Don't Stand for these NONSENSE

[@necropink9200]

This parking company should have to pay her a significant amount of compensation for the two years of stress, harassment and bullying.

[@KiwiCatherineJemma]

Yeah the compo these bastards need to pay her, I reckon about the cost of a free house, where she lives. Whatever that is, 250 k UK pounds, 500 k UK pounds, whatever. That would sort the bastards out. Assuming they've done this 100 times to other folks, that would probably put the parking company and their liability insurance company, into bankruptcy. Lovely.

[@Doshbuzz]

And free parking for life 👍🏽

[@bluebottle1617]

I totally agree with you. So should the landowner for allowing their contractors to behave in such an unacceptable manner.

[@necropink9200]

@@Doshbuzz I like your thinking.

[@necropink9200]

@@bluebottle1617 Good point about the landowners.

[@michaelreid5307]

The woman deservers to win a very hefty amount of compensation from that company.

[@rosiegary]

Please name and shame this car parking company.It's about time that the DVLA stopped acting as enablers for these companies

[@anthony0johnson]

It's UKParking I've got a court case with them myself. I was in a carpark when you pay on the way out put when I went to pay, the machine was broken. So I filmed the machine and my vehicle just incase. They refused the evidence so I told them to take me to court. I don't think they thought that I'd follow through with it

[@andyjohnson4767]

Good luck, I hope you stuff the robbing twats@@anthony0johnson

[@stephenporter6005]

Sue them girl they get away with too much you have had this harassment for two years

[@stevenhodgson834]

That would require a change in the law.

[@fly9wheel]

This con seems to be a popular rip off.@@anthony0johnson

[@DTRB56]

What people don't seem to understand is that the business model of the parking companies is entirely based around harassment, not parking. In reality they are legitimised harassment companies, parking is just the present profit centre.

[@polina_piter]

That’s exactly right. She even said “I actually considered paying it to make them stop”. Well, enough people do, probably elderly people, and that incentivises them to consider this business model. There’s actually a lot of service businesses that do this. It’s sickening.

[@musicman4164]

Bottom line, forget the legal jargon, this is yet another case of a cowboy firm running a compony and intimidating it's customers using abhorrent harassment practices. The government should side with the people and close the couscous down, unfortunately the government wasn't their share of the pie in taxes and so will probably do the square root of naff all, thus encouraging these thieves further. The face of Britain today.

[@bob1234881]

​@polina_piter yep. An elderly person got in rhe News saying they finally paid a debt they they shouldn't have paid them.

[@RedLittleLadybird]

But is that kind of harassment "legitimate" - or is it the kind of harassment that amounts to a criminal offence? I'm not saying I know the answer, I'm just keen on learning as much as possible.... in this day-and-age of so much corruption and bullying (Post Office scandal, etc).

[@davidelderbristol]

It's about time that the DVLA stopped acting as enablers for these companies or at least be held jointly liable when the release of your personal details leads to such harassment.

[@hairyairey]

It is bizarre isn't it when every other organisation protects your personal data when the DVLA sends your data to anyone? They have even sent my date of birth to a debt collection agency. Of course I don't actually owe the DVLA anything they are just being deliberately awkward. Maybe we need an agency (or a bigger DVLA) that forwards details from these agencies rather than surrender personal data?

[@andywatts8654]

Someone needs to try and sue them under gdpr

[@carlhatton6315]

​@@andywatts8654 yes they do it like the post office thing

[@sparehead32]

I had no idea the DVLA would do that Bent Bastards. Big firms screwing the little people. Have no Trust Anymore. What next Rainbow flags

[@paulwood5803]

How the hell is this permissible under GDPR? I used to be a GDPR champion where I worked when it came in and although time now dims the memory, I am pretty sure this is not permissible.

[@m-arky66]

All these companies need to be outlawed, especially the ones that cover NHS sites!

[@Direkin]

Sounds a bit like an extortion racket.

[@stephenjames59]

That is exactly what these companies are

[@MrGraemeb2022]

You think?

[@carlhunt-gg5sm]

Hard to believe this highly damaging extortion is still being enabled by government. It amounts to state-level corruption. The firms will be donors to political parties (probably one party in particular) and have very deep pockets (our money..) for lobbying.

[@dobythedog]

This is simply extortion. You are correct. They stopped the clamping companies, they need to stop these parasitical firms from extorting from decent people.

[@brianlopez8855]

It doesnt "sound like", it it.

[@philipmenzies7087]

The DVLA should be prevented from selling peoples details to anyone.

[@pbsm4127]

DVLA.. should not be allowed to pass your information to anyone.. 😡😡😡

[@kennethbowry1521]

This against the Law or are the DVLA are against the Law sue them for thousands grow some balls and sue.

[@Jan-sn5tk]

If you or I ask the DVLA for driver details they wont give them. One rule for us and another for them

[@secretsquirrel6124]

@@kennethbowry1521 only the greedy lawyers win

[@markpaul1154]

GDPR gives you the right to wrote to them and instruct them that any assumed consent is withdrawn and each request for your data must seek your express permission except where RIPA is in force.

[@neuralwarp]

OTOH people should be able to bring charges giving just a number plate. The key problem is that the justice system is lethargic.

[@stevencurtis-rich4178]

Sounds like an unscrupulous tactic to extort money without actually having any intent to go to court.

[@loonaticsrunningtheassylum]

Bit like council tax???

[@xingbake]

@@loonaticsrunningtheassylum council tax does go to court though, doesn't it? At least here in Croydon, you get sent a letter with a date for a virtual hearing.

[@MsDormy]

@@xingbake I believe they (councils) ‘use’ a court, but some say that the court is ‘rented’!?!

[@chrisb4367]

Does the fact they didn't take her to court sooner suggest they knew they had no evidence, so they just bullied her instead ?

[@mmckenzie8085]

I believe yes.

[@Androidgamer-du6zn]

No. Any civil case has 6 years to be claimed. It's a game of tennis if the defendant doesn't have clear evidence they paid to park and entered the correct VRN

[@2728Alexis]

⁠​⁠​⁠@Ardwick-CromeNearly. Reasonable doubt is criminal law. It's on the balance of probabilities here. But the onus is on the claimant to prove their case, so you're correct about the likely end result.

[@AngelShona1]

Vile . How EVIL.

