A.S.Securi-T Ltd. Private Parking Charge at Broadcut Retail Park, Fareham.

[thejedi]

Hi all,

I thought i would start a new thread to see if any other unwary motorist has been the victim of A.S.Securi-T Ltd. at Broadcut Retail Park in Fareham, Hampshire (this is the car park outside Staples and Dreams stores adjacent to Sainsburys car park). I would like to know your experience in dealing with these parasites as i intend to fight all the way, i have already written to my local MP as my first fight back (i have received an acknowledgement and have been promised a reply) i am also currently researching contacting the OFT.

For the record i think this site is fantastic and the guys who kicked it off deserve a great deal of credit.

[Sidewinder]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-wardens/24418-date-if-issue.html

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-wardens/99465-parking-permit-not-displayed.html

 

FightBack Forums > PCN AS SECURI-T LTD WIMBORNE MARKET

 

Well known for it, although not just at Fareham. End of the day it is a private ticket and straightforward to defend. Read the other posts on Private Parking, and particularly the sticky on the front page and treat this matter accordingly.

[thejedi]

Hi Sidewinder,

 

Thanks for the links, (i particularly like the letter written in one of the threads), the only fly in the ointment is my wife wrote a strong letter to Staples and ASS ecurit-T before we found this forum which more or less states she was the driver! (we were due to go on holiday and had to get something off quickly)

We will still fight all the way as there are plenty of other lawful reasons not to pay these jerks.

 

Thanks again.

[Sidewinder]

Hi Sidewinder,

 

Thanks for the links, (i particularly like the letter written in one of the threads), the only fly in the ointment is my wife wrote a strong letter to Staples and ASS ecurit-T before we found this forum which more or less states she was the driver! (we were due to go on holiday and had to get something off quickly)

We will still fight all the way as there are plenty of other lawful reasons not to pay these jerks.

 

Thanks again.

 

Absolutely!

 

Not being the driver is not the only reason to fight a private parking charge......don't forget that you had to have had the terms of any contract explained, understood and agreed - clearly this was not the case otherwise you would have abided by the terms of the agreement. Also, the charge for breaching the agreement, ie that which is now being demanded of you, must be fair, proportionate and a reflection of any loss to the landowner caused by your 'infringement'.

[vczaban]

Hi,

Can someone help me?

I parked in a church car park which was signed to say 'no parking without a permit'. I was popping to post something in the church on a bank holiday monday and there were no other cars in this car park. My parnter was driving my car not me, but i was in the passanger seat. I was gone about 3 mins and returned to a fine on my car. I looked everywhere for the parkng attendant, but they must have vanished within seconds!

The fine is for £118 which im not paying. Can they legally do this? Especially on a bank holiday when i thought all parking restrictions are not applied? Im not paying this firstly cause it was a bank holiday, secondly because of the sneaky way they were watching me, thirdly because £118 is obsene! And forthly because i was actually visiting the church?

Can you please help to advise me?

thanks alot

[robin9342]

Sounds like you have a private ticket = nothing more than an unenforceable invoice. Don't pay, ignore all their letters. If you can, scan, clean and post the ticket here.

[letsmakeamark]

Scan and post here.

[antoninus]

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

[thejedi]

Hi,

 

I wrote to my local MP and Staples head office as i was so angry with these conmen praying on us at every opportunity, my MP wrote to AS-Securi-T Ltd. and that was the end of it, Staples never did reply, we won't ever shop there again.

There is some great advice on this site on how to deal with these jerks.

Good Luck and may the force be with you....!

[Timtin]

Hi,

 

I too got caught out in Leicester's Maplins/Staples car park today - having foolishly parked in their (nearly empty) car and going elsewhere for just over an hour, only to return to a ticketed windscreen.

The £70.50 fine is absolutely ridiculous compared with the 'crime'.

The ticket itself threatens me with a court summons if it's not paid within 28 days. I have no excuses other than that I visit these 2 shops very regularly, and am a valuable customer of both (but not any more!!!).

 

Several questions:-

Is this fine really enforceable by law as the 'crime' was on private land?

If I decide to pay by cheque, do they really need to know my address - I'm extremely unwilling

to give it to a bunch of crooks like them.

