Meadowhall Retail Park car parking megathread

[Grandad.Malky 11]

Rather than thinking £25 is a lot for a couple of hours think about all the times you have got away with parking where you shouldn’t and say :- it’s a fare cop guv.

[alchresearch 214]

You're obviously the type who has never made a genuine mistake and I take my hat off to you.

 

Nope, just the type who knows that the car park is quite obviously some distance away and belongs to another facillity. Plus I can also see the many signs dotted around the place warning you.

 

Yes, I know it's pretty poor when the retail park is closed, but as long as there are fools who can't read signs then they'll continue to trade and make money from people like you.

[Magilla 510]

Went to cinema at Centertainment in Sheffield and as usual could not get parked due to the pathetic amount of spaces available. I always check the overflow car park behind the cinema then as usual end up parking next door on the retail car park. I've never been aware of these parking restrictions (don't go the cinema that often) so was surprised to receive the letter with photographic evidence.

 

What does the photographic evidence consist of?

[SnailyBoy 10]

Maybe if they invoiced for the actual cost of parking against their terms and conditions rather than the customary £25 or more.

 

That would be the moral thing to do.

[Nicesheff 10]

What does the photographic evidence consist of?

 

It matters not!. No contract exists between the driver and the parking fine firm etc etc.

 

People need to realise this. These "fines" are not fines and therefore unenforceable.

 

Dont listen to people who say you should pay. they just dont understand how these cretins work

[Anarchon 10]

How do they justify charging £25 pounds when their losses amount to £0? It's a free car park after all. They might as well charge £100 or £1,000 for that matter. The point is, until these private parking companies become fully regulated, then I would argue it's morally right to completely ignore their unreasonable demands for money. I had a demand from one of these companies for £150 for having overstayed in a 75 min free car park by 15 mins. How does 15 mins worth of free parking add up to £150 worth of losses? Don't pay and don't respond back to them either. They will traet you as a hooked fish. They will send a number of threatogramms, they will involve one of their debt collecting friends (who is usually just the person sitting at the next desk), however, they will go away eventually if you simply ignore them. Just persevere. It is also 99.999999% unlikely that they will take you to court.

[Lockjaw 11]

Legally, you may have no obligation to pay the fine, but morally you do.

 

Do you believe the company to be morally justified in charging £25 for his misdemeanor?

 

If so, please explain how you arrive at £25 as a suitable charge, rather than, for instance, £2.50 or £300.

[Lockjaw 11]

So why is it wrong for them to have fined you for parking somewhere you wasn't meant to?

 

Because they are not legally entitled to issue fines.

[Lockjaw 11]

Why is it a scam?

 

Because they issue a disproportionate charge followed by a number of threats of further action and then, when the "customer" does not pay ... just ... stop ... asking.

 

How would you explain this endlessly repeated course of action?

[Cyclone 10]

You're right, they should just clamp the car and charge £25 for the cost of having to employ staff and a clamping van. Or maybe they should just have it towed off their property and left on the nearest highway.

 

You might consider the "contract" unfair and non existent, they intend it to act as a deterrent to people who would park without permission.

[Bonjon 10]

Yes I am trying to avoid paying money to who by all accounts are a bunch of scammers.

Thanks for your time, jog on and let the people who are trying to help do just that.

 

I'm guessing you also ignore lots of other road signs too then as this car park is particulary well signed.

 

Here is the entrance: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=centertainment+sheffield&sll=53.566414,-4.042969&sspn=18.984752,39.418945&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Valley+Centertainment,+Broughton+Ln,+Sheffield,+South+Yorkshire+S9+2EP,+United+Kingdom&ll=53.405029,-1.41552&spn=0,359.990376&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.405128,-1.415502&panoid=Zwlj9fnzjvi32sit3ftd8Q&cbp=12,75.43,,1,3.87

 

Do you have a drive, if so when i'm in the area ill come and park there, would you be ok with that?

 

Oh and back to the legality of the 'fines' or whatever you wish to call them, people are being taken to court and it only takes the parking company to have 1 win and then they will take everyone who decided to ignore these 'parking charges' to court.

[SnailyBoy 10]

You're right, they should just clamp the car and charge £25 for the cost of having to employ staff and a clamping van. Or maybe they should just have it towed off their property and left on the nearest highway.

 

You might consider the "contract" unfair and non existent, they intend it to act as a deterrent to people who would park without permission.

 

I find this really bizarre. You defend the rights of parking companies to issue invoices as a deterrent.

 

Yet on many, many other threads regarding 'speeding without permission' you criticise speed cameras as 'making money for the Government'.

 

So I guess from that parking in Meadowhall Retail Park after hours should be seen as the more grevious offence?