[@alliedatheistalliance6776]

That's usually the case, they take very few cases to court because most of the time they know they won't win. They rely on scaring people, often using illegal tactics like calling their ppc a 'penalty', implying it has the same legal ramifications as a penalty charge from the council. They make enough money from people who don't know about this to justify doing it.

[@deadcheddar3491]

The fact they tried the "wrong car park" argument, it's an admission on their part that their systems do not codify locations to identify specific car parks so their parking meters have no way to match that codification?

[@davidspear9790]

They're definitely trying to pull a fast one based on the shortcomings in their software. Sound familiar to anyone?

[@Manu-Official]

Every payment terminal has a unique ref number, so by making such a statement they've put the burden of proof on themselves VS the bank.

[@RNandy149]

This poor girl looked like an emotional mess how can this be allowed to happen?

[@johnjephcote7636]

This is Tory britain and Reform will remove all our rights.

[@fly9wheel]

It's the UK !

[@lesmaybury793]

That is the solution to all this but it requires a government with balls to defy the corporate monsters and stop it, make it a criminal offence for DVLA or any other government department pass personal information to private companies.

[@MrLoopy52]

DVLA should be stopped from selling drivers’ data to people like these

[@Msminimumdose]

I was sent a demand for parking in a town I’ve never been in. They showed the photo of the car, which was a completely different make and the reg no. Was one didget out. I went to the website and to the supposed portal to do an appeal and nothing came back, but I got constant letters from bailiffs demanding this parking fine. There was nowhere I could phone or email with the initial private car parking company however, when the bailiffs took it over, I phoned them up . and explain the situation that I was not liable for this fine, and all they said was that I needed to go to citizens advice bureau to get advice! I told them, but I would be looking into suing them for harassment. However they didn’t accept this as being something they were doing eventually after several emails they dropped the case which took months and months. My complaint was also if I had been A vulnerable person I would’ve been tempted to pay their bullying and intimidating letters that came in weekly. While it was going on, I said to them, but I was just going to throw all their letters in the bin and they said that that would not be advisable. I also sent the return to sender, but no person ever responded. These people are utter criminals, and it should be stopped!

[@jonathanflatman]

I wonder if these companies are run by former wheel clampers? I know the frustration of not having an appeals phone number to ring.

[@randomcomputer7248]

Happened to me too ! I got a new car, but didn't put my permit for my OWN flat until the next morning. there was a ticket already on the car ! I appealed on their web site and the next thing I get a threatening Bailiffs letter for £150. The email they send after the appeal will go into your email junk, I'm sure they are fully aware of this too! Gmail bins junk after 14 days. They asked for proof of my flat etc, which I didn't send because I didn't see the email. Left me without a leg to stand on, because they had a photo of my car and proof they had sent an email. No choice but to pay up.

[@BP-of5cp]

This is crazy. We had a parking ticket for parking at a small parking area by a store in Egham and the signs said the parking was free for all those who shopped at the store. In fact the store gave us a parking voucher at checkout which we validated. Additionally we were with our disabled daughter and displayed her disabled badge. The fine comes in the post, displaying a picture of the car with the very visible disabled badge on the photo. Their own letter also said 'If you have a disabled badge we will waive the fine'. So we had 2 reasons to prove no parking payment was due, 1. The validated voucher and 2. The disabled badge. When we contested the fine by showing a copy of the receipt from the validated voucher as well as a photo of the original disabled badge matching their own photo, it took them months to connect the dots and confirm they waived the fine. At month 2 the fine had reached £400. Once they caught up with their own admin they finally waived it. But the months of harassment were insane.

[@pcandela2]

@@randomcomputer7248 So basically you didn't display the required permit when you should have done, and the enforcement company had evidence of the same. I don't understand your complaint.

[@randomcomputer7248]

@@pcandela2 you cant see there is something wrong that I had to pay £150 to park in my own allocated spot ?

[@mikeselectricstuff]

DVLA needs to be sued as a co-defendent for harassment.

[@Phoenix2312]

DVLA though are not involved - Period! These are Private Firms... DVLA are obliged to give ownership details of vehicles on request - That's the whole point of having teh DVLA, so that we can track and monitor who is legally licensed to drive a vehicle and who owns said vehicle... To quote @pbsm4127 "DVLA.. should not be allowed to pass your information to anyone.. 😡😡😡" - If that were the case, and your Car / Vehicle was Stolen... How woudl you recover it? The proof you are teh owner is in the DVLA Database... The Police will need to acess that database to verify you are the vehicles owner... To race it, To find it, to return it. Logically, Your Vehicle could be used in a Serious Crime... And because it is your vehicle, You could be on the hook for committing said crime simply by DENYING anyone the right to access the DVLA Database! DVLA are not the issue... It is these unregulated Private Companies who are the issue... They were alongside Debt Collectors supposed to be being bought under the SIA this year - I have since discovered via my SIA Tutor that this has been "Suspended" and now wont be happening until 2028... A Complaint from Labour Back Benchers means the "white Paper" needs to be reviewed (Not every bad thing is down to Tories - Arseholes though they are... Labour put the kibosh on this one!)

[@brianlopez8855]

And conspiracy

[@Dudleymiddleton]

Yes. It is a serious issue if a Government based outfit releases sensitive information to seemingly any Tom, Dick or Harry that requests it!

[@michaeldunham3385]

By all means explain why

[@Phoenix2312]

@@Dudleymiddleton They dont though... These Private Parking Firms have to be registered themselves and locations are known to the DVLA, so they have a right to request information. That being said, They are only allowed the Details held on file the owner of a vehicle... Provided they have a Registration. If someone else happens to be driving a vehicle you own.. They cannot ask for that persons identity... Only the Owner of the Registered Vehicle.

[@andrewstevens7453]

VCS took me to Court for overstay even when I proved that one of their two signs showing different max stay times I didn't overstay. It took the Magistrate 5 minutes to dismiss the case. They are all bullies, I should have sued them in return. Stand up to these bastards 😡

[@michaelladbrooke9678]

I'm sorry I would have sued them for harassment.

[@Stu-Pid861]

Agreed. I’d even go back and sue them for a number is issues. Demanding money with menaces springs to mind.

