Forgot to mention - nothing immediately visible on the site when I booked about a refund policy, nor did the wife see anything. There may be something in the small print, but not immediately visible, and no links to the T&C's anywhere in the booking process prior to confirming payment (just been through and checked).

Hi, I bought some tickets for a comedy club this coming friday via the club's website and have arranged to pick the tickets up on the door. My wife (not realising I had booked them) also booked tickets for us. Both of us used debit cards on the club's websites and arranged to pick the tickets up. On calling the club to arrange to refund the tickets that we didn't need, we were told that it wasn't the company's policy to refund tickets unless the show was a sell out and they could sell the tickets on. This sounds like b*****ks to me, but thought I'd ask if anyone has any experience in this area. The manager will be calling me back tomorrow, so where do I stand on this? Cheers, TIB

Update: Contacted the company this morning and they're asking for £430 cash for a release fee!! Any suggestions??

Hi, Went out for the works Christmas party tonight with a colleague and paid to park in a private car park. On returning to the car about 4 1/2 hours later (at most 30 mins later than planned) we found that it was missing and that there were some men using a low loader to move another car. They refused to/were not able to tell us if they had moved our car and drove off. Fortunately we have a picture of their license plate, so should be able to trace them if needed later on. There was a phone number to call next to the ticketing point, but it was automated and will not be open until 9am tomorrow. Is this sort of situation analagous to a private pcn/invoice which is not legally enforcable? What will be the best way of dealing with the company when we go to pick up the car tomorrow - pay by cheque and cancel it? Credit card payment appealed by being under duress or refuse to pay and call the police one the car is located for a theft charge? Any other suggestions? Thanks, TIB

Hi All, Had an email from a friend of mine and was wondering what the Forum's collective wisdom would be. Cheers! TIB Message starts: Hi, I'm looking for some advice/opinions. I recently received an email (followed by a letter) from a housing association, claiming I owe them ~£76 rent arrears from when I was an F1 working in X hospital. I was there for 4 months in 2006 and accommodation was still free for PRHO's/F1's. The letter came completely out of the blue, but stated the debt must be paid within a week, or further action would be taken (exactly what wasn't defined). I contacted the Hospital who have now looked into the matter (the housing association is up near Fleetwood in the North West) and they're now saying that the debt is for council tax which was not included in the free accommodation. Now it's a few years ago, but I don't remember paying any council tax for the other 8 months I spent in free accommodation in another hospital. I'm also a bit put out at demands for instant payment 4 years down the line. Has anyone else had any similar experiences or does anyone have any advice? I'll be happy to pay if it is a genuine debt that I incurred and that's been being processed for all this time, it just seems a bit odd. Thank you.

Just had a thought that may be an interesting legal point after doing some reading - not sure if anyone could confirm or rebut this, but it may help people who are attending hospital appointments or work there. If the parking area is on hospital grounds it must be private property for the parking invoices to be served. If it is private property then the relevant tort that covers parking on private land is based on the assumption of trespass and proving damage. If you are employed by, or have an appointment with said hospital, then you have implied or documented permission to be on the land - therefore how can you trespass? Any mileage in this? Ta!

Hi all, quick update. I've had the form letters through from Parkforce as expected (and ignored as advised). Now have had a letter through from Debt Recovery Plus Limited. Reads as follows: Our Client Name: Parkforce Outstanding amount £135.00 Ticket/Ref number: ***** Our Reference: ****** Vehicle Registration Number: ******* Contravention Date: ********** [Name and address] Dear *, Despite previous requests for payment the above Parking Charge Notice remains unpaid. Our client has now instructed us to recover the above monies. It is essential that you settle this account without delay or contact our offices on 0844 561 0965 to discuss your proposals for payment. As a member of the British Parking Association, (BPA) and its Approved Operators Scheme (AOS) we adhere to its code of practice. Therefore we now invite you to declare whether or not you were the driver involved in the above contravention or to disclose the identity of the driver so we can avoid pursuing the wrong person. If you choose to not contact us on this invitation and in the absence of any other evidence, we will continue to pursue the vehicle keeper. If you fail to make a full payment or make contact with your proposal for payment, this account will be passed to our litigation team and legal recovery action may commence. A typical case will be referred to the County Courts for an application for a County Court Judgement. If we are successful in our application, enforcement options will include: AN ATTACHMENT OF EARNINGS ORDER COUNTY COURT BAILIFFS BEING INSTRUCTED YOUR ITEMS BEING SOLD AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO PAY THE JUDGEMENT. It will also be requested that the court award statutory interest, court costs and legal fees which will significantly increase the amount outstanding. Any court judgement lasts for 6 years and may severely affect your ability to obtain credit in the future. You can view a selection of CCJ's we have succesfully obtained against people who have ignored our correspondance on our website Debt Recovery Plus Limited, Uk Debt Recovery and Trace service Yours sincerely, Claire Robinson Collections Manager [letter ends] I'm still all for ignoring it and waiting for a court summons, but have a relative who is getting twitchy at the moment. Looked at the site and there is a short list of names/companies on the granted CCJ list but no specifics. I'm still skeptical. Does this change anything? Cheers, TIB

