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    • the Town and Country [advertisments ] Regulations 2007 are not easy to understand. Most Council planing officials don't so it's good that you found one who knows. Although he may not have been right if the rogues have not been "controlling" in the car park for that long. The time only starts when the ANPR signs go up, not how long the area has been used as a car park.   Sadly I have checked Highview out and they have been there since at least 2014 . I have looked at the BPA Code of Practice version 8 which covers 2023 and that states Re Consideration and Grace Periods 13.3 Where a parking location is one where a limited period of parking is permitted, or where drivers contract to park for a defined period and pay for that service in advance (Pay & Display), this would be considered as a parking event and a Grace Period of at least 10 minutes must be added to the end of a parking event before you issue a PCN. It then goes on to explain a bit more further down 13.5 You must tell us the specific consideration/grace period at a site if our compliance team or our agents ask what it is. 13.6 Neither a consideration period or a grace period are periods of free parking and there is no requirement for you to offer an additional allowance on top of a consideration or grace period. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________So you have  now only overstayed 5 minutes maximum since BPA quote a minimum of 10 minutes. And it may be that the Riverside does have a longer period perhaps because of the size of the car park? So it becomes even more incumbent on you to remember where the extra 5 minutes could be.  Were you travelling as a family with children or a disabled person where getting them in and out of the car would take longer. Was there difficulty finding a space, or having to queue to get out of the car park . Or anything else that could account for another 5 minutes  without having to claim the difference between the ANPR times and the actual times.
    • Regarding a driver, that HAS paid for parking but input an incorrect Vehicle Registration Number.   This is an easy mistake to make, especially if a driver has access to more than one vehicle. First of all, upon receiving an NTK/PCN it is important to check that the Notice fully complies with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 before deciding how to respond of course. The general advice is NOT to appeal to the Private Parking Company as, for example, you may identify yourself as driver and in certain circumstances that could harm your defence at a later stage. However, after following a recent thread on this subject, I have come to the conclusion that, in the case of inputting an incorrect Vehicle Registration Number, which is covered by “de minimis” it may actually HARM your defence at a later stage if you have not appealed to the PPC at the first appeal stage and explained that you DID pay for parking and CAN provide proof of parking, it was just that an incorrect VRN was input in error. Now, we all know that the BPA Code of Practice are guidelines from one bunch of charlatans for another bunch of charlatans to follow, but my thoughts are that there could be problems in court if a judge decides that a motorist has not followed these guidelines and has not made an appeal at the first appeal stage, therefore attempting to resolve the situation before it reaches court. From BPA Code of Practice: Section 17:  Keying Errors B) Major Keying Errors Examples of a major keying error could include: • Motorist entered their spouse’s car registration • Motorist entered something completely unrelated to their registration • Motorist made multiple keying errors (beyond one character being entered incorrectly) • Motorist has only entered a small part of their VRM, for example the first three digits In these instances we would expect that such errors are dealt with appropriately at the first appeal stage, especially if it can be proven that the motorist has paid for the parking event or that the motorist attempted to enter their VRM or were a legitimate user of the car park (eg a hospital patient or a patron of a restaurant). It is appreciated that in issuing a PCN in these instances, the operator will have incurred charges including but not limited to the DVLA fee and other processing costs therefore we believe that it is reasonable to seek to recover some of these costs by making a modest charge to the motorist of no more than £20 for a 14-day period from when the keying error was identified before reverting to the charge amount at the point of appeal. Now, we know that the "modest charge" is unenforceable in law, however, it would be up to the individual if they wanted to pay and make the problem go away or in fact if they wanted to contest the issue in court. If the motorist DOES appeal to the PPC explaining the error and the PPC rejects the appeal and the appeal fails, the motorist can use that in his favour at court.   Defence: "I entered the wrong VRN by mistake Judge, I explained this and I also submitted proof of payment for the relevant parking period in my appeal but the PPC wouldn't accept that"   If the motorist DOES NOT appeal to the PPC in the first instance the judge may well use that as a reason to dismiss the case in the claimant's favour because they may decide that they had the opportunity to resolve the matter at a much earlier stage in the proceedings. It is my humble opinion that a motorist, having paid and having proof of payment but entering the wrong VRN, should make an appeal at the first appeal stage in order to prevent problems at a later stage. In this instance, I think there is nothing to be gained by concealing the identity of the driver, especially if at a later stage, perhaps in court, it is said: “I (the driver) entered the wrong VRN.” Whether you agree or not, it is up to the individual to decide …. but worth thinking about. Any feedback, especially if you can prove to the contrary, gratefully received.
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    • deed?  you mean consent order you and her signed? concluding the case as long as you nor she break it's conditions signed upto? dx  
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First Utility