[@KiwiCatherineJemma]

Yeah the compo these bastards need to pay her, I reckon about the cost of a free house, where she lives. Whatever that is, 250 k UK pounds, 500 k UK pounds, whatever. That would sort the bastards out. Assuming they've done this 100 times to other folks, that would probably put the parking company and their liability insurance company, into bankruptcy. Lovely.

[@foxstrangler]

And when the court ruling is made, give them 14 days to pay and apply for a winding up order if they don't comply.

[@Interdiction]

Better ways are available tbh

[@jamesstevens2145]

like she said, sometimes you just want it to stop so you can put it behind you & get on with life, rather than have it drag for another X yrs

[@RobertBryan-r5o]

The fact that they harassed here and attempted to bully the payment out of her demonstrates that they never intended to file a court case, else they'd just file, wait for the verdict and save themselves a lot of administration/overhead costs. This harassment process is simply a part of their "business model" and is essentially extortion. Does the UK law not protect consumers from this sort of practice?

[@stephenhunt8389]

Well done for covering this story. People need to fight back against injustice and bullying behaviour like this.

[@mcdon2401]

I'd like to know the legalities of opening a counterclaim for harassment against companies like this. Abuse like this shouldn't go unchallenged.

[@brianlopez8855]

Generally a call or email a day is NOT regarded by Courts as harassment.

[@isthatujeebus]

@@brianlopez8855 for TWO YEARS...?

[@MrApolloTom]

@@brianlopez8855 In Ferguson v British Gas it was stated that initial demands for payment are reasonable until it's clear the debt is disputed, after that's it's unlawful to press for payment repeatedly except through the courts.

[@ianross04]

identical incident occurred to my wife in 2020! It was exhausting corresponding with the Parking Enforement and in the end, had to resort to hiring a solicitor which in the end the case was dropped. A couple of hundred £ of of pocket in Solicitor fees while the Parking Sacmming Company just stroll off seemingly without any recourse. Makes me sick but thats our nation today

[@gurumac8992]

Sue them for harassment, alarm and distress they've caused your wife and claim your expenses back too. 6 years is the statute of limitations, so you have time to get justice and hold them to account for their actions...👍🏼

[@cnosnevets4993]

How would she or anyone else take a company to court for harrassment, or for breach of contract? Apart from an N1 claim for money or the expense of a solicitor, it's virtually impossible to push back.

[@petermainwaringsx]

My response to the bully is usually "bring it on". So far they haven't, but never ignore them and keep records of emails ETC. Never discuss the matter on the phone, just ask them politely to write to you.

[@alexanderevanska4274]

Same here. Confront them and they soon poop their panties.

[@Norfolkbiker50]

The problem is that the only way to contact them is in writing through the post, even sending a letter recorded delivery they deny ever receiving it. So, regardless of what anyone says on here, barrister or not, DO IGNORE THEM because the moment you make any contact they've got you, I got one such letter from CIVIL ENFORCEMENT ( lol) when I was working in hunstanton last month. Sure enough they have a very grainy photo of "my car" entering the car park at 8.35am and another showing "my car" leaving at 10.49am. However, what they haven't provided me with is the second photo showing "my car"exiting the car park at about 8.37am when I realised that the machine is cash only and I left to drive to Tesco to use the ATM to get some cash to then go into Tesco and buy something so I had change for the ticket machine (A cheese sandwich I think) before returning at about 9.00am, again no photo showing "my car" reentering the car park? To then buy a ticket for 2 hours and then finally leaving said carpark at 10.49am (apparently) the reason why I've put "my car" in exclamation marks is because the photos are such piss poor quality the only thing they do show clearly is my registration number (funny that?) But when I first entered at 8.35am I had a passenger but the photo is so bad you can't see whether there's anyone at all in the car. The last one of these I had was in 2016 in Norwich, they sent me increasingly threatening letters, even fraudulently claiming that some of them were from Northampton county court using a fake logo that to the untrained eye looks like a county court stamp a quick phone call confirmed that Northampton county court had no knowledge of any such case! After a couple of years the letters stopped and at no time did I acknowledge receipt of any correspondence from these crooks. That time I had dropped my wife and daughter off at riverside near the football ground early Saturday morning then picked them up about 4 hours later. Riverside has a 2 hour limit and these fraudsters tried to claim that I had been parked there for 4 hours, I ignored them that time and I'll do the same this time, if necessary I can produce a bank statement proving that I was using the cash point at Tesco when they claim I was in the carpark!

[@user-zu6qn9ux9n]

Had she ignored it immediately they would have given up in a few weeks. Saw it before and will see it again. Our local hospital car park has had similar issues. People, namely hospital staff, just ignore the letters and they give up.

[@IMBlakeley]

Did that with a mobile phone contract, said sure see you in court and by the way I am self employed on a day rate so I'll asking for 2 days money plus hotels etc to attend.

[@joeedwards627]

No, completely ignore them from the outset

[@stephenjames59]

These companies do not even read any appeals. They are just out to screw you out of your money. I parked outside a customer's office to do some work there. I was told to type my reg, number into a tablet computer and that entitled me to park there while I was working. A few days later I received a PCN. I appealed it, told them who I was working for, sent them copies of my job sheets and confirmed that I had given my registration. They completely ignored this and insisted that I pay. I spoke to my customer thinking that they could get the fine cancelled but they just said "oh no not again" and they paid the fine for me. Absolute scam.

[@brianlopez8855]

I had this while working at Hotel on a property lease issue. I was working for the landlord, and the Hotel needed our consent for some work. The ticket was withdrawn when this was pointed out.

[@scudger99]

I get them regularly through similar circumstances. The majority are quite happy to cancel when I appeal with copies of work notes etc. The 2 that ignored that decided not to take it any further when I told them to take me to court. They push their luck to see if you will weaken. They know judges are taking a dim view of their methods and are becoming reluctant to go to court unless you are well and truly in the wrong. Professional bullies, they don't like being stood up to or bigger bullies.

[@Angel-j8e]

It’s easy money for these companies, they use bullying tactics.. and take to court and threaten CCJs and default on credit file ..

[@petersmith9470]

Keep all paperwork and ask for the phone calls to be sent by letter. Evidence for a solicitor to take these maggots to court. Stress and anxiety is responsible for many cases of suicide victims, the symptoms can last a lifetime. Glad it's all over for this clearly distress lady, and hopefully she fully recovers and gets her life back to where it was before.

