Civil Enforcement Ltd (again!)

[Supababe30]

Hi all,

 

Yesterday I received a parking ticket from Civil Enforcement Ltd, at first I tried to think where and when I'd parked on that particular day, then I remembered I'd had a powercut and was late for work, it was also a couple of friends birthdays, which made me remember. The parking ticket refers to "Car Park at Silbury Boulevard", I work for Argos and was actually parked two blocks away from Silbury Boulevard. They've said I parked from 11:25 to 11:45 which is not possible unless someone borrowed my keys, and actually wanted to drive my old car round the corner for 20 minutes, I can prove I was sat at my desk, logged onto the phone system and a the secure entry system will show my enter/exit times to work.

 

I did ring Milton Keynes council to check and they said it was a company called "Creative Parking" about right really and I was told to appeal. I think I might pen up a letter later but make is short and sweet.

[pin1onu]

Hi all,

 

Yesterday I received a parking ticket from Civil Enforcement Ltd, at first I tried to think where and when I'd parked on that particular day, then I remembered I'd had a powercut and was late for work, it was also a couple of friends birthdays, which made me remember. The parking ticket refers to "Car Park at Silbury Boulevard", I work for Argos and was actually parked two blocks away from Silbury Boulevard. They've said I parked from 11:25 to 11:45 which is not possible unless someone borrowed my keys, and actually wanted to drive my old car round the corner for 20 minutes, I can prove I was sat at my desk, logged onto the phone system and a the secure entry system will show my enter/exit times to work.

 

I did ring Milton Keynes council to check and they said it was a company called "Creative Parking" about right really and I was told to appeal. I think I might pen up a letter later but make is short and sweet.

 

What you have received is an un-enforcable invoice for an alleged breach of contract. What you need to do is nothing. Don't bother contacting them.

 

Ignore it and any subsequent communication and get on with your life.

[coglan99]

hi everyone. I haven't heard anything about either of the two letters I have been ignoring yet from central ticketing which is good news but....I have recieved a third charge for parking in a retail park in Bolton. This retail park has a casino and a gala bingo on it. I get a ticket on the way in, play poker and by the time i leave the barrier is unmanned and open and i just leave. i do this every time i go (which is often). The letter says im being charged for "abused patron parking" but doesnt explain what i did wrong, just the usual "do not ignore" stuff. it says a ticket was fixed to my vehicle on the day but it I have never had a ticket in that car park...ever! anyone any ideas? shall I just ignore this one too. I think this confirms that i am on their "mug list" after paying a fine previously.

[coglan99]

well....this is interesting!! ive just done a search for central retail park Bolton and i was wrong. its not even the retail park that i go to regularly. I have never even been to the place that they say i have abused patron parking. i would love to see them provide photographic evidence of that one!!! I bet this is just a way to get me to start communicating with then...NO CHANCE!

[Supababe30]

I think I will take your advice about ignoring however, my house is rented out and I think I should forwarn my tenants just in case, the car is still registered there. Just moved back to Mum's after she passed away and don't need this crap to be honest. I think Milton Keynes Council are in the wrong as they manage all the parking, you pay for scratch cards to part in MK and I had one displayed. I might take this matter up with them

[coglan99]

supababe30....please don't waste your time worrying about this. the council wont be able to help as they are a private company. just ignore it!

[StrawDog]

Supababe - Creative Car Parking Ltd is the 'mothership' and Civil Enforcement Ltd the provisional arm. Both companies & the [problem] are operated by the same individual, a very nice chap called Gary Wayne who lives at......................sorry, due to forum rules, I can't post that info.

 

pin1onu's advice is good & solid, don't be tempted to respond in any way, shape or form to the threatening but meaningless junk that will pour thro' your letterbox in the coming weeks from them & a debt collection outfit called Newlyn plc. TOTALLY IGNORE, IGNORE & one again IGNORE.

 

Have a read around the threads on this & other PPC's for added reassurance.