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Having sent a SAR to FU, I have received a pile of documents and a disc with 3 calls on it (All left on voicemail) I am checking paperwork just now but the audio files are very scant compared to what I remember.

These were all received within the 40 day deadline but are definitely incomplete.

Don\'t let the B**tards grind you down

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Having sent a SAR to FU, I have received a pile of documents and a disc with 3 calls on it (All left on voicemail) I am checking paperwork just now but the audio files are very scant compared to what I remember.

These were all received within the 40 day deadline but are definitely incomplete.

 

When I got my SAR back from First Utility, it included screen prints/notes from all the telephone calls I had with them, so even if they didn't record all the conversations (it would have been good practice for them to have done so), you should at least have some sort of record of all your telephone calls. Check these notes with what's on the audio files, does it match up?

 

If you find any calls that are missing - or indeed anything else that it missing - you will need to be very clear with them about what is missing. Dates/times/who dealt with it etc. They are likely to either ignore you or say you have everything, though I would hope they've learnt their lessons from my story. Keep pressing with them if they are like this, and don't be afraid to take things further.

Any pearls of wisdom that I give on the CAG forums is based on previous experiences and knowledge I have gained from being on these forums.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I reminded FU that they had not given me recordings/dialogues of all the phone conversations, particularly a call made at the start of 2012 and although the call is entered on my account log (3 days later) with the name of the agent, and I supplied them with the date and duration of the call, they say there is no recording.

This call is very important as it dealt with the "loyalty offer" that FU were using to attract customers, an offer they deny existed and has also been dismissed by the Energy Ombudsman.

 

Where to now? ICO or a letter before action?

Don\'t let the B**tards grind you down

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If you were to send a letter before action, where are you planning on taking it if First Utility don't respond? ICO? County Court?

 

My personal feeling is if you are aiming to catch them by claiming a Data Protection Act breach, then unless you are 100% confident they have a recording of that call that they are choosing not to hand over or you have some other evidence where they say they record all calls, you are going to find it hard to say this is a DPA breach. While it's in their best interests to record all calls, they don't have to, and a judge nor the DPA can ask them to 'magic up' a recording.

 

If you were to go down the county court route and claimed a small amount, First Utility might decide to settle in the hope that you will go away, but they will probably be adamant that they have given you everything. Alternatively, they might call your bluff and go the whole way. Would you be prepared to do this?

 

Your case may not be hopeless, there may be a different angle to persue instead of data protection, but I'll need to re-read your thread to work that one out.

 

If you still wanted to go ahead, a letter before action is best. If it went to court, a judge will want to see that you exhausted all other avenues. Give them 14 days notice and send it recorded delivery (or even better, special delivery - costs you more but that's guaranteed next day delivery).

 

In my view, the ICO can be a bit hit-and-miss. No harm in getting them involved at this stage if you want to claim a DPA breach, but let First Utility know you are involving them (if you are using county court as your way forward if they don't respond). I would use them as a back-up rather than as your main way of dealing with potential DPA breaches.

Any pearls of wisdom that I give on the CAG forums is based on previous experiences and knowledge I have gained from being on these forums.

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Having re-read your thread, this is the first time that you mention a "loyalty offer".

 

What did this entail? Did you actually take them up on it? Did this lead to some of the problems you've had with them? What did you previously complain to First Utility and the Energy Ombudsman about?

