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Over 2 weeks ago (21.01.2008) I parked in an Excel Parking car park lot above a supermarket in Sheffield. I typed my car registration into their machine and bought a ticket, which I then stuck on the drivers side window. I returned after 24 minutes (well within the 2 hour time slot I'd paid for) and left, thinking no more of it.
Today I received a 'parking charge notice' demanding £60 claiming I parked without displaying a valid ticket. Very poor, grainy images of my car have been included.
I am understandably livid - I have of course discarded the ticket that day, as they gave me no idea on that day that there was likely to be a problem. Surely this is wrong, not placing a ticket on my vehicle?
Do I have a leg to stand on? I haven't yet written to them, what course of action do you advise?
I know many of you advise requesting the company to prove who was driving the car on that day but that seems to end in a flurry of exchanged correspondance after that, which sounds dreadful.
I also feel that I shouldn't need to go down that route as I actually had a valid ticket. My only crime is that I stuck it in the drivers window rather than on the windscreen! If I entered my car reg number in their machine to get my ticket, shouldn't they have a record of that?
I know many of you advise requesting the company to prove who was driving the car on that day but that seems to end in a flurry of exchanged correspondance after that, which sounds dreadful.
More dreadful than £60?
I also feel that I shouldn't need to go down that route as I actually had a valid ticket. My only crime is that I stuck it in the drivers window rather than on the windscreen! If I entered my car reg number in their machine to get my ticket, shouldn't they have a record of that?
So you're back to a flurry of exchanged correspondance
It is illegal for them to stick a ticket on your windscreen and stupid for any driver to do so, so you used your common sense and stuck it on the drivers window where it should be.
Check first off if it says the ticket must be in the windscreen or just says must be displayed.
If it just says displayed then you can put all the blame on the attendant for not doing his job properly.
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I can understand your unwillingness to receive letter after letter from Excel or their debt collectors but that, unfortunately is what is going to happen.
You will write claiming to have a valid ticket. Excel will write back with a standard letter "Your appeal has been rejected...." and then the nonsense will start.
Welcome to the club. Stand firm, despite their threats, they havn't got a leg to stand on. DO NOT PAY.
The maddening thing is that there wasn't an attendant. This all seems to have been done via computer after the date. Had they let me know that day there was a problem I could have kept my ticket but instead they left it 2 and a half weeks. Who keeps tickets that long?
I have come round to the belief that the best way to handle it is to request proof of the drivers identity from them, which I doubt they can supply.
However, I do feel I should complain to the BPA about the practice of not notifying someone that day that a) there is a problem (giving people the opportunity of saving any evidence) and b) that their details are being requested from the DVLA (contravening their 'voluntary' code of practice).
Why have a code of practice if it is voluntary? Whoever drew that up wasted hours of their life.
The maddening thing is that there wasn't an attendant. This all seems to have been done via computer after the date. Had they let me know that day there was a problem I could have kept my ticket but instead they left it 2 and a half weeks. Who keeps tickets that long?
I have come round to the belief that the best way to handle it is to request proof of the drivers identity from them, which I doubt they can supply.
However, I do feel I should complain to the BPA about the practice of not notifying someone that day that a) there is a problem (giving people the opportunity of saving any evidence) and b) that their details are being requested from the DVLA (contravening their 'voluntary' code of practice).
Why have a code of practice if it is voluntary? Whoever drew that up wasted hours of their life.
IMO their voluntary code of practice is just a way of getting round the data protection legislation with the DVLA and giving a semblance of legality to what their members are up to.
The BPA won't even follow up on an individual complaint. Never mind that their members might be sailing close to the wind on legal issues.
Yesterday I received parking charge Notice for an alleged contravention of parking without a valid ticket on the 21st January.
I am very much aggrieved by this as I had purchased and displayed a valid ticket. As I entered my vehicle licence number in your ticket machine, you should have a record of this. Had you placed any notice on my car that day, I would have had the opportunity to retain this as evidence.
I have taken legal advice given your appalling methods.