[Supababe30]

Thank you everyone for the advice and I will ignore but I will keep my tenants in the picture just in case. However I think the Council should be a little responsible as you pay them for scratch cards and then get a ticket. They definitely got my car details off DVLA because that's the only place my car is call silver, to the naked eye it's beige unless the Piers Morgan that wrote the ticket well supposed ticket is colour blind, actually thinking about it, there wouldn't have been anyone looking at my car would there!!!

 

Well the guy certainly has a sense of humour calling it creative car parking lol, hope he has a wonderful guilt free Xmas causing other people stress

[Supababe30]

Lol just re-read what I put and it wasn't actually twit it was tw*t but I like the way it was reworded lol

[Supababe30]

No I'm mad, as the day has gone on I'm feeling annoyed. Rang the Council, no help other than ringing the civil office who advised me that Civil Enforcement Ltd are being investigated by Trading Standards, then rang Trading Standards who gave me the British Parking Associations number 01444 447300 if anyone wants to ring. I will being ringing again as guess what there servers where down! I don't need this crap this might be the little thing that sends me over the edge!!!

[BigIan279]

Received the 2nd "bullying" letter from Civil Enforcement Ltd, today, telling me that £150 is now due.

 

It includes statements such as:

 

"NOTICE BEFORE LEGAL ACTION"

 

and.....

 

"YOUR ABILITY TO OBTAIN CREDIT IN THE FUTURE COULD BE AFFECTED"

 

and not forgetting.....

 

"Failure to pay the full amount within seven days of this notice will result in us seeking a County Court Judgement against you. A warrant may then be issued to bailiffs to recover the amounts due, plus court fees, bailiff costs and interest"

 

b*****ds!!

 

 

Merry Christmas

[dpick]

Received the 2nd "bullying" letter from Civil Enforcement Ltd, today, telling me that £150 is now due.

 

It includes statements such as:

 

"NOTICE BEFORE LEGAL ACTION"

 

and.....

 

"YOUR ABILITY TO OBTAIN CREDIT IN THE FUTURE COULD BE AFFECTED"

 

and not forgetting.....

 

"Failure to pay the full amount within seven days of this notice will result in us seeking a County Court Judgement against you. A warrant may then be issued to bailiffs to recover the amounts due, plus court fees, bailiff costs and interest"

 

b*****ds!!

 

 

Merry Christmas

 

See that they are still sending totally inaccurate misleading crap.

 

dpick

[StrawDog]

Supababe - CHILL - don't trouble yourself with contacting any of them, unless you like excercises in futility - total waste of time & energy.

Just take & trust in the advice already given & IGNORE.

 

BigIan - don't waiver & likewise continue to IGNORE everything, including the next batches of toilet paper from Newlyn plc.

[letshelp]

Supababe,

You will get even more rubbish if you contact the PPC. Just ignore them, like they would anything you send that does not contain a cheque.

regards

[Blagton]

No I'm mad, as the day has gone on I'm feeling annoyed. Rang the Council, no help other than ringing the civil office who advised me that Civil Enforcement Ltd are being investigated by Trading Standards, then rang Trading Standards who gave me the British Parking Associations number 01444 447300 if anyone wants to ring. I will being ringing again as guess what there servers where down! I don't need this crap this might be the little thing that sends me over the edge!!!

 

As everybody is telling you - sit back, calm down and ignore.

 

Whilst we can all understand your anger and urge to let somebody know what you think you are wasting your time.

 

The Council have no interest and whatever you are told is probably a load of old, well you know.

 

Trading Standards up and down the country are well aware of Private Parking Companies and how they operate. They could if they wanted apply pressure to those that can make changes but appear to choose otherwise.

 

The BPA - well they are just a mouhpiece for the PPC's that club together. They reprsent the "Business" so your hardly likley to get much by way of help there. They are not there to help the public.