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm planning on ignoring the ticket completely as per your advice. Just a few questions so I understand how my situation fits in with the standard advice: 1) Does an NHS hospital car park count as public or private land, and does this make a difference if the ticket was issued by a private company anyway? 2) I understand that if a bailiff comes knocking then I can send them packing as they don't have any legal authority to do anything unless I invite them in or they have a court order following a hearing I must be made aware of. However, if I get a phone call from a third party debt collection agency on their behalf then: i) What do/can I say to them? If I've ignored everything up to this point then I technically haven't disputed that I was the driver as well as the registered keeper. By saying anything to the debt collection agency along the lines of "this debt is in dispute" does that mean I accept that a contract existed and that their claim is acknowledged but I'm disputing it? ii) Is there any data protection legislation that I can use to ask them how they obtained my phone number or other contact details as I did not give my information to the DVLA or any other third party for this purpose. iii) If the hospital trust owns the land I was parked on, can Parkforce approach them for details of my employment there? Technically I'm employed by a different trust (as are all the trainees in the region), so any verification that I even work there (e.g. as opposed to I was there as a patient) would have to come from my department rather than HR, or they would have to approach my employing trust (an entirely different organisation). iv) Can I be summonsed to court due to being the registered keeper as opposed to the driver? My understanding from reading the boards is that the contract exists between the car park owners and the driver, not the registered keeper, and as Parkforce aren't a government agency I'm under no legal obligation to respond to any requests for information by them. Can they issue a court summons to the registered keeper if they haven't proven I was also the driver? I'm aware they will probably send some bluff and bluster letter or five, but if they haven't proven I was driving can they (or more properly the courts) issue a summons to the registered keeper as a named/interested party? v) If it does go to court and I don't attend for whatever reason, can a judgement be passed in absentia or via some online mechanism I've heard alluded to? 3) If I don't get my car park pass authorised for whatever reason, will I still be able to park in the same place and employ the same strategies in future? ;-) Its small things like this that are making the NHS incredibly unpopular with most people who work in it!! I usually end up coming in about an hour early in the morning and leave about an hour late, don't/can't claim the overtime but see it as part of my professional duty to do so. So when some small-minded administator or arse with a pad of tickets does something like give out crappy tickets, it really makes my **** boil!! Thanks, TIB

Hi, New user and first post - I've already checked through the FAQ's and read through the forums about Parkforce and their behaviour......I just need to check something with the fora. I'm a doctor and as part of our training we rotate around different hospitals every 6 months or so. We are employed nominally by one hospital trust so most of the time getting hospital specific documentation done is a nightmare before starting at a new hospital. I started working at x-hospital in early January and applied for a parking permit on my first day there (including getting the forms stamped and signed by the head of department-not particularly straightforward!). I parked in the multi-story car park there (there is nowhere else available to park on site) and as I'd applied for my car parking permit I didn't pay for parking, thinking that if there was a problem I could explain it and common sense may prevail........ Anyway, after 2 weeks of crappy blizzards and just managing to get in the weather improved and I continued to park in the multi-story. I still hadn't been issued my parking permit (apparently there is a meeting once a month where they discuss who to grant them to and it hasn't occurred yet) but with a 40 mile commute, no-one to car share with and no other way of getting to work I had no choice but to park there, and I thought it was unfair that I would have to pay about £8/day to park at work! So I finished work and came out to find a PCN from Parkforce (the usual £30 if you pay within 7 days --> £85 if DVLA become involved etc). There was a very grainy picture of a car (same make and model as mine but unable to see license plate on picture due to quality) parked with the date, time, my cars make, registration number and model on a sticker attached to the notice stating that I had no pay and display ticket. I went to see the estates manager about it and she said that once the ticket had been issued she could do nothing about it and that I would have to appeal it with Parkforce. In this situation where I don't have a ticket, have already applied for a parking permit and have no alternate way of getting to work and no other area to park in other than the hospital multi-story, can I safely ignore the notice in line with the advice for other PCN's on this site? I'm ****ed off with all the inefficiencies of the current system and if I can successfully appeal the ticket will be letting all of the other trainees in the region and hospital know how to go about it! Is there anything else that I should be aware of, or can I ignore the PCN until the letter comes through the door and then deal with it using the normal templates? Cheers, TakeItBaby