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Meadowhall Retail Park car parking megathread

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Exract from the Web this morning 20th Febrary 2015 ::::::::::::::::

Drivers could get refunds totalling tens of millions of pounds over "illegal" parking fines on private land.

 

The group claims "fines" of up to £100 for infringing conditions in private car parks may be illegal, and is calling on the Government to stop the practice.

 

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Millions of drivers could be in line for a refund. We estimate that in 2013 alone, drivers might have been overcharged by some £100m."

 

Clamping on private land was outlawed by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, but charges for infringements of private car park conditions have grown to an estimated £100m per year.

 

Barrister John de Waal QC argues that this is likely to be several times more than compensation for a genuine loss, and would not be enforceable by the courts.

 

"They should be seen by the courts as penalties, which means they are unenforceable," he said.

 

Pauline Welsh, 57, was charged £60 after parking on what she thought was council-owned land - meaning it would have been free during the evening.

 

"It's shocking, and it needs sorting," the retired teacher told Sky News. "It's just not fair."

 

Mrs Welsh's husband, Alastair, appealed against her ticket - and another incurred by their son elsewhere. Both were overturned.

 

Figures from the British Parking Association show motorists won 49% of the 57,500 appeals made every year on average.

 

Professor Glaister called on the Government to set out what a reasonable charge should be.

 

"They allowed a system of ticketing to emerge which is barely regulated. In effect, drivers have been short-changed," he added.

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Slightly off topic was in Meadowhall yesterday parked on the ground floor outside car park and low and behold there was a transit type van marked up as DVLA Licensing or some similar lettering going up and down the rows of cars looking at tax discs etc and as I left a little man was peering in at a nice looking Mercedes car I thought that places like that where private property unless i'm missing something !!!

 

Firstly, it's a publicly accessible car park, and so all the standard laws of the road apply.

Secondly, the DVLA can enter private property to perform enforcement.

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my son has just received a fine yesterday from the company G24

he was photographed entering the car park on the retail site where the big Toys R us store is on the 18th of December at 3.13pm, he exited at 6.55pm.

3hrs 42 mins. to do shopping and eat oh and park his car.

 

is this a legit fine, definitely one way to put anyone off doing their shopping there,

 

also the letter is in very small print we've had to get the magnifying glass out to blooming read it

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Guessing at around two hours.

 

I think its two hours but I avoid shopping there and shop where there is none of these daft restrictions ie Parkgate.

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my son has just received a fine yesterday from the company G24

he was photographed entering the car park on the retail site where the big Toys R us store is on the 18th of December at 3.13pm, he exited at 6.55pm.

3hrs 42 mins. to do shopping and eat oh and park his car.

 

is this a legit fine, definitely one way to put anyone off doing their shopping there,

 

also the letter is in very small print we've had to get the magnifying glass out to blooming read it

 

It's not a fine. Its an invoice.

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my son has just received a fine yesterday from the company G24

he was photographed entering the car park on the retail site where the big Toys R us store is on the 18th of December at 3.13pm, he exited at 6.55pm.

3hrs 42 mins. to do shopping and eat oh and park his car.

 

is this a legit fine, definitely one way to put anyone off doing their shopping there,

 

also the letter is in very small print we've had to get the magnifying glass out to blooming read it

 

There are signs but any normal driver will not notice them, they don't attract the attention and even if they did you cannot drive and read those signs at the same time.

We live in a world full of advertising and useless signs, why should you even bother looking at these little signs on the parking lot lights.

To make the limit legal they should have big loudspeakers saying "warning, if you park longer than two hours you will be invoiced a large amound".

The signs they use are too long a text and look too much like condition pages we scroll away and click accept without even reading them.

 

We have used that parking lot 10 years and I only found out that 2 hours is the limit there when I read it on Sheffield forum, not from these signs on the parking lot.

 

---------- Post added 06-01-2017 at 09:34 ----------

 

Don't pay it but don't ignore it either. Keep sending letters back explaining you been shopping etc. etc. Complain their signs are inadequate, you will not be the only one.

 

If they threaten with debt collectors write back to them that they have no legal power to use debt collectors unless this case has been to court. They frighten people illegally.

I had this problem somewhere else and simply told them that their frightening me caused me stress sleeplessness and depressed trauma and I wanted £500 pound compensation for that. Never heard from them again.

Edited by dutch

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my son has just received a fine yesterday from the company G24

he was photographed entering the car park on the retail site where the big Toys R us store is on the 18th of December at 3.13pm, he exited at 6.55pm.

3hrs 42 mins. to do shopping and eat oh and park his car.

 

is this a legit fine, definitely one way to put anyone off doing their shopping there,

 

also the letter is in very small print we've had to get the magnifying glass out to blooming read it

 

Suprised you could find something to do for that amount of time. The only food places there are fast food. Too many people in here for centertainmet hence the limit. Most people over this time have either been elsewhere or are disabled, the latter is easy to sort out if thats the case.

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Suprised you could find something to do for that amount of time. The only food places there are fast food. Too many people in here for centertainmet hence the limit. Most people over this time have either been elsewhere or are disabled, the latter is easy to sort out if thats the case.

 

True he more likely went to see star wars.

Still it is more likely for a normal human being to enter that carpark without noticing these signs even when parking there frequently than for someone to see them and be aware of the limits.

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There are signs but any normal driver will not notice them, they don't attract the attention and even if they did you cannot drive and read those signs at the same time.

We live in a world full of advertising and useless signs, why should you even bother looking at these little signs on the parking lot lights.

To make the limit legal they should have big loudspeakers saying "warning, if you park longer than two hours you will be invoiced a large amound".

The signs they use are too long a text and look too much like condition pages we scroll away and click accept without even reading them.

 

We have used that parking lot 10 years and I only found out that 2 hours is the limit there when I read it on Sheffield forum, not from these signs on the parking lot.

 

---------- Post added 06-01-2017 at 09:34 ----------

 

Don't pay it but don't ignore it either. Keep sending letters back explaining you been shopping etc. etc. Complain their signs are inadequate, you will not be the only one.

 

If they threaten with debt collectors write back to them that they have no legal power to use debt collectors unless this case has been to court. They frighten people illegally.

I had this problem somewhere else and simply told them that their frightening me caused me stress sleeplessness and depressed trauma and I wanted £500 pound compensation for that. Never heard from them again.

 

 

Or you could just ignore them and save the time and hassle of writing loads of letters.

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Or you could just ignore them and save the time and hassle of writing loads of letters.

 

My case was not in retail park but if you ignore pcn now they are more likely to take it to court.

Edited by dutch

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My case was not in retail park but if you ignore pcn now they are more likely to take it to court.

 

Ignore them there the same on centertaiment I've had about 5 first one in 2006 still get fake solicitor letters today unless you have to pay to park on the grounds your not committing an offence so my advice is ignore them

 

Oh never write to them as you are admitting the offence

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Ignore them there the same on centertaiment I've had about 5 first one in 2006 still get fake solicitor letters today unless you have to pay to park on the grounds your not committing an offence so my advice is ignore them

 

Oh never write to them as you are admitting the offence

 

Yes I know how it works. I thought that recently a loophole in the law was changed so the owner of a vehicle could be made responsible now even if they claimed not to be the driver.

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