parking ticket at mcdonalds tamworth

[jackdaww]

ive been using this branch of mcdonalds for MANY years when visiting family . i park in their carpark , and often look around the ventura retail park after, often a couple of hours in total .
there has never been any issue , and i have never seen any restriction signs , so had no idea.

so i was surprised to get a parking notice (overstayed 18mins).

i didnt see any signs , so they cant be that clear., but im told they are there.

it seems its a recent thing , its now a franchise.

has anyone else seen this?

[redsturgeon]

Not seen that particular McD but it is very common at McDs in general and usually policed by cameras. There have been many complaints about it, the cameras often seem to give the wrong timings. I assume it is two hours free for customers and if you overstayed by 18 minutes then I guess you are caught.

Here is some information to help you decide whether it is worth appealing.

https://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/mcdona ... ng-ticket/

John

[GoSeigen]

ive been using this branch of mcdonalds for MANY years when visiting family . i park in their carpark , and often look around the ventura retail park after, often a couple of hours in total .
there has never been any issue , and i have never seen any restriction signs , so had no idea.

so i was surprised to get a parking notice (overstayed 18mins).

i didnt see any signs , so they cant be that clear., but im told they are there.

it seems its a recent thing , its now a franchise.

has anyone else seen this?

You don't state clearly whether or not you were the driver. However, you are posting about this all over the internet and leaving your name with your posts. You should try not to identify to anyone who the driver was or this may weaken your case.

Having got that out of the way, I'd say that the hoops these companies have to jump through to have a valid case against you are numerous. It's likely you could defend your case in court if it ever came to that. If you are not inclined to pay you could take a bit of time to see if they have jumped through all the hoops.

Important to know from the outset is whether you found out about the parking charges through a notice to keeper received in the post, or by a notice to driver left on your car or handed to you or someone else on return to the car. Can you say which is the case? (Without revealing who was driving!):
1. Notice to keeper by post or
2. Notice to driver left on vehicle or
3. Notice to driver handed to someone.

Be careful what you say to the company at this time...


GS
EDIT: P.S. Some posters here have a dim view of my understanding of law, and IANAL so feel free not to engage!

[jackdaww]

ive been using this branch of mcdonalds for MANY years when visiting family . i park in their carpark , and often look around the ventura retail park after, often a couple of hours in total .
there has never been any issue , and i have never seen any restriction signs , so had no idea.

so i was surprised to get a parking notice (overstayed 18mins).

i didnt see any signs , so they cant be that clear., but im told they are there.

it seems its a recent thing , its now a franchise.

has anyone else seen this?

You don't state clearly whether or not you were the driver. However, you are posting about this all over the internet and leaving your name with your posts. You should try not to identify to anyone who the driver was or this may weaken your case.

Having got that out of the way, I'd say that the hoops these companies have to jump through to have a valid case against you are numerous. It's likely you could defend your case in court if it ever came to that. If you are not inclined to pay you could take a bit of time to see if they have jumped through all the hoops.

Important to know from the outset is whether you found out about the parking charges through a notice to keeper received in the post, or by a notice to driver left on your car or handed to you or someone else on return to the car. Can you say which is the case? (Without revealing who was driving!):
1. Notice to keeper by post or
2. Notice to driver left on vehicle or
3. Notice to driver handed to someone.

Be careful what you say to the company at this time...


GS
EDIT: P.S. Some posters here have a dim view of my understanding of law, and IANAL so feel free not to engage!

========================

thanks

it was a letter by post to the registered keeper .

whether it worth going to court depends if its worth the time and effort . i lost a lot more on mccolls shares!

[jackdaww]

Not seen that particular McD but it is very common at McDs in general and usually policed by cameras. There have been many complaints about it, the cameras often seem to give the wrong timings. I assume it is two hours free for customers and if you overstayed by 18 minutes then I guess you are caught.

Here is some information to help you decide whether it is worth appealing.

https://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/mcdona ... ng-ticket/

John

=====================

thanks

it is 1hr30mins at this particular mcdonalds franchise . not very long if one is doing one of these kids parties.

[chas49]

it is 1hr30mins at this particular mcdonalds franchise . not very long if one is doing one of these kids parties.

