PCN Treliske Retail Park Highview Parking

[boh1066]

I received the attached charge notice from highview

Having looked at similar threads my first reaction was to complain to the agents and the three shops the driver had shopped at that afternoon

[boh1066]

this is the email (amended as recommended below) , sent to CEOs of CostaCoffee, Argos and Homebase plus the retail park agents



Dear Sir/Madam

Firstly an apology for writing to you directly , but your various websites make no provision for a direct email approach as far as I can see


I am forced to make an official complaint to you all as leaders of your various trading companies and what I believe is the managing company at Treliske Retail Park.with regard to the practices of your agent, HighView Parking which are upsetting, predatory and will drive away genuine customers.

This is following receipt of a 'charge notice' following a shopping visit to the park on 13th July 2018 (reference number xxxx dated xxxx

The fact that xxxxx visited the park is not is dispute. Indeed xxxxxx shopped at Costa (an excellent cool drink by the way served by very friendly staff), Argos (purchased a ceiling light, again good service) and Home base (cash purchase of plants, a good experience). xxxxx has receipts for all of these visits.

The car park at the time was no more than half full, and was virtually empty by the time we left. xxxxxx has dash cam footage if required to establish this

The 'charge notice' states that the recorded duration of the stay was 2hours and 39 minutes and 'contravened the terms and conditions displayed on the signage'

As far as xxxx was aware there is free parking at the park for genuine shoppers and as such xxx had no reason to check any signs. xxxxx is a regular customer at all your stores and has probably spent hundreds of pounds in them over the past 4 years he/she has lived in the locality.

I would point out that the 'charge notice'; does not specify the terms and conditions that xxxx has allegedly broken or indeed the contract that they believe xxxx has entered with them. a third party completely unconnected with his/her visit.

Notwithstanding what HighView may well have to say on the matter, no doubt alleging 'operating in accordance British Parking Association's Code of Practice' ,(The BPA, in reality, is merely a trade body 'club membership' which enables them to buy registered keeper data and certainly does not 'regulate' their industry) I would also respectfully suggest that you should research the company you are associating with. HighView have a terrible online reputation, indeed I would say derisory, and their business model seems to be one of extorting your customers rather than actively managing parking. It is not 'parking management' to have ANPR cameras on site and yet no management of spaces, no attendants and no checks made of disabled bays. This is remote profiteering by your agent, routinely 'farming' car parks with no consideration for individual customer needs and circumstances.
My view is that ostensibly free ANPR-led enforcement of parking spaces by a notorious and litigious third party firm using remote cameras at the entrance and exit, and a few random signs, is completely at variance with the customer service ethos of your companies.

I would welcome your own view on this harassment and hope you see fit to ensure that HighView cancel the 'charge notice' forthwith. My research about this matter has revealed that retailers routinely cancel them for genuine customers which helps to restore xxxx faith in your companies a little, albeit tempered with a frustration that you are allowing such an aggressive agent to blacken your name and drive away customers.

I would point out that all of your companies have local competitors who do not 'benefit' from such dubious practices and will be the eventual beneficiary if your agent is not reined in.

If you choose not to prevail upon your agent xxxxx reserves the right to appeal through the Parking on Private Land Appeals process; you will note that HighView rarely win these appeals but they do attract yet more unfavourable publicity on their business practices and the companies they act for.

Yours sincerely

[boh1066]

Argos were first to reply


Director's Office


Dear

Thank you for your email which has been received and read by J. I have been asked to look into your complaint on his behalf and respond to you personally.

I am sorry to read that xxxx received a parking fine during a recent visit to our store and would like to apologise for the annoyance caused.

Regretfully, we have been forced to introduce parking restrictions into this store, as we found our car park was being used by shoppers leaving their vehicles whilst visiting elsewhere. We have therefore, introduced these restrictions in order to ensure there is sufficient parking for our genuine customers when they visit our store.

I have spoken to our Treliske store and understand that there is signage in the car park which does advise of these restrictions and the two hour limit. The control of these car parks is contracted out to a third party organisation and the fine you have received will be logged with them and not passed on to Argos.

I have noted your comments regarding the company, however, to dispute this fine, I must respectfully request xxxx contact the issuers directly.

May I once again apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience you have been caused and if I can be of any assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below.



Kind regards,






edit: remove identifying information

[boh1066]

Then Homebase


Good Morning




My name is xxxxxxxx and i am the the Store Manager of Truro Homebase.

Firstly i would like to acknowledge receipt of your complaint.


