Timtin (everyone) Sorry I haven't been back to keep you informed. After getting the ticket and appealing, they said they wouldn't accept the appeal and I still had to pay. I phoned them and said that I was given an indication that all I had to do was appeal and say i was a customer and they would let me off. I wrote again, after the phone call and explained the situation on the day and why I thought is overly zealous. In the letter, I said that if they don't accept my appeal then please could they send the two photographs they took of my car and return the origianl ticket to me so I could build a case for when they go to the small claims court. They just wrote to say, I don't have to pay. They are bullies and I bullied back, basically saying "come on then!". Also, I spoke to the Manager of Staples who was pretty reasonable and said he has the power to get the ticket cancelled if you take the ticket to him. But you must have the ticket that was issued. I think the advice should be that if you get one of these tickets you should march into Staples and cause a scene until they phone and cancel it. To me, £70.50 is worth making a big scene. What they should do, is include a note with the ticket saying this: "If you have shopped at the stores whilst parked in the car park, please take this ticket to the store and have it cancelled out". Then they would stop people who want to abuse the free parking by simply shopping elsewhere. But then an idea like that is going to be way beyond them. Oh, and another thing I put in the second letter was a note about how much onconvenience I had caused to the stores by going 4 minutes over the hour? (If indeed I did). In other words, how much are they "out of pocket" as a result of my actions? That long winded enough is it? Happy Christmas to all of you reasonable people. PS: Timtin, do get in touch. [email protected]

Hi I have ben the victim of A.S. Securi-T. I parked outside Staples and Maplins in Leicester and was issued a ticket for going over the hour despite spending money in both the stores. The ticket was issued by a member of the Staples staff and I saw him taking a photograph of the car and walking away. I questioned him and was told to appeal as I'd been a customer of both stores and I would be let off. When I examined the ticket I noticed the ticket was timed at 15.56 I checked my receipt fro Maplins and the time on the receipt was 15.49 It took me all of 20 seconds to get from Maplins to the car and the ticket had already been written out and fixed to the window. So, basically, he cheated. I called A.S. Securi-T and was reassured I would be let off if I sent in a letter with photocopies etc. They turned down my appeal and say I still have to pay £70.50 I will look at the links but any advice would be appreciated. thejedi, did you have any luck? Antoninus