 

Your wasting your time, energy and money is chasing people - the best way to hit the PPC's and let them know you will play the game to its conclusion is ignore them and all the junk mail that will come from them and their Debt Collection service.

 

If you want to put pen to paper send a letter to your local MP.

 

Blagton.

Edited December 12, 2009 by Blagton
Misplulling

[miranda_bdf]

Blagton

 

I agree overall with what you are saying BUT just to add that the way CEL operate in Milton Keynes, on a car parking area formerly under Council control (and still shown on MK parking maps), is particularly going to catch people out. It also flies against the overall parking arrangements for the centre of Milton Keynes where parking is free in the evenings. I reported CEL to Trading Standards in MK because of the dodgy signage etc and will now see if the Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper will run a petition to apply pressure on English Partnerships who own the land. It may turn out to be a waste of energy but it'll make me feel better if I can wind a few people up on this to see if it can be stopped. In the meantime I haven't heard any more from CEL so maybe they've forgotten .

[BigIan279]

Miranda

I feel that a "gorilla style" night-time mission to paint the parking area roadway with something like "RIP-OFF PARKING AREA - DON'T PARK HERE" might be in order by all us MK'ers.

 

Question: Is the painting of the "roadway" classed as graffiti? as I wouldn't want to condone anything illegal.

Edited December 12, 2009 by BigIan279

[Blagton]

Blagton

 

I agree overall with what you are saying BUT just to add that the way CEL operate in Milton Keynes, on a car parking area formerly under Council control (and still shown on MK parking maps), is particularly going to catch people out. It also flies against the overall parking arrangements for the centre of Milton Keynes where parking is free in the evenings. I reported CEL to Trading Standards in MK because of the dodgy signage etc and will now see if the Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper will run a petition to apply pressure on English Partnerships who own the land. It may turn out to be a waste of energy but it'll make me feel better if I can wind a few people up on this to see if it can be stopped. In the meantime I haven't heard any more from CEL so maybe they've forgotten .

 

Accepted - letters to your local Trading Standards are, arguably worth it and in the case of MK the council although if they are not the actual landowner their is probably little they can do (or at least that is what they might say) however it should be made clear on any Council material promoting where car parking which is council operated and free and those areas operated by PPC's.

 

 

Blagton.

[Stefano Martinez]

Re: CET @ The Hub MK

 

Sadly I found this forum too late & I'm afraid to say that I paid up in fear of the "fine" doubling which I can ill afford. As a local I'm familiar with the parking system & did what I usually do & got a ticket from the machine placing it clearly on the dashboard. I was livid when I got the CET letter as I knew I'd paid for what I thought was council parking as there was no clear signage to say "this is now private parking even though its a continuation of council parking which looks exactly the same" lol! I went back to the same spot the week after having taken on a new client there. I made a point of reading the signs which I then realised were a different company/system. This made me even more cross as you dont expect to have to read EVERY sign EVERY time you park somewhere in your own neighbourhood, just in case its changed. Basically the "fine" has negated the work I've done over the last four weeks for my new client which adds insult to injury. I'm gutted & feel really stupid & will probably contact TS just to add to the volume of complaints. I'm pleased to see that so many had the sense to check out the scamster **** bags (to put it mildly on a public forum) before panicking & paying up.

[Supababe30]

Stefano,

 

Don't feel stupid these things happen. I am annoyed as I know I put a scatch card in and they're telling me I was parked in Silbury when in actual fact I was parked in Avebury. I think the Council should take some responsibility for this. I will be ignoring any further letters from this company will be contacting Trading Standards, however the Council guys did inform me that this Company are already being investigated by Trading Standards.

[BigIan279]

here is the MK TS contact details if anyone wants them.

 

 

Contact us

 

Consumer Advice

Contact Consumer Direct on 0845 04 05 06 or visit their website if you wish to write to them.