[@KiwiCatherineJemma]

Yeah the compo these bastards need to pay her, I reckon about the cost of a free house, where she lives. Whatever that is, 250 k UK pounds, 500 k UK pounds, whatever. That would sort the bastards out. Assuming they've done this 100 times to other folks, that would probably put the parking company and their liability insurance company, into bankruptcy. Lovely.

[@applelover98]

Yes, she should print and save a copy of the email they sent her. E-mails have a mysterious way of disappearing.

[@2100Warzone]

I had the same issue. They harrased me for over 3 years. I had never parked in the thier Car Park. My wife was so upset that she told me to pay it because they were going to take me to court. I said no it's not going to happen, i will not pay a fine for something i have not done. I refused to discuss it on the Phone . They told me if it went to court then i would have to pay thousands of pounds. Trying to scare me into paying. I never paid and they eventually stopped sending letters and trying to speak to me on the phone. People should never give in to these people because they are just scammers.

[@finneogan]

Serious question: when does "legal bullying" become illegal and actionable blackmail and/or harassment? This case to me seems like it covers both.

[@jamescoburn6789]

I also note that the only evidence they would accept is the actual ticket. 8 months later, that is beyond reasonable and in fact ridiculous.

[@WhiteDieselShed]

UKPC are awful, they dropped the case against my mum after harassing her for over 4 years. Mountains of threat letters. We lost at POPLA even though we showed their photo evidence of the signage pre-dated the parking event by 4 years and before the site had been redeveloped. Signs on walls where the wall was demolished during the work so no possible chance of a sign being there. We refused to pay and said we will fight it in court, got the court data and everything and then just before they had to pay the court fees they dropped the case. Same as that woman my mum often said should we just pay it... I said NO you did not park for the length of time they claimed.

[@williamkennedy5492]

I took my family to a KFC yesterday and by chance looked at the counter, the sign said scan your car reg or you will be fined ?????? I scanned my reg into the system. We should all be aware of these parking companies and the tactics they use.

[@michaelsandy3353]

Please name and shame this car parking company. I had similar with a company and allowed the case to roll into court. They didn’t turn up and the judge dismissed the case.

[@hairyairey]

I have an idea who it is, they are pursuing me for having breakfast at McDonald's. I do not expect them to show up either. But it's worse than that, I think they are actually engaging in extortion.

[@telepath_]

Well, name and shame the company you experienced this with yourself?

[@normanross3422]

Did you actually watch the full video?

[@michaelsandy3353]

@telepath, it was VCS. @Normanross, I did watch the full video and many aspects were very similar, although she was clearly dealing with a different company. The company I dealt with did not phone me, although their appeal website did not operate as it should have done. Like the lady I retained the evidence of payment but because I was confident in my case I let it go to court.

[@hairyairey]

@@michaelsandy3353 I was wrong. Mine is MET Parking, it's public knowledge what they are up to. Just search for "met parking Southgate park"

[@filippgyemicsev4057]

You forgot to mention in the video that often the parking companies sell the debt to a "legal" company who put their extra charge on and harass the people. I experienced it myself, and it is really demoralising. It puts on a lot of mental pressure. It's really sad!

[@TobiasJugg-Regis]

Dvla needs to be stopped from handing out people's data. It's clear DVLA are not interested in establishing lawful basis as they make money from it. I believe the legislation states that the secretary of state can authorise the issue of data from the DVLA. it would be interesting to see if the secretary of state who would of been Grant Shappes at the time actually authorised the DVLA to issue people's data.

[@thatwasyesterday]

My details were provided even though I had a valid parking permit for a car park the parking company had no jurisdiction over. They dropped the fine. I complained to ICO who in my opinion are useless. ICO basically claimed parking companies could fish for DVLA data to investigate a possible parking infringement which is utter nonsense as they are only meant to access your information if a parking infringement has occured.

[@2728Alexis]

The law says they can provide the details to anyone with "reasonable cause." The issue is that the DVLA regards anyone who is willing to pay £2.50 must have reasonable cause by the fact they are willing to pay them money. If you see a Ferrari in the street you can send off a V888 form with £2.50 and request their address so that you can burgle the house and nick it.

[@stevenhodgson834]

@@2728Alexis You'd have to have a damn good reason for that, though, as an individual.

[@davidspear9790]

I'd like to think that my personal details were worth a lot more than £2.50!

[@jonathanflatman]

I agree with your comments on the ICO. I was very disappointed in their lack of interest over a different personal data breach issue. I try not to park anywhere where these parking companies operate. When I have looked into specific issues, from personal experience, it often appears that the landlord has employed parking enforcers in good faith and they do not realise the problems and dissatisfaction that the rogue operators can cause. I sympathise with people who have paid these charges after threats of legal action. Like me, they probably weigh up the cost of paying versus the cost of defending a case, threats of bailiffs and the mental strain. When these parking companies and their legal associates misbehave they need to have suitable penalties imposed against them @@thatwasyesterday

[@kellishero]

I had a similar situation with a parking company. I asked them to justify their request for the money they wanted. I didn't get one so I told them take me to court and justify it there. Calling their bluff worked as the letters stopped.

[@DaveHines1]

It’s about time punitive fines are levied against these companies , since they like the number 350 , how about 350 thousand against them ! 😡

[@neuralwarp]

They don't care about fines. They just close down and re-open under a new name. You need to prosecute the directors.

[@slartybartfast1]

The problem in the UK is when a company is found guilty of bullying and harassment the fines and compensation awarded to individuals is miniscule in comparison to the stress inflicted on people.

[@eddiebruv]

How could she pay for parking at the wrong terminal? If it’s a ParkingEye system then she has to input her licence plate number when paying, and the system must have accepted it, otherwise it would say that there’s no match to a car and not be able to even calculate what the payment value would be.

[@peterdaly6173]

Where did it say that its a parking Eye system? I missed where that was stated. I went to a car park where the terms stated that you had to enter your Vehicle Registraion in and pay for the time you PLANNED on being there.. if you entered the rego incorrectly, then you would be fined, as they would have no payment for your car, and it is your responsibility to ensure it is entered correctly.