What is the most awkward way of paying (e.g. post-dated cheque, multiple cheques for lesser amounts adding up to the full amount, etc.)?

 

If any can advise on the above questions, please do. As a worrier, this is going to ruin my Xmas.

 

Thank you.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Timtin

[Timtin]

One more point to add to my previous message.

The 'fine' of £70.50 includes VAT at an unspecified

rate. If one assumes that the A.S.Securi-T Ltd.

(stupid name for a company btw) tickets were

printed when VAT stood at 17.5%, now that VAT

has been reduced to 15%, surely there should be

a corresponding reduction in the total amount

payable to reflect this. Or have this bunch of

jokers conveniently forgotten that?

[thejedi]

Hi antoninus & Timtin,

I suggest you read the stickies on Private parking charges here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/ and act according to your particular circumstances, there are some very good template letters and advice etc. I think my MP scared off Ass securi-t but had he not i would have used the advice in the stickies.

thejedi

[Timtin]

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

 

Antoninus,

If you haven't yet paid up, please be aware of the fact that if your 'crime' was committed after VAT was reduced, then amount payable is not the £70.50 quoted on the ticket, but £69.00.

I rang these 'people' today and they immediately conceded this point.

If I pay, it will be this amount, less the cost of the phone call, taking it down a little further.

They also conceded that it is not necessary to state one's name and address.

In my own case, I went to argue with the Maplin's store manager, be he cared not a jot that a regular customer of his is no longer that.

[Timtin]

This is my last message on the subject!

Apparently this company don't even get

paid by the folks who hire them! Their

only income is made by these extremely

sharp practices they indulge in. And their

threats of litigation are nothing more than

mind games. They are an absolute disgrace.

Also, because Maplin's management were

extremely unsympathetic, I will never shop

there again.

[demon_x_slash]

You do not need to pay a thing. Please read the information about Private Parking Companies in the Parking Forum on this site, as others have previously advised.

[antoninus]

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]

[letsmakeamark]

At the current rate that companies are going up the wall i would not be surprised if more than half of these private companies also go up.

[ashmk]

There is a section on this forum called parking and traffic offences which contains a wealth of information regarding this matter.

The sooner you read it the sooner you will realise they are not fines and can be eaisly defended with one letter.

[lamb to the slaughter]

There is a section on this forum called parking and traffic offences which contains a wealth of information regarding this matter.

The sooner you read it the sooner you will realise they are not fines and can be eaisly defended with one letter.

 

 

indeed and very useful it is too, it makes for a very interesting read and extremely good advice, however i fall short of calling them parasites

[expediant]

I have just got a ticket for parking on staples/Maplins Leicester -I decided to get home and Goolge my legal position and came up with this forum.......pure genius....I won't be paying a penny and will be following the sticky post to the word: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/119917-private-parking-tickets-template.html

 

I do have one question though. Let's say it did get to court, not that it will...but lets say it did.....if they have taken photographic evidence, then to have it submitted to a court, surely the camera owner/user would have to prove that it had been calibarted and tested that day as the police have to with their speeding equipment .... else could not any time and date be entered into the camera and then changed at will....

 

Would anybody care to respond ??

 

Great thread by the way.

[hallowitch]

Parking / Traffic Offences there you mate click this link start a new thread and welcome to cag

[kevans84]

Hi all,I just thought I'd add my experience of the Fareham Broadcut/Staples/Sainsbury's farce .I parked on Christmas Eve (Merry Christmas!) in Staples before using Sainsburys and then Staples. I have done this many times in the past when Sainsburys looked very full - on days such as Christmas Eve, for example.I used Sainsburys for somewhere around 3 minutes, and then Staples for the same length of time. I shop quickly. When I got back to my car I had a yellow ticket so I found the guy and asked him what the deal was. He said to write to the company with a copy of my receipt and they'd lift the fine.Unwisely, I took the initiative and made first contact with AS SECURI-T, appealing to their better nature with a copy of my receipt (timed 5 minutes from when the ticket was written.) AS wrote back and told me the fine stood because i did not enter the store directly after leaving my vehicle.After that I found this site and it confirmed my suspicions about AS. One more letter from me letting them know that I would be contacting my MP and the manager at Staples (which I have) seems to have ended our correspondence.My only regret is that I wasted two stamps on these jokers.