Parking Charge

[EEZABLADE32]

Hi, I go to Ravenscroft Shopping Mall in Chesterfield once a month. Last timeI went I walked across the road to hand some goods in to the Chesterfield Hospice Charity shop. Returned within 5/10 minutes. Week later I get a parking summons from UKCPS for £120 for leaving the car park. All it shows is a photo of my car in Parking Bay. Anyone had similar problems tome.

Thx

Tony

[fiction-factory]

I'm not clear what the issue was. Did you have a valid ticket to be in the space, or are you saying it was a normal free parking bay? I don't think the parking enforcers generally differentiate between going to a charity shop for 5/10 minutes and, say, going to the chip shop or to nip in for a loaf of bread

[fiction-factory]

£120 seems very steep though- if it's parking charge notice you could dispute the size of the charge- I thought it had to be reasonable- Buenchico may know but I'd have said £50 given the admin costs was reasonable but £120 isn't

[jamesnan]

My brother had a similar issue in Scotland, parked his car in valid area, bought some tiles, then walked his dog over to leave it at the vet which was on the other side of the road. He got a ticket, which he fought tooth and nail, and won, just before it went to court.

[hc4361]

As them to prove that you left the site. Did you do any shopping at Ravenscroft?

[Mamyalynne]

This article from last year may be relevant.

http://www.tobyperkins.org.uk/2018/01/chesterfield-mp-warns-motorists-about-risk-of-parking-tickets-at-town-retail-parks/

[fiction-factory]

I assume the signs say parking is permitted for users of the shopping mall only, and they are basing the charge on the fact that in the enforcer's opinion you did not use the shops in the mall during your stay but did leave the mall to visit somewhere else. Whether they are able to prove you didn't use the mall is debatable unless they have details on camera.
I must admit I tend to nip in somewhere and buy a small item or at least browse in a shop for a couple of minutes before leaving to avoid such issues.

[Mamyalynne]

That's usually how it works but reading comments on the linked article - people have provided receipts and still the charge has stood because they left the car park.

[teacake44]

The motorist as always been a target to make money, even more so on retail areas/ shopping centres, more so now than before on retail centres, as shops close and bigger stores demand rent reductions, the obvious answer is sting the motorist for as much as they can get away with. The shopping centre near me, you get a ticket when you enter, when you leave you put it in the machine and it charges you for how long you've been their, but god help you if you lose your ticket, they hit you for a full day. Now they have camera as well that can see what time you came ,and how long you.ve been parked there, but do they use this information if you lose your ticket? no!
Do they use this information if you try and not pay, yes! parking fines, and fooling people into believing they can park on a retail site for free is big business, and they are earning more money from that than they are in shop rents.

[Peter Pedant]

there is a lot on these threads on parking charges

some you should pay and you shouldnt - if they belong to POPLA then yeah apparently I think

if you are parked in a bay where you should pay and you didnt and they are member of POPLA then you are screwed basically

and the answers to all these subsid qq is Yes
so they chance it?
is there a quota for wardens
do they put on tickets when they know they shouldnt
do they issue tickets they know are iffy and rely on the driver to appeal

all cases are on its merits ( the only law is that POPLA members are enforceable and theother arent ( I think)) and you have to decide if you are one

[hc4361]

I would still ask them to prove that I left the site.

[Smowball]

That seems incredibly steep for a first ticket!

[needawin]

Local Asda here in Belfast operated the same scheme for a while but scrapped it due so many complaints from people who had shopped in the complex and then also went "outside to shop".

[teacake44]

The catch is with most (retail parks) is that you have in some cases may be 3/4 hours of free parking, in very small print, it states parking for customers only for the retail park. So if they see you cross the road (from) the retail park, they take that as your not shopping on the retail park, hence a fine. What they have done at local retail parks near me, have changed all the signs, still with the same conditions, but made the print half the size it was, and put them higher up, so you have no chance of being able to read them, even with perfect sight, this is a deliberate act to con people. and the power that be allow them to get away with it. As hc says ask them for a video of you leaving the car park.