help recaiming a parking ticket

[-Stu-]

Hi all,

 

hope you can help me.

 

just over a month ago, i went to visit my grandfather. parked my car in a parking bay outside his flat block. as its a permit only area i wrote out a note saying i was collecting the permit and will be back soon.

 

so i went upstairs to his flat, to collect the permit from him, i returned in possibly 10-12 minutes to find a parking ticket and a clamp. so i called the number on the ticket 0906 number! (£1.50 per minute) to expain, i was greeted by a very rude abrubt man who told me i was lieing, they had clamped several cars since i had been there (lie, there was one other car that was already clamped when i arrived).

 

so i was forced to go to the cash point, and pay the £200 to get the clamp released. I was left waiting for almost 3 hours for the person to come and remove the clamp! he told me he was contracted by the company and i should definately appeal.

 

 

so i wrote to the company (not sure if i can mention their name??) explaining i left the car for circa 10 mins, left a note on the dash, went to the 4th floor to get the permit from my 83 year old grandfather etc.

 

They insist you appeal to them within 14 days (which i did), they insist on a self addressed stamped envelope (otherwise they simply wont reply), which i did and they say they will reply within 14 days.

 

14 days went by, no reply, so i called up, complined it was almost 3 weeks. to be told that it states they will reply AFTER 14 days. so i read the printed photo copy to her, to be told 'sorry, that must be a misprint'!!

 

2 days later i get a letter back saying;

 

Re: clamping of vehicle on private property

 

in relation to the above matter we acknowedge receipt of your appeal letter and the contents have been noted.

 

There are warning signs situated on that site that state 'Warning, Private property, 24 hour wheel clamping and ticketing area. (company name) authorised permits must be displayed in the windscreen of the vehicle, failure to comply will result in the vehicle being clamped, ticketed and towed without any notice given.

 

As there was no valid permit or disabled badge being clearly displayed in the windscreen of the vehicle, (having checked photographs of when the vehicle was clamped) as clearly stated on the warning signs, the vehicle was clamped and fined.

 

The responsibily to observe and obey parking restrictions is yours and we operated correctly in this instance due to the vehicle being incorrctly parked, we shall not be refunding the release fee on this occasion.

 

We will not be entering into any more communication regarding this matter, should you be unhappy with this decision please seek legal advice.

Is there anything i can do??

[londoncass]

did you see the signs? are they clearly displayed?

 

Don't bother appealing to them again, you wouldn't win in a million years! They have your cash and think you will just go away!

[londoncass]

oh... and yes you can mention their name! There are lots of posts on here with the PPC names! Other posters would be able to tell you their experiences with this company

[-Stu-]

the name is 'Parking Control Services'

 

yes there is a sign displayed on the wall, which is (at a guess) 15 foot in the air.

[crem]

You will have to sue them for the money back, and make sure you include the landowner as a co-defendant. If you win (which hopefully you should but civil county court claims can be unpredicable) then the chances of getting monet off the PPC are still just above nil, but the landowner is a much easier target.