1. As I bought and displayed a valid ticket, I have not breached any kind of contract. I do not recognise the existence of any contract.
2. As I paid for a ticket, there have been no losses to your company. This £60 you request therefore constitutes a penalty.
3. By not placing any notice on my car, you directly breach point 3.2 of the DVLA code of conduct pertaining to the enforcement of parking restrictions on private land. You obtained my personal details from the DVLA without my prior knowledge.
I will be discussing your methods with the DVLA and making a formal complaint about their disclosure of my personal details. They had no reasonable cause to make a disclosure as I had not contravened any parking restrictions. They are therefore in contravention of the Data Protection Act 1984 which is a criminal offence.
I have copied this letter to both Somerfield Head Office and the British Parking Association, as I feel they should both be aware of how you are operating. I am more than prepared to see you in court and I would expect you to present evidence from your ticket machine. Should you be unable to do this, I would expect you to explain why.
This debt is in dispute. This is my final answer and should you continue to issue me with demands for money I will consider it harassment as outlined by the Administration of Justice Act 1970.
Yours sincerely
And to the DVLA, who give out our personal information willy nilly to randon companies for the purpose of extortion:
Dear Sir / Madam
Vehicle registration mark: XXXX XXX
I am writing regarding an inappropriate release of my personal information. I received parking charge Notice for an alleged contravention of parking without a valid ticket on the 21st January from a company called Excel parking.
I am very much aggrieved by this as I had purchased and displayed a valid ticket. I have contacted them to remedy this matter.
My complaint with you is two fold.
By not placing any notice on my car, Excel Parking directly breached point 3.2 of the DVLA code of conduct pertaining to the enforcement of parking restrictions on private land. You supplied my personal details without my prior knowledge to a company not operating within the code of conduct.
Additionally, as I had not contravened any parking restrictions you had no reasonable cause to make a disclosure. You are therefore in contravention of the Data Protection Act 1984 which is a criminal offence. Disclosure of this information has caused me personal distress and has wasted a great deal of my time.
I expect correspondence from you expressing regret and explaining how soon you are going to remove Excel parking from the list of companies you make disclosures to. Please consider how many people feel threatened into paying these demands. By not placing notices on cars that same day, they do not give people the opportunity to retain their tickets as evidence. They can then attempt to extort money from people who do not have the resources to realise this is wrong.
If the above is not forthcoming I will discuss my complaint with the Information Commissioner. As I am sure you are aware, any individual who suffers distress by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of the Data Protection Act is entitled to compensation.
Yours sincerely
I would like to thank everyone for their support and advice.
Fair play to you for sticking to your guns. You have foregone the registered keeper defence but no matter, throwing down the gauntlet to Excel, saying "put up or shut up" is a better thing.
I really can't see Excel taking you up on your challenge - they haven't done with anybody so far.
The letter to DVLA is a great idea. If everyone did this then all those £2.50s collected would seem more like a liability than an asset to them.
Lets see now if Excel actually read the letters or will you just get a dreary standard "your appeal has been rejected" response - time will tell.
Post by me are intended as a discussion of the issues involved, as these are of general interest to me and others on the forum. Although it is hoped such discussion will be of use to readers, before exposing yourself to risk of loss you should not rely on any principles discussed without confirming the situation with a qualified person.
Yeah thats sticking it to them big style. Way to go. I love the pop at the DVLA. As BB has said if more people called them up on this release of private data they might review its release.
You've been caught on ANPR cameras. You have so many minutes from driving into the car park to enter your reg number into the P&D machine. Are you sure you put your reg number into the machine correctly? It may be that you simply entered your number incorrectly.
To back this statement up, today I received the following letter from Excel:
Dear Dr
Following an audit on our system, it has been brought to our attention that you have recently received a pcn for parking at the Broomhill rooftop car park.
Our audit has shown that this PCN was sent to you in error, as we are aware that you did purchase a Pay and Display ticket on the day in question.
Please accept our sincere apologies, and be assured that you will hear no more from us regarding this matter.