For me to be able to resolve this for you, could you provide me with a Tel No that i am able to use to contact you.




Yours Sincerely,




[name] store manager

I subsequently gave him my phone number and we had a nice chat
In summary

In the past Home base were in a position to cancel tickets (especially as they were often selling large items like kitchens where it was easy to run over the then max parking period of 90 minutes)

More recently they had no control over the parking arrangements - they were in the hand of the retail park's agents

He would raise it at the annual meeting of retailers with the agents - there have been other complaints

He commiserated and offered to pay xxxxxx 25% of any eventual charge on a no liability/without prejudice etc basis which I thought was very generous but assured him xxxxxxx had no intention of paying anything

edited: remove potentially identifying text

[boh1066]

Finally Costa

Dear

Thank you for contacting XXXXXXXX regarding xxxxxx recent visit to our store in Truro.

XXXXXXXX is out of the office for a few days and has asked me to respond.

We were so sorry to hear that xxxxxx has received a parking ticket whilst visiting Costa and other stores. Whilst we do fully sympathise, unfortunately we have no control over the parking charges in this area as it is completely regulated by the retail park. We do not have any formal agreements with any car parking companies and would not be in a position to approach them on your behalf. The car parking companies are instructed either by the landowner or a management company acting on behalf of a landowner. Having spoken to the store, they confirmed that there have been signs around the carpark since the end of January when the new carpark was completed. You are correct in your comment regarding free shopping time and this is for two hours and is checked with a CCTV camera on entry and exit. I have also checked with them to see if they have any authority to ask for the charge to be cancelled and unfortunately they do not.

We fully appreciate that xxxxxx is a loyal customer and had enjoyed his/her visit, and wish we had some leeway in order to help you.

All feedback of this nature is recorded and regularly reviewed by our brand and property teams. We do wish you the best of luck on getting this resolved.


XXXXXX
Customer Service Team Manager – Equity and Feedback

edited: remove identifying information

It is clear that there is some form of party line between retailers, it wouldn't surprise me if there is some term/condition in the contract witth HighView that requires this response

[boh1066]

I think the next stage is their appeal process, I know that MSE have had a lot of success with their template letter:

Re PCN number:

I appeal and dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability.

There will be no admissions as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn, nor was there an agreed contract. Your signage terms fail the test of 'large lettering' and prominence of the parking charge, as established inParkingEye Ltd v Beavis, which is fully distinguished.

Should you fail to cancel this PCN, I require with your rejection letter, all images taken of this vehicle & the signs at the location that day. Do not withhold any images or data later relied on for POPLA/court.

Firms of your ilk were unanimously condemned in 2018 as operating an 'outrageous scam' (Hansard 2.2.18). The BPA & IPC were heavily criticised too; hardly surprising for an industry where so-called AOS members admit to letting victims 'futilely go through the motions' of appeal and say on camera 'we make it up sometimes' (BBC Watchdog).

I will be making a formal complaint about your predatory conduct to your client landowner, as well as complaining in writing to my MP and ensuring that they are appraised of the debate where Parliament agreed unanimously: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists...should not have to put up with this''.

Formal note:

Service of any rejection letter/POPLA code and/or legal documents by email is expressly disallowed. All responses to me from this point on, must be made by post. Regardless of any MCOL online/email system, service of any court claim must only be made by first class post to the latest address provided by me.


But I note your letters are far pithier!

I think a BOGOFF is required - any advice on the text please?

Many thanks in advance

[boh1066]

I forgot to mention the retail park agents have not acknowledged or replied yet

[ostell]

The first thing you have to do is edit all your posts so that the identity of the driver cannot be inferred. This is most important, do it NOW.

Secondly you have a golden ticket. They have not complied with the requirements of POFA to be able to hold the keeper liable and they are up that proverbial creek if they do not know the name of the driver. Here's POFA. Look at section 9, especially 9 (2) which specifies all the items that MUST be contained within a NTK, Several are missing and so there can be no transfer of liability from driver to keeper.

Sirs

Ref PCN xxxxx VRM yyyyyy

I am the registered keeper of the above vehicle and am in receipt of the PCN you issued. I have no liability on this matter as you have failed to meet the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to give the warning to the keeper, contrary to section 9 (2) (f) of the Act. You cannot therefore transfer liability from the driver at the time to me.

There is no legal requirement to identify the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

Any further communication with me on this matter, apart from confirmation of no further action and my details being removed from your records, will be considered vexatious and harassment. This includes communication from any Debt Collection companies you care to instruct.

