Hi,A couple of weeks ago, the driver was in Manchester, looking around at some flats because the driver wanted to move to the area.On the way to a viewing, the driver was having trouble with their google maps (they use a mounted phone for navigation), so they pulled into the Salford Quays car park briefly to restart google maps and get back on track. They were there for less than 5 minutes, and never left the vehicle.After going to the viewing, they learned that it had been cancelled - so there was nothing for them to do, and they had almost two hours to kill until the next viewing. They sat around for a bit staring at their phone, then came back the same way, and on impulse pulled into the car park again in order to look up somewhere to eat (they really like Tim Hortons, and there's a couple in the city), and then they moved on - same thing, literally just looking up somewhere on google maps, then gone. They never left the vehicle.A couple of days ago, they receive a letter from Ocean Parking saying that they had been there for 55 minutes, with ANPR photos. This would be very silly because they had the flat to look at - even though the letting agent had cancelled, the driver did not know this at the time, and attended the appointment as normal.This annoys and confuses the driver. There was nothing in Salford Quays itself that particularly interested the driver, and the driver does not like McDonalds.The driver replied to Ocean Parking's appeals email with a boilerplate message, which they wrote as follows:QuoteDear sir/madam,I dispute your 'parking charge', as the keeper of the vehicle. I deny any liability or contractual agreement, and there will be no admission as to who was driving and no assumptions can be drawn.Since your Parking Charge Notice is a vague template, I require an explanation of the allegation and your evidence. You must include a close-up photograph of the sign you contend was at the location on the material date, as well as your images of the vehicle parked in violation of those terms.If the allegation concerns a payment machine, the data supplied in response to this appeal must include the record of payments made – showing a partial vehicle registration number – and an explanation of the reason for the Parking Charge Notice, because your notice does not explain it.If the allegation involves an alleged overstay of minutes, your evidence must include the actual grace period agreed by the landowner.Photos of the letter to the driver are attached. No photos of the signage are available because the driver resides around 200 miles away from said car park.