Yours sincerely
Never expected it to end like this - feel all deflated now!!!
I don't understand your comment about CCTV enforcement. If no one notifes you that day that there is a problem then you have no opportunity to retain evidence, which is what happened to me. A notice on the windscreen is surely the best way to do that.
The CCTV photos sent to me of my car were grainy and incomplete. Only a quarter of my car was visible from the rear, I cannot imagine they would be accepted in a court of law.
Good result. A small tick to excel. Someone there obviously reads letters and does not just yawn when there isn't a cheque and reach for the stock template reply rejecting the "appeal"
Only a small tick though - wont ever condone anyone trying to falsely administer penalty charges - EVER.
I have been considering sending them an invoice.
I reckon locum agencies would get me around £30 an hour and more for my services as a doctor. Plus postage etc, I reckon it all comes to around £60. Funnily enough the amount Excel wanted from me.
Shall I bill them and see how they like demands for money?
In January 2007, Excel issued me with a pcn for an overstay of precisely 240 seconds in a car park. The warden was just starting to write the ticket as I got back to the car. Of course, he would not budge on the issuing of the ticket. So I drove away, leaving him flapping in the breeze. Inevitably, Excel issued a PCN for the less-than-5-minute 'offence'.
I wrote back saying I had never heard of such a farcical situation, and that in contract law their action would be seen as disproportionate and punitive. They issued further letters from debt collection agencies threatening court action. As each letter came I responded by saying effectively "put up or shut up" and challenged them to issue proceedings.
To my delight, they did! But not before I had carefully answered each of their letters and phoney demands with a robust yet polite rebuttal.
Prior to court, the judge offered an opportunity for mediation by telephone. Happily, on the day of the planned mediation, Excel's representative was 'in a meeting'. Undeterred, the mediator rooted out this busy Excel executive later that day and discussed some home truths with them.
To the shock of many readers I'm sure, Excel decided, at the 11th hour, to withdraw the case. Fancy that - Excel issuing a string of letters, then not actually having the balls to see it through! Can you believe that?
I wrote finally to Excel to express my disgust at their timewasting approach, preying on those with the least power to resist in the hope they'll cough up. But not me! To my delight I have now received a letter from them apologising for all the distress caused. How nice of them!
SO DO NOT PAY. GRIT YOUR TEETH AND FIGHT BACK. IT WORKS
Oh and by the way - I have passed a file on them to the police, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and the British Parking Association on the basis that no publicity is bad publicity.....is it, Excel??
There have been a few mentions of the data protection act and the misuse of such.
The DVLA website states the following:
Here are some circumstances where the applicant might be able to demonstrate that they have reasonable cause for obtaining the information.
• To trace the keeper of an abandoned vehicle or a vehicle involved in an minor accident (for example, if a car has been driven into and damaged another vehicle, then been driven away).
• To trace the keeper of a vehicle which has been driven away from a petrol station without paying for fuel or which has been driven without payment of any toll which applies (for example, tunnel or bridge charges).
• To trace keepers who have parked on private land without paying the parking charges.
• To investigate suspected insurance fraud.
Anyone requesting information for these, or any other, reasons should provide evidence to the DVLA which shows why their request is reasonable. Companies who ask for information must always provide details of their business activities. This deters people from pretending to have a reasonable business cause such as recovering money owed for petrol when in fact they want the keeper’s name and address for another purpose. Companies requesting information to enforce parking fees must also provide evidence to show that a parking charge scheme actually exists and that drivers are made aware that the scheme is in force.
Trading Standards wants your help
Dubious website businesses Conterfeit alcohol and cigarettes Illegal sales of alcohol, tobacco, knives & fireworks to children Cowboy builders or tradesmen Car clockers Counterfeiters Aggressive selling
Never phone or accept phonecalls from debt collection companies.
If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed.
_________________________ ________________ _________________________ ___________________
Excel parking
notice' demanding £60 claiming I parked without displaying a valid ticket. Very poor, grainy images of my car have been included.
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Originally Posted by wavydavy01