[@eddiebruv]

@@peterdaly6173 “If”

[@GundamGir1]

​@peterdaly6173 this happened to me mum but the other way round, the reg has a 1 the camera read it as an I and she got a parking ticket, but funny enough the letter still turned up to the right address, it even had the wrong reg written on the letter. They said they weren't at fault and she needed to pay the ticket, even though she paid n put the right reg into the machine. Before the carpark was pay n display, n before that a man in a hut, now it's went to camera and reg, and people's been ticketed left right n centre, the carpark made the newspaper cause on one day something like 100 people got parking ticket due to error in the machine/camera, then it happened a few months later too.

[@davidjacksonjackson3212]

If she had proof that she had paid, she should have said, take me to court, claimed damages and the judge would have given the company a rocket for wasting the courts time, these parking company's are out of control and are just scam artists

[@graham2342]

I pulled into a hotel Holiday Inn, It was 2am. This was the fifth hotel I had tried near London for accommodation. I parked round the back and went the the front reception to hopefully book in. The receptionist was busy, even at that early hour so I had to wait for attention, maybe five minutes. Having asked for a double room for my wife I, I was told no vacancies. I returned myocardial and left. A few days later I received a parking ticket. I paid it and went through the appeals procedure for a refund, fully expecting to have my money returned. The end result because of threats that I would receive addition fines if I lost the appeal I did not proceed. The hotel was one where when abroad working I spent 6 months in this hotel chain. There have been numerous opportunities where I would have used even 5his particular hotel, who I had informed of the problem. No answer of course. I will not use this hotel again.

[@PJ-om2wq]

I had a similar experience. It should be illegal to threaten higher charges if you appeal it. I was charged for driving into a car park, read the terms and conditions, decided it wasn't for me and left.

[@brianlopez8855]

You are better off stopping in the road outside, even partially blocking it to avoid these fines.

[@KeyBrosUK]

Why pay it? B******s!

[@PJ-om2wq]

@gregabott5583 but if the appeal fails then you pay four times as much. Therefore you are effectively paying under duress.

[@fetchstixRHD]

@gregabott5583: Yeah, one council actually stated that if you plan to have an appeal, to not pay and to challenge it straight away (they also state that the "timer" for charging gets paused until you get a response). Luckily found that out the easy way, where I challenged a ticket and won by sending screenshots and a link to their website...

[@jwrobin21]

This does beg the question; IF SHE HAD PAID THE 350, would she have got more demands for the 350 BECAUSE SHE COULD NOT PROVE SHE HAD PAID THE 350!

[@bdcalling1391]

Exactly

[@RosieHarp]

She'd have requested a receipt and she would have definite proof of that on her bank statement.

[@IggyBros]

It is really sad to think about all the people that do give in and just pay because of the harassment, especially older or more vulnerable people or just anyone who is suffering with their mental health. Some people would just want the bullying to stop which is so sad, these companies are horrible 😔

[@drakhir]

I've had this. They only hassled her because they knew they had no case. This is bullying, pure and simple. These companies are criminal. One of the carparks that threatened me with court, somehow found my wife's phone number and they texted her. I pointed out this was illegal, and they would hear from my solicitor. We never heard from them again.

[@gavinreid2741]

The onus of proof should be on the car park company. They should have to prove lack of payment .

[@2728Alexis]

The onus of proof IS on the claimant in any civil court claim.

[@paulvanderver4745]

Same thing happened to me, 3 years of continuous demands, unsuccessful appeals, then finally a county court case initiated. But suddenly dropped, because I felt the process leading to a court date was the tactic these companies use to encourage payments. If this BBC documentary mentioned exists and if it has led to a change of behaviour by these car parking companies then data would exist to show this behaviour change. This could lead to evidence or the very least a suggestion of knowingly wrong doing by these companies. Then perhaps a national effort to rid our society of these practices.

[@MartinCawley-xy1lo]

What this needs is for a friendly Law Professional to take up her case and take action against the parking company for "harassment" or whatever else their treatment amounted to.

[@andrewg.carvill4596]

And having won, get the press to placard the story across the country. The press love a David v Goliath story.

[@susandickinson6695]

I spent 18 months fighting one of these bullying companies. Eventually got to send all my evidence to court wnd it was thrown out. Friends suggested i should just pay to get rid of them but i stuck with it because i was right. Glad i did

[@diligaf1000]

She should absolutely go after them in court ill happily pay a few quid to crowd fund her.

[@NickAskew]

That is horrible harassment by the company. If she had paid for the wrong carpark then the least they should be able to do is to tell her which one. But presumably she had not paid for the wrong carpark but they could not face admitting their mistake. Are they seriously suggesting that everyone has to retain their parking slip for the better part of a year in order to prove their innocence?

[@KarrierBag]

She was treated really badly and someone deserves something for putting her through all that, I had one many years ago, ended up with the local police chief personally sorting it out after we had a meeting as was heading to court, date set an all, this was back around 2005, ok a bit different but I had 6 parking tickets for 1 yes 1 vehicle and trailer all on same time same day and I had actually been booked to perform at this 'venue' and was only finding out where they wanted me and in that time the tickets were given.

[@bobdylan7120]

There was a similar case where a parking company claimed a driver had stayed longer than the permitted 2 hours in a motorway services car park, when he had actually only stayed 20 minutes.. Unfortunately for the company, the two, time stamped, photographs they submitted as 'evidence' both had, in the background, a lady putting a bag in the boot of her car. It was pointed out to them that the lady was unlikely to have carried out he exact same action, in the exact same manner, two hours apart and that it was obvious the time stamp had been altered to manufacture the second photograph. The parking company escaped penalties by stating the attendants no longer worked for the company!

[@BigFly028]

I don't believe they had any intention of taking her to court knowing they had a weak case and in the hope she would pay the £350 which is a significant amount of money based on potential parking cost which possibly amounted to a really small sum.

[@stevenhodgson834]

Yep, that's the business model.

[@captainsweatpants5229]

This is the same bullying tactic that TV Licensing uses, repeated threats. Is Capita now operating car parks, too? The company should be named & the "law" should STOP protecting these monsters and support victims for once.

[@janegreen9340]

- you’re not guilty but gives us money and we’ll go away - why aren’t the Police investigating this behaviour? Trading Standards even?

[@applelover98]

Ahh, but will they go away?? Probably just keep coming back for more.

[@brianlopez8855]

The Police are too busy with the important stuff - those Pronouns, you Bigot !

[@yetti423]

Hopefully the lady would recieve compensation for her harrasment.