 

Business Information For business advice and enforcement equiries please contact us by:

 

• Telephone: 01908 25 25 04
  
• Fax: 01908 25 24 33
  
• Email: tsd@milton-keynes.gov.uk
  

 

Our postal address for business or enforcement issues:

 

Trading Standards

Environment Directorate

Milton Keynes Council

Civic Offices

1 Saxon Gate East

Milton Keynes

MK9 3EJ

 

Trading Standards Home Page

You need to persevere with the website link, but you can get there in the end.

 

I can feel an "Angry from MK" email coming on

[letshelp]

Re: CET @ The Hub MK

 

Sadly I found this forum too late & I'm afraid to say that I paid up in fear of the "fine" doubling which I can ill afford. As a local I'm familiar with the parking system & did what I usually do & got a ticket from the machine placing it clearly on the dashboard. I was livid when I got the CET letter as I knew I'd paid for what I thought was council parking as there was no clear signage to say "this is now private parking even though its a continuation of council parking which looks exactly the same" lol! I went back to the same spot the week after having taken on a new client there. I made a point of reading the signs which I then realised were a different company/system. This made me even more cross as you dont expect to have to read EVERY sign EVERY time you park somewhere in your own neighbourhood, just in case its changed. Basically the "fine" has negated the work I've done over the last four weeks for my new client which adds insult to injury. I'm gutted & feel really stupid & will probably contact TS just to add to the volume of complaints. I'm pleased to see that so many had the sense to check out the scamster **** bags (to put it mildly on a public forum) before panicking & paying up.

Stefano, that is how the [problem] works, people panick. Anyway you are wiser now, make sure you spread the word to stop other people falling for it.

regards

[miranda_bdf]

BigIan, the 'mission plan' would need to take out the CCTV first!!

This is the text of the email I sent to the MK Citizen Newsdesk earlier today, linking to this CAG thread for their info:

"I see that you have recently run a petition about car clamping and I wondered if you would now consider a petition to challenge the use of the CEL private car parking company who are misleading a lot of people parking in a certain area of the Hub in Milton Keynes. There has been a healthy debate on the Consumer Forums about this - see http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/97586-civil-enforcement-ltd-again.html. My concern is that people are going to get caught out especially during the Christmas period and Trading Standards are "investigating" while this situation continues. Anything you can do to highlight this issue would I am sure be appreciated by the citizens of MK who might end up being victims of this [problem]."

Added to this I am also going to snap at the heels of English Partnerships who are in fact part of the Home and Communities Agency, a government quango. The Regional HQ is at...

Homes and Communities Agency

Central Business Exchange II

414-428 Midsummer Boulevard

Central Milton Keynes

MK9 2EA

Tel: 0300 1234 500

Fax: 01908 691333

 

Neither I haven't forgotten MKCouncil who deserve a rocket - the area is still shown on the official parking map (which is 'for guidance only') as being within the standard pay and display area. It hasn't been updated for months. They told me they were aware it needed to be amended, and would do so urgently. They seem to have forgotten.

The other point worth making to MKC is that this parking area isn't under a true private landlord, this is a govt agency, and it ain't right is it...so they need to come off the fence and use some influence. In fact guess what - HCA comes under the same parent Govt Dept as they do - Dept for Communities and Local Government. I feel a newspaper headline coming on, perhaps 'MKC's sister quango set to profit from parking [problem]'...!

Yep, feeling angry, mad, and preparing for battle.....

[Stefano Martinez]

Many thanks for your comments/support/links (which will be followed up)

 

Thanks to the power of social networking I have alerted many others to the *hotspot* in CMK that I fell prey to. Several friends got straight back to me with similar stories so the word WILL spread & hopefully people that cant afford the *fine* wont get suckered into it as I was.....

 

Stef.

[shazbo]

Hi, I have received a parking contravention enforcement notice for £40 (if paid within 14 days or £70). The car park is at a shopping mall and is free for 3 hours but I had overstayed while doing my Christmas shopping. I have read other posts and people are advising not to pay these people. It is also concerning me that someone has said that they are being investigated by trading standards. What do I do? Thanks