTV screen caps, time stamped with entrance and exit times.

They demanded I pay a fine of £130.

Now I know for a FACT that I was only in that car park for 20mins at most.

So I ignored the letter. Then i got another letter threatening to send it to debt collection. This, I thought, warranted a reply. So I wrote them an email.


----------

Dear Sir/Madam

I write in reference to the fraudulent letter which you sent to me on
04/07/2012. You wrote to me demanding payment for an apparent stay at
the Thornton Heath Lidl Car Park for 2 hours, 55 mins and 23 seconds.

Parking Enforcement No - 00001069794

I ignored your letter as it was a scam and completely and utterly
fraudulent. I note that you took the liberty of including some fake
evidence of my vehicle entering and leaving the car park with time
stamps, which are incorrect and fake. I did not spend 2hrs 55mins at
the car park, the stay was much closer to approximately 15mins.

However, I have now received a further fraudulent letter stating that
you will be passing my details onto a debt collection agency. I find
it difficult to believe that any genuine debt collection agency will
take on a fake debt like this, and if they do, it says a lot about
their credentials.

I have no intention of paying the monies which you are demanding,
purely based on the fact that the basis on which you make the request
is falsified. Anybody can place fake timestamps on CCTV footage.

However, please note the following before you reply to this email
stating that your demands are not fake and are very real.

- As you may know, the Lidl Car Park in Thornton Heath is located
adjacent to a Tesco Express Petrol station. Management at this petrol
station have been extremely helpful and provided me a copy of their
forecourt CCTV footage which clearly shows my vehicle entering and
leaving the Lidl Car Park within 20mins during the time period which
you allege the contravention to have occurred. This footage is
currently in my possession with the manager at the store perfectly
willing to attest to its legitimacy.

- I have a receipt for my purchases showing the time at which my goods
were paid for, evidencing the fact that I was only there for less than
20 mins.

In light of this, I would love very much to see this 3 hour CCTV
footage you apparently have of my vehicle staying in the car park. If
you are unable to provide this footage to me, then please understand
that you should cease all contact with me and try and find someone
else to scaremonger into paying you fees for fake parking
contraventions.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Dragstaar


---------

A day later, I receive this reply

Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you for your email in regards to the above parking charge.
Please be advised your charge has been cancelled and confirmation has been attached.
Regards
Athena ANPR Ltd


------------------------------------------------------------

That was it. No fight. Just a wet fart and a fold. Fucking hell, I couldn't believe the audacity of them just trying it.

I suppose my point is that these cunts should be shot. But seeing as we can't do that, we should all just realise that we shouldn't part with our hard earned and just tell them to do one. Especially when they're are lying out of their arses.

[Nick 50]

You should contact Lidl Head Office and highlight what went on. I think they would be very eager to learn of the fraudulent activities the parking company are up to.
____________________
Current Bikes: ZX7r 97 (Black Beauty), VFR400 NC24 (The banana)
Previous Bikes: Aprilia Tuono 03 (The Beast), CBR600f (97)
First bike: A GZ125 Lemon.......

[J.M.]

Nice work.

Now send them an invoice for your time spent responding to their letter.

Okay, that'll probably do nothing

A guy on that money saving forums was having a big argument with one of the credit card companies. Essentially his card got fraudently used and they wanted him to pay something and he refused.

They kept phoning him up and asking him to confirm details before they could talk to him. He often refused or had a lot of fun with the callers. The basic but easiest to remember one was like:
"Good afternoon, is this Mr X?"
"Yes."
"It's Y from Z, could you please confirm your Date of Birth so that we may talk to you about some issues regarding your account?"
"No."
"But sir, we can't talk to you unless you confirm your Date of Birth."
"I know."
*continues until caller hangs up*

Another memorable one was when he got the caller to violate the DPA by giving them slightly wrong information and then asking what they had on file, then proceeding to tell them they've just broken the DPA and hangs up.

But yeah, he went through like 17 phone calls a day sometimes and just kept messing with them until they gave up. In the end he sent an invoice to them of £50 for every phone call, text, email, etc. As you can imagine, that total came to quite a sum.

At the end of the thread it said he wasn't allowed to discuss the outcome of the settlement, which means he got paid basically.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Imonster]

It's a bit of a long read, but the attached is a highly amusing judgement/complete transcript from a couple of months ago concerning another private parking company - Vehicle Control Services. The judge wan't happy

PPC's times are numbered thankfully.
____________________
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

[Pete.]

It's almost impossible for PPC to enforce, since they have to do it under contract law. This is well documented. The No1 rule is NEVER contact the company which is demanding money - standard proceedure is to ignore, ignore, ignore and then they give up.

Don't try it with a proper council parking warden ticket - these you must either challenge or pay.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[MarJay]

Good letter, but I'd have left out the second and third paragraphs, they make you sound like a crazy ranter. It would have been much cooler to just have said "I am in posession of CCTV footage from Tesco Express (adjacent to Lidl) that proves I was only in the car park for approximately 20 minutes..." Etc.

Still, good job!
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[doggone]

So are they really making up screencaps with their own time stamps added?
I would've thought that a very serious allegation.
Not being funny but we all forget exactly what we did a week last Wednesday.

[Pol Anorl]

so which is it?
you where 20 mins..
or 3 hours?

where the screencaps fake or did you make it up...
____________________
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[Martay]

Post screen caps. It wont show anything, just want to see the effort they put into faking them.
Cheeky scamming fuckwits. Fight the powah!!
____________________
Eat well, poo hard
Drives: Cavalier 2.0 16v
Rides: Slightly ratted Honda City Express

[map]

[P.addy]

[J.M.]

[multijoy]

[Alpha-9]

Absolutely shocking, please do alert the authorities, fraud, extortion
____________________
Fzr-600 1999

[waffles]

[chris-red]

[Raffles]

I'd like to have heard what Mr Ibottson's email contained.
____________________
A good loser will always be a loser.

[Joncrete Cungle]

Dear private parking parasites,

Please explain before a judge how the losses you claim amount to £130 from what is a free car park are made up.

I look forward to seeing you in court

Joncrete Cungle

[Raffles]

[bikenoob]

After reading the transcript, am I right in thinking this case was dismissed due to the contract not including the authority to sue on behalf of wicked?

So if the contract was amended, would the case have gone the other way?
____________________
Suzuki GSXR 600 - SRAD
My Wedding Photography Site

[bikenoob]

sorry, that was *Wickes
____________________
Suzuki GSXR 600 - SRAD
My Wedding Photography Site

[Joncrete Cungle]

[bikenoob]

That may be true, but it's not why this case was dismissed. Are there any other cases that are dismissed solely because the penalties are unlawful?
____________________
Suzuki GSXR 600 - SRAD
My Wedding Photography Site

[J.M.]

[Rogerborg]