[@robynjackson348]

I had trouble with a parking company in my local town. I was on my way home from work and stopped to buy a cup of coffee on the way home. I stopped in the car park to get money from my purse, this is at 2am. I got my coffee at the McDonald's and went home. The car park is run by a private company on behalf of McDonald's. The following morning my husband went to the same place to get his breakfast. This company sent me a parking fine of £80 and claimed I had been there for 9 hours. I wrote to them knowing this wasn't true, it took them a long time to come back to me, there was no acknowledgement they were wrong, and attempted to pass it off with " as a gesture of good will we will waive it this time" They knew they were wrong and didn't have the decency to admit it. I know it is nothing as horrible as the poor lady featured but it just shows what these companies are really like. I have seen the same issue for other people in this same car park since mine it is unacceptable and very stressful when you know you haven't done anything wrong.

[@darrenelkins5923]

Transport for London and Westminster hounded us for around a year. Sent it to court. Sent bailiffs. They were sent evidence that the car was similar but not the same, on cloned plates. Thankfully the car had a sunroof and non colour coded door mirrors and bumpers. Otherwise we had no other way to prove it was not us. A police force dropped their speeding charge straight away when they saw pics of our car Tfl and Westminster carried on. We had to stop the kids playing outside to prevent confrontation with debt collectors and bailiffs My mp finally intervened and it was dropped. No apology no offer of any goodwill for time and stress

[@darrenelkins5923]

Oh. I contacted the court and complained that I had only tick box options and no ability to offer tge defence proper. The court said all I could do was refer back to plaintiff.

[@darrenwoodlow3242]

This doesn’t shock me. I fought a parking company for 5 years until they dropped it. I was parked in my own parking space which I had under the lease of my property. I argued primacy of contract and even the freeholder told them to drop it. They refused to drop it even at that point. They even refused mediation after applying to the court and got a formal court date. I think I was a week prior to court date when it was dropped and that was when they sent me a copy of the contract they had with the freeholder which had the statement that they must drop any charge on request of the freeholder. Which I then put into my evidence pack back with the emails from the freeholder saying they should drop it, along with a very long set of reasonable costs. This industry needs a real governing body that stops this.

[@markwood6682]

Did I hear correctly, it was 8 months after she parked before they got in touch? Lucky she paid on a card, if she used cash, and had then thrown the ticket out afterwards, I don’t know how she would have defended herself. All power to her for sticking to her principles and refusing to pay. This is bullying and it’s about time the authorities responsible for regulating this market took these types of companies to task.

[@DrRusty5]

8 months later is surely too late and having to prove your innocence is ridiculous.

[@BlueJDev]

It is too late, however as she interacted with them it kind of restarted the clock. They likely sent her a notice to keeper which she likely responded to. If they don't send that within a certain amount of time (I think it's 14+2 days) then technically they can only pursue it if you interact, although you still need to make the case that they have missed the deadline. If you provide details of the driver or admit to being the driver, it kind of restarts their time. It's more complicated than I'm making out though, I learnt this due to going through it with one of the parking companies back in 2019, so a while ago.

[@jkingofthechicken2217]

Statute of limitations is 6 years. During COVID restrictions when nobody was parking much these companies went through their backlog and initiated thousands of claims from years back.

[@johnbower7452]

These companies are scum. One that clamped me (while I was in the back of the van no less and on a road, not in their car park) had in the past clamped a plumber while he was collecting the permit, and an ambulance attending a heart attack. They need to be shut down and the owners bankrupted.

[@MadDog_Rules]

This actually happened to me a few years back, but it was with a car park machine that took coins also. 3 weeks after parking, i received a penalty notice saying i hadn't paid. Unfortunately for them, i always stored the parking tickets down the side of my door, for at least 6 months, it was just a habit of mine. I ignored the first penalty notice and then i received further notices stating i now owed a ridiculous amount of money. I scanned the parking ticket, stuck it in the post with a 'fu' attitude saying, how many other people are you scamming? I never heard from them again. And if you want to know who else is scamming, it's the Congestion Charge department.

[@Bin-The-L-Plates]

I visited a supermarket car park 2 days running, but the system or cameras fails to register the on the first day, so a ticket was sent for overstaying the allowed 3 hours. I was at home, and can prove I’d be doing driving lessons when they claimed I’d been sat on the car park until mid afternoon on the second day. I got the supermarket duty manager to get it cancelled, thankfully I taught him to drive a number of years beforehand so he has happy to help. But here’s the issue, the parking company had used a photo of a car I’d sold 2 months previously to fabricate or cover up the camera system faults. Down right fraud, it was 2 separate makes and models of cars in photo, one was a BMW diesel and the other a Hyundai EV, so not even close. But all the photo showed was the number plate and not the whole car. I’d have loved to let it go to court, but I’d have probably had to endure the same stress that this lady had suffered. Scammers, and nothing short of theft.

[@pollyester6639]

I had a similar incident with constant hounding. I moved into a new build house and given a phone number from BT that had previously being used by a chap who had taken a loan and not paid it back. They phoned three times a week whilst I was pregnant and resting, when I was breast feeding, when I was weaning the said child. Until one day fed up of explaining they’ve got the wrong number I told them to come to the house and meet my solicitor because this was harassment. I explained how long they had hounded me and we now verging on harassment. I told them if they want this money I actually know the man they are wanting and I will take them to the house. It was awful and it happened during the day.

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

Without doubt this is a deliberate technique. I had a very large parking company try this on me. I'd paid cash in their machine and by sheer fluke had retained the ticket. 9 times out of 10 I'd have thrown it away by the 3 weeks they waited to send me the letter. In that case I'd have had no proof, which is presumably their intent. It made me wonder how many hundreds of thousands they may be making by this method. Shocking that the courts would probably support them too.

[@48ml07]

They are demanding money with menaces by saying they will increase a penalty. Especially when you have shown proof of purchase ie parking fee. They need to be arrested and questioned by the police. I had similar a few times and it’s absurd they are permitted to do this. Dartcharge tried it on twice for a return journey. But NEVER an apology.

[@lililijo]

They make their money by scaring people, or hoping people will pay just to shut them up. It must work enough to justify continuing with that business model.

[@Lyndon85]

In Cardiff there's a company that runs a car park for a leisure complex. They had a habit of giving tickets to cars in disabled bays, not because of cars not having blue badges, but because the badges were the "wrong way up". The complex management are aware of this and willingly turn a blind eye.