 

Just trying to understand now what exactly has happened.

Any pearls of wisdom that I give on the CAG forums is based on previous experiences and knowledge I have gained from being on these forums.

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I was originally with Scottish Power for approx 5 years, decided to try U-Switch for a cheaper provider and FU came up as the cheapest.

 

I informed Scottish Power I would be moving providers and set the wheels in motion, I was contacted by Scottish Power and they basically matched the FU offer, I decided I would stay with Scottish Power and they tried to reverse the transfer.

 

Scottish Power wrote to me and said they could not get me back, so I contacted FU, who asked about my quotes and stated that I would also be entitled to a loyalty bonus of 10% of my usage up to £300, this of course swung the deal to FU and we arranged Direct Debit amounts and the day of paying the DD, this they did not carry out, putting me on a much lower repayment, I then cancelled the DD as it was not correct, FU were unable to resurrect the DD and are still unable to do so.

 

In my complaint to the Ombudsman, FU said such a deal never existed and was not on my account, although I have since found out that several customers had written to The Guardian regarding non payment of this bonus, martin Lewis site covers these cases, some customers are getting this bonus year upon year.

 

The phone call I am looking for covers the bonus offer, that it is why it so important.

Don\'t let the B**tards grind you down

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So it's not in writing then? That's a shame.

 

As I stated in post #29, whilst it's a good idea for them to record all their calls, they don't have to and you are going to struggle to prove that a recording does exist. If they have a screen note for this call (which you say they have but dated three days late if I am understanding you correctly), this may be all they have and are relying on their screen notes (which will tend to be brief and missing key info).

 

Going down the letter before action or ICO route is probably going to result in you going round in circles at best because this doesn't seem to be a DPA issue, though I did give some suggestions on how best to do it if you were still determined.

 

Believe me, I dislike First Utility as much as you do, and I was appalled at the way they record things and keep data when I got my SAR, but I think you are going to be onto a loser if you base any potential claim on a DPA issue.

Any pearls of wisdom that I give on the CAG forums is based on previous experiences and knowledge I have gained from being on these forums.

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Having worked in a SKY call centre and been involved in call monitoring, every call is recorded, and as the operators name is on the log it should be quite easy to trace.

 

They have acknowledged my complaint regarding the missing call (first of three) and are going to search again, as you say it may not be found (LOL)

Don\'t let the B**tards grind you down

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Well, it's great you've worked in a call centre where all calls are monitored and recorded and know how it should work, sadly they're not all like this.

 

My understanding on the laws regarding businesses recording calls was that it actually falls under several different laws, but ultimately it is a 'may record' and not a 'must record'. Happy to be proved wrong though.

 

It's good that they are going to look into the missing call for you, hope you get the outcome you want.

Any pearls of wisdom that I give on the CAG forums is based on previous experiences and knowledge I have gained from being on these forums.

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  • 1 year later...

Well we are now a further 2 years on,

 

 

despite telling them that all communication should now be in writing,

I have had no bills,

no requests for meter readings and no reminders.

 

 

I paid 2K to them May 2015 and have heard nothing since,

apart from a reminder from a debt company December 2016,

 

 

I raised an "account in dispute" letter and so the correspondence started flowing,

the letter was acknowledged and their reply was actually sent to the wrong address!!!!

 

I have sent them a photograph of the meters and an updated bill has arrived,

i am now due them £7,200.00 approx,

 

 

along with the £2K I have paid them my usage is in the region of £9K for the 5 years, a figure I was expecting.

 

I can pay this debt,

but should I do it and move to Small Claims for compensation for them being a crap company?

 

 

Energy Ombudsman is just a waste of time.

 

Any thoughts from anyone?

Don\'t let the B**tards grind you down

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  • 9 months later...
  • 1 month later...

ofgem stats q3 2017 'Complaints received by medium-sized suppliers per 100,000 customer accounts' - 'first utility '1,837'. more than the others in category apart from utilita

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