Non-legal response but you could try approaching the franchise manager to ask if they will waive it as you were in their store (as provable by your booking) and (presumably) spent a reasonable amount. They should be able to do this on a goodwill basis. Certainly worth a try.

[jackdaww]

it is 1hr30mins at this particular mcdonalds franchise . not very long if one is doing one of these kids parties.

Non-legal response but you could try approaching the franchise manager to ask if they will waive it as you were in their store (as provable by your booking) and (presumably) spent a reasonable amount. They should be able to do this on a goodwill basis. Certainly worth a try.

==========================

thanks

ive tried the branch and head office .

both completely shameless . goodwill ????? it doesnt work like that now.

its a foot shooting exercise for mcdonalds , they lose my custom and many friends . i prefer greggs anyway .

[GoSeigen]

thanks

it was a letter by post to the registered keeper .

whether it worth going to court depends if its worth the time and effort . i lost a lot more on mccolls shares!

That's good. It's almost certain they don't know who the driver was and you (as keeper I'm guessing) don't have to tell them. They can chase you for the parking charges but they have a huge number of things to get right in order to have a valid legal claim. It's worth having a close read of the relevant law (Protection of Freedoms Act 2012) if you are interested:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/9/schedule/4


Suffice to say, most of that is a list of endless conditions the parking company ("creditor" in the legislation) has to meet to make their claim valid.

For now, you should probably do nothing until 14 days have elapsed since the alleged parking incident. That is how long they have to issue a correct notice. You could look through the notice to see if there are things they have failed to include or made any mistakes. Post here if you want to query anything, or I'd be happy to have a look if you want to PM me the details.

chas49's idea of approaching the franchise manager is good, especially if you can convince him/her that you were genuinely using the restaurant the whole time, but beware not to accept any liability and perhaps speak with him/her after the 14 days have passed. Might not work though because a. the car park management may be handled by the land owner, or b. the franchise manager might wash his hands of the matter.

Of course, going to court is a judgement call, but there is a long lead time to court action being taken against you. If you think you have a case, i.e. you did not breach their parking terms, or they failed to do something required by the law, then this can be presented to them at appeal and with a bit of luck they might back down. If they don't, you will face some hassle from them badgering you, but I doubt it'd go to court if you had a good case, and if it did how could they win??

I hate this sort of intimidation of people going about their normal business. Luckily you have the resources to defend yourself but many others don't...

Good luck,

GS

[jackdaww]

many thanks for all replies.

having already spent several hours communicating with mcdonalds customer services - who supply templated management speak replies of the broken record type, and which? legal , who are helpful but not hopeful,
i have paid up.

i have much more pressing things to do at present so i dont want protracted dealings with these dreadful people, who have got it all sown up .

its unfair but the current law is in favour of the parking people.

i have heard there will be new rules/laws early next year which may level the playing field .

i have learned to religiously check and obey parking signs .

ps. mcdonalds will get zero from me or my network in the future. i prefer greggs anyway and they are popping up everywhere.

[Infrasonic]

Bit academic now as you've paid the fine but fwiw many of the retail park style ANPR facilities have changed their maximum stay from 3 hours to 1.5, unless you log in or get a shop token to use at an onsite parking kiosk to extend your stay back up to 3 hours.
My local Aldi/Pure gym/M+S car park does it that way. The gym have a mini kiosk to log in with for members.
It caused no end of heated arguments on the changeover...

[GoSeigen]

many thanks for all replies.

its unfair but the current law is in favour of the parking people.

i have heard there will be new rules/laws early next year which may level the playing field .

Just to be clear, this is just one person's opinion. I tried very hard to explain that in fact the current law is in favour of the people using the parking i.e. us!

The only way these scammers make money is by people caving to their intimidation tactics.


GS

[jackdaww]

many thanks for all replies.

its unfair but the current law is in favour of the parking people.

i have heard there will be new rules/laws early next year which may level the playing field .

Just to be clear, this is just one person's opinion. I tried very hard to explain that in fact the current law is in favour of the people using the parking i.e. us!

The only way these scammers make money is by people caving to their intimidation tactics.


GS

=================================

GS

thanks .

you may be right , i dont know , the lawyer at which legal didnt recommend a challenge.

i also hate caving in very much , and i have spent many man hours fighting such things , often with success , but in this case i didnt have the time, £50 is loose change compared to navigating opportunities in the stock markets just now.

JD