[@stephenrichards5386]

How many people do they threaten for not parking

[@HonchHeado]

Also they didn't even show up I took them to court I expected a team of Mr Burns lawyers they didn't even show. They just rely on people paying this nonsense to make more profits. And many people do pay it.

[@grahvis]

They will often take it to the wire, but will not cross it. The last thing they want it for it to go to court, and for them to lose, it will encourage others to take a stand.

[@AndyR072]

I'm currently contesting a parking charge where I couldn't park because the car park was full. I drove around couldn't find a space so drove off. they are trying to fine me for not paying, even though I didn't park

[@Olleetheowl]

If they have her details (and they must have those because they contacted her ) then they must know which car park she was in. Their own evidence is their Achilles heel

[@jacquesmertens3369]

Mentally vulnerable people are preyed on by ruthless scammers. Let's hope someone takes them to the cleaners.

[@simonrichards150]

There needs to be a mechanism in law where someone accused can force the accuser to either go to court or leave them alone. These companies deliberately stall for years while sending debt collection letters and even if you tell them to take it to court, they don't! They just continue to send harassing letters.

[@pajownik]

How is this possible that they pursued the payment after eight months? Is it even legal? Who in their right mind would keep parking receipts for months?

[@stevenhodgson834]

Yes, they have several months to send out the initial PCN, and 6 years to pursue it through the courts.

[@pajownik]

@@stevenhodgson834 This is outrageous! How can this be allowed?

[@stevenhodgson834]

@@pajownik It's the law. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@pajownik]

@@stevenhodgson834 Well. The law is wrong.

[@stvbee7479]

My guess would be that the parking company never really wanted to take this lady to court. I would presume that they hoped their threats of legal action would encourage the woman to make the payment!!!

[@merlin5476]

Those camera's are why i Never go into town center car parks anymore. I've been collard by them by doing a U turn in a car park, thus getting a fine !!!! Also going into a pub car park, turned round & noticed a camera system staring at me, i had no choice but to go into the pub & put my details into their system. The whole system is a scam And a very profitable one too.

[@Adventures_with_Sog]

These bullying clowns should be held accountable for this and be made to pay compensation. They also need to be investigated for such dubious behaviour.

[@mrsiborg]

Is there no governing body that can reign in these disgusting companies?

[@brianlopez8855]

If its anything like the Solicitors Regulation Authority, they won't do a thing.

[@SRDXXF]

They need to be held accountable, and exposed.

[@coolbreez773]

This is why I simply do not pay for ANY private parking. I have received dozens of letters threatening me with court action, fee's, costs, bailiffs etc etc....but so far NOTHING has ever happened.

[@manchegocheese997]

In my experience, people/businesses who casually threaten legal action rarely take such action. They assume those words alone will scare people into paying.

[@Pensionersdoaboat]

Happened to two friends of mine. Exactly same scenario, paid and the company waited a significant time before claiming they hadn't paid, hoping they would throw ticket evidence away. Luckily one guy had habit of throwing the used tickets in his armrest. Even though he provided a photo of the ticket with time and date plus his bank statement they continued just like this and harrassed him for two years up until court day when they dropped the case. This seems to be their way of making money in their business and is all designed to fraudulently extract money. It's pretty easy to discover the directors of these companies including names and addresses. I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate harrassing letters and calls

[@jamesmurphy7828]

In a case like this is there really no way to prove attempted fraud by the company issuing the fines and threats? It's very obvious she paid and owed absolutely no amount of money to them and they dogedly persued her even in the face of pretty good evidence in her favour. They were literally clutching straws when she were talking about proving where her car was parked.

[@yesihavereadit]

Vexatious litigant? Ban the company directors?

[@pennylando3145]

A friend of mine was in a similar situation - although with less harrassment than this poor young woman. She parked and paid for her ticket, which was one of those that came with a pre-glued strip that you have to stick to your car window - which she did. Unfortunately, at some point thereafter the ticket fell off of the window, landed upside down on the dashboard, and she ended up with a parking fine. She wrote to the parking company explaining what had happened and providing photographic evidence of the ticket she had bought and its position on the dashboard after it had fallen, but they still went ahead and took her to court because although she had paid, they claimed that she hadn't 'displayed' the ticket. To my mind this is the part that is indicative of a company trying it on - if the company has been provided with proof that a ticket has been purchased that should be enough to fulfil the contract between driver and parking company. It is in car parks managed by councils or similar. She was taken to court and as part of her defence she said that she had attached the ticket to the window, but could not be held responsible for the quality of the glue on the ticket, nor could she be expected to return often to her car to check that the glue was still holding the ticket to the window. To cut a long story short, she won her case. It wasn't easy to persevere under the stress of the letters and, like the young woman in the video, there were times when she considered paying the ever-increasing amount being demanded, just to bring an end to things. But she has a very profound dislike of injustice and that outweighed the stress.

[@garrycroft4215]

For context I’m parking at a hospital car park run by ParkingEye I have a permit registered in the hospital. Over the last two years I have had 4 unjustified PCN. The first one was very similar to this case with endless letters and phone calls demanding money and fees with further threats that it would be thousands if I lost in court. In the end I paid them. The second I just paid instantly so as not to go through all the hassle. The third & fourth they dropped telling me to follow the rules on the signage which I already had done. I fully expect to receive more as their cameras obviously don’t know that my registration number is logged at the hospital as exempt from parking fees.

[@brianlopez8855]

Better off parking in the public road outside, different parking regime most likely.

[@2728Alexis]

Did they specifically say "thousands"? That would be an offence. Small claims court has limited costs, even if you lose. To say otherwise is fraud.

[@garrycroft4215]

@@2728Alexis on the phone yes in writing no just that it would be considerably more than the £350 they already demanded.

[@jonathanflatman]

You need to careful with the times of entry and exit. Most operators log your times on CCTV and not from when you obtain a ticket from the machine or pay by phone. Sometimes it can take a while to pay - phones engaged, too many customers, machines not working. My parter thought they were in time by the times marked on the paper ticket but got a PCN for being one minute over based on the CCTV recordings. Our local park needs a manual vehicle registration input and a fine if you get it wrong. It has a poorly lit machine with small yellow painted numbers on stainless steel buttons! It is almost as if they want you to fail...