Yours etc.



They have also not correctly stated 9 (2) (e) I didn't look after that but the above should be sufficient for the time being. When/if it gets to POPLA you can throw the whole lot at them.

[boh1066]

The first thing you have to do is edit all your posts so that the identity of the driver cannot be inferred. This is most important, do it NOW.

Secondly you have a golden ticket. They have not complied with the requirements of POFA to be able to hold the keeper liable and they are up that proverbial creek if they do not know the name of the driver. Here's POFA. Look at section 9, especially 9 (2) which specifies all the items that MUST be contained within a NTK, Several are missing and so there can be no transfer of liability from driver to keeper.

Sirs

Ref PCN xxxxx VRM yyyyyy

I am the registered keeper of the above vehicle and am in receipt of the PCN you issued. I have no liability on this matter as you have failed to meet the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to give the warning to the keeper, contrary to section 9 (2) (f) of the Act. You cannot therefore transfer liability from the driver at the time to me.

There is no legal requirement to identify the driver at the time and I will not be doing so.

Any further communication with me on this matter, apart from confirmation of no further action and my details being removed from your records, will be considered vexatious and harassment. This includes communication from any Debt Collection companies you care to instruct.

Yours etc.



They have also not correctly stated 9 (2) (e) I didn't look after that but the above should be sufficient for the time being. When/if it gets to POPLA you can throw the whole lot at them.

Many thanks for the fast response

Hopefully I have removed anything that could infer the driver, I thought I had done a reasonable job but on re-reading after your warning I realise I hadn't!!

Thanks for the advice - short and to the point

I'll post what happens next

[boh1066]

Well I submitted my appeal and received the following today
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your correspondence relating to your Parking Charge Notice (PCN). xxxxxxxxx
Further to your representations, we have investigated your claims and can confirm that your Notice has subsequently been cancelled in full and no further action will be taken.
Yours faithfully,
Highview Parking Limited
From: xxxxxxxxx
Sent: xxxxxxxxxx
To: Appeals (PCN) <appeal@appealpcn.co.uk>
Subject: WEB APPEAL - PCNxxxxxxxxx
TED A

PCN No.xxxx	xxxxxxxx
VRM	xxxxxxxx
Was Driver?	No
Site	01218 - Treliske Retail Park, TR1 3LN
Email Address	xxxxxxxx
Name of Appellant	xxxxxxxxx
Reason for Appeal	Other
Follow up Questions
No of Documents attached	0
Further Information	Ref PCN xxxxxxxxxx I am the registered keeper of the above vehicle and am in receipt of the PCN you issued. I have no liability on this matter as you have failed to meet the requirements of Schedule 4 of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 namely, but not limited to, failing to give the warning to the keeper, contrary to section 9 (2) (f) of the Act. You cannot therefore transfer liability from the driver at the time to me. There is no legal requirement to identify the driver at the time and I will not be doing so. Any further communication with me on this matter, apart from confirmation of no further action and my details being removed from your records, will be considered vexatious and harassment. This includes communication from any Debt Collection companies you care to instruct.
Submitted on	xxxxxxxxxxx

So as predicted a total climbdown

[boh1066]

Thanks ever so much for your help
My next task is to write to the companies above, inform them of the result of my appeal and how useless this company is and tell them I shall not be shopping at them again

Once again many thanks for the help

[cw82]

Thanks ever so much for your help
My next task is to write to the companies above, inform them of the result of my appeal and how useless this company is and tell them I shall not be shopping at them again

Once again many thanks for the help

Hello BOH1066, this is a really helpful thread, thank you! I am in a very similar position to you and would like to use the above letter if that is ok? Can I also ask - did you give your name and address etc on the appeal form?
Thanks

[ostell]

Could you start your own thread please as it can get ever so confusing. Of course you can use the letter, that's what it's for, but are all the conditions the same? Please answer in the new thread you will start.

[boh1066]

As ostell says please feel free

If your experience was at Treliske I really think you should give the retailers both barrels. The Homebase manager was very sympathetic and said that the retailers have an annual meeting where they discuss issues like this with the retail park's owner and agents. Both Homebase and Argos have said they will take this feedback forward, so the more the merrier. Anything that gets this company thrown off the park and some proper car park management implemented would be a good thing

Argos have since written an apology and offered me a £40 voucher to restore my faith in their brand

How do I donate money to this forum?

And once again, thanks to ostell and the other experts on the forum

[D1now]

Deleted as I didn't read a post clearly.