Thanks Ericsbrother - I'll stand firm and see where it gets me!

Thank you all for the responses. Yes it is MET parking that manage the CP and Midland Mainline manage the rail services. Based on your advice and the details from 'ericsbrother' I think a short letter to MET will be the best course of action followed by a letter to Midland Mainline. Do they ever weigh in?! Any one ever successfully challenged a previously upheld claim from POPLA? They seem to be as quick to overlook common sense and quote the small print as the parking providers! Fred

Hello all Need some advice on what to do next. The story so far in brief. I parked at the Warwick parkway train station car park (as I have many times) got out the car and hopped on the train to London, opened up my smart phone to access RingGo parking online and couldn't access WiFi. Kept trying and eventually managed to pay for 2 days of parking at 11.29am. When I got back to my car the next day I had a PCN issued at 10.45am. I challenged this as I was clearly not trying to avoid paying for a ticket as it costs the same for 2 days whether I park at 10am or 11.29am and just got unlucky with connecting to the site (mainly due to the train providers shocking Internet connection). Challenge got refused by MET parking so I appealed to POPLA.. ....they also refused it as my explanations amount to "mitigation" which they cannot take into consideration. I am now being threatened with court unless I pay £100 in the next 10 days. This just seems ridiculous to me. I was clearly not trying to dodge paying the parking fee as I paid as soon as I could access the site. Yes, I should have done it before I got on the train but I have always been able to access it in the past so was not envisaging any issues. It all seems hugely disproportionate and I'm loathe to give in. Any one had similar issues? What would you advise is the best course of action? Responses much appreciated. Fred

Thanks for the posts guys - much appreciated. I do however need some more advice!!!! I have now received 3 letters: Letter 1 - "Notice to owner" from excel demanding £100!!! Letter 2 - "Final Demand Notice Prior to Court Action" from excel for £100!!! Letter 3 - A debt collector letter from "Roxburghe Debt Collectors" Demanding £141.12!!! Do i keep ignoring or make contact with someone?! Do i need a solicitor?! I have no idea why the charge has gone to £141.12 - its a little random. I could really do with NOT loosing in court if it goes that far. Are you sure that they have no grounds? Would really appreciate any help or advice from any of you. Just for completeness i have also attached my initial contest letter - its the only correspondence i have made to date. Do i need to write another letter?

Hi everyone, I thought i would check the internet before paying this ticket - glad i did! An incredible amount of information. I hope one/some of you can help me with advice. The story: We parked in the aforementioned car park which has big signs saying the first 30 mins are free then after that you must pay. It was clearly visible from the car and as it was raining we just parked up and went to the shop. After 20 mins my girlfriend realised we may end up over the 30 mins time limit so went outside to purchase a ticket. The ticket man had just placed a ticket on our car!!! He explained that we must get a"free ticket" as advertised. On closer inspection of the board it said "ticket required" for the 30 mins free period however in much smaller print. Not only that but we were only there for 20 mins! I wrote a letter to contest expecting a reasonable person would read it and use their discretion. They didn't and have told me i have to pay £40 - 1 hrs ticket only costs 70 pence!? Should i pay / should i fight? I have no idea where i stand legally and i'm a little worried about getting black listed or taken to court. Any advice would be much appreciated. Freddie