[@garrycroft4215]

@@jonathanflatman in my case I don’t buy a ticket I’m exempt. They don’t put a PCN on your car the invoice comes through the post. The only phone number is to take payment. Emails sent to you are no reply, text messages they send you are no reply. The only way to contact them is by letter.

[@b0dyb4gz1]

i had one in about 2015 they sent me multiple photos of my car, all of which worked out to 8 seconds, saying i had parked for 10+ minutes, 1 i was in the carpark less than 2 minutes, and 2, i was never parked and was turning around, the fine was 80quid, i told them a 8 second time difference was never enough to prove i was parked and i would see them in court if that was there preferred option, needless to say i heard nothing back for 5 weeks, and then was sent a letter saying the parking ticket was sent as an error and no further action was needed lol.

[@InBodWeTrust]

How did they get her phone number to be able to call her in the first place? Why didn't she simply block their number? I'm not downplaying what she went through - the parking co. and their legal are simply shysters - but there were things she could have done to mitigate the harassment. The *very best* advice regarding private parking charges and court claims can be found in the Parking board at MSE Forums 👍

[@MrApolloTom]

I don't think the DVLA give it out, so either she gave it to them in correspondence, or they blagged it through a data breach.

[@SteveSmith-zo4ml]

The reason they harassed her rather than just going to court is because they knew they would lose. There is evidence of payment for the parking service, but no evidence of non-payment. To aggressively pursue someone for money in those circumstances sounds like extortion to me.

[@LailaSiddiqui-hd2ek]

Thank you BBBarrister. ❤

[@HyEar-ec8dx]

Hi I've received today a demand for payment from a debt collection agency for £170. I entered a car park in Wales, it was a busy school holiday week in May. I drove around the car park looking for spaces, they became available but by the time I had driven round the space had gone. The car park allows you to go round without stopping. I was timed by ANPR of eleven and a half minutes between entry and exit. All the time in the car park was spent driving around to get a space. No one got out and there was no waiting by us at any time. I'm prepared to go to court as I believe I could not have entered a contract if I had never stopped. I would appreciate your comments John

[@alexanderevanska4274]

It's what happens when councils, government, etc let gangsters and road gangs set up parking companies. Take them to court.

[@sunflower-xj6pe]

I have disabled badge because of cancer. I am constantly getting parking fines for no reason even when I pay. It is disgusting and it is corrupted.

[@KubedPixel]

My Mum went to her usual supermarket which the car park is managed by a 3rd party. Mum had been in the shopping precinct for about 2 hours which was under the "3 hours free" courtesy. When she came back to the vehicle, it wouldn't start so called for rescue. They couldn't get to her for at least 2 hours which at this time the shops had closed and the car park was empty and in the dark, she didn't feel safe as there were groups of people hanging around. I drove to meet her and put her in a taxi home and I stayed with the vehicle until rescue arrived. Some days later, she got a letter with a fine for over-staying. I replied on her behalf stating that the vehicle would not start and I was waiting for rescue, I had been into the nearby shop and informed them I'd broken down and I was going to go over the allowed 3 hour free parking, I was told "don't worry about it". I later went back to the shop to enquire why I'd got this letter to be told "the car park is nothing to do with us and you should have called the number on the sign". I had called the number on the sign but admittedly it was just over the 3 hour allowance. My priority was getting an elderly and vulnerable woman away from a dark car park with groups of people hanging around. The parking company still send letters every few days. I just keep replying with the same information over and over again.

[@clemfandango77]

That's awful. I was in a similar situation. Had a break down at a Tesco carpark with 2 hr free courtesy. The RAC couldn't come for another couple of hours, so I went inside and told them the situation. The lady asked me to key in my reg number on a digital platform and extended the free parking period, so I guess Tesco manages that particular carpark. Hope you get it sorted soon.

[@davidspear9790]

Keep being resolute and giving the same response to the letters and not paying up. They can't argue that their communications have been ignored and realise they are flogging a dead horse.

[@ParaBellum2024]

It looks like they only dropped their case once the BBC got involved with other cases.

[@barrymurton8988]

Her mistake initially was ignoring them but having later provided proof of purchase of her parking ticket not being believed I think she should have said take me to court!

[@joeedwards627]

Always ignore them from the outset

[@Richard500]

There is a notorious car park where I live that has marked disabled bays that DO NOT state they are subject to a charge, they display a huge sign with ALL the details/terms etc in a small font and in that small font words that you must have the correct money on entry to the car park. So in effect, you can get charged for parking if you go into one of the shops for change for the meter. Only recently have the ticket machines been updated to cashless/touch and go. The only drivers that get away with parking without paying are from a certain group of people you don't argue with.

[@hippophile]

She is due compensation, but I completely get why she is not going for it. Thames Water had sewage running into my garden for 2 weeks, they said the water was clean and any leak was my problem. Eventually it got fixed another two weeks later (it was a blocked sewer not on my property). I know I could have got a couple of hundred pounds plus compensation, but seriously, I know EXACTLY how this woman feels. You just don't want to bring it all up again, you want to get on with your life and get over the stress... I really feel there should be more automatic compensation for this kind of awful behaviour from parking co's. It is essentially a scam.

[@brian.7966]

why cant somebody help hey, this sort of crap should not be allowed to happen,

[@stevemacsorley3401]

My wife is a nurse and the same company Parkingeye Ltd just sent a claim form for £149.90 plus fees for £234.90 for going to work and doing her job.

[@jdb47games]

No, they sent her that for allegedly not parking in accordance with terms and conditions. Whether they are right is a separate question, but don't misrepresent what they did.

[@135Ops]

@@jdb47games Tell us you don't have any friends without telling us...

[@hachwarwickshire292]

No they are scum and are now panicking because fines are their profits. 😊​@@jdb47games

[@kenhampshire9917]

I had a parking company, one which was mentioned in this video, hound me for non payment, even though I had and had the evidence. Luckily for me, I already had prior knowledge of their antics and immediately sued them for harassment upon receipt of the first demand. They went very quiet when they heard from my lawyer.

[@chapmasi]

This woman isn't daft, she knew full well the company wouldn't win in court and crying for the cameras is a great way to get a decent "emotional distress + harrassment" case going. Not that I blame her, these scummy companies need taking to task