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Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
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Good evening,
In Early September I received a Notice to keeper / Parking charge notice from Euro Car Parks for overstaying 20 minutes in a Sainsbury’s. Honestly - I misunderstood the timings, and thought it was out of hours but clearly wrong.

I spoke to the Sainsbury’s and the manager told me that she would cancel the ticket, I emailed her all details and didn’t hear back.

A month longer I got a reminder from Eurocar parks. I spoke to Sainsbury’s again, and this time got an email back from the store manager confirming that the ticket has been cancelled.

I’ve now received a letter from a debt collection company with a bill for £155. I spoke to them by phone, they told me that the euro car parks had received the request to cancel from Sainsbury’s but that it had been declined. However this wasn’t ever communicated to me. The debt collection company told me that my right to appeal has now lapsed, so my options are to either pay, or refuse to pay, in which case it will go back to Eurocar parks to decide to either take me to court or not.

Is there anything that I can do, or have I lost my opportunity now due to time lapsed?

Apologies I don’t have the letters to hand, as middle of renovating so everything is packed but I’ll get them all all dug out tonight and posted if that would help.

Thanks in advance
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #1 on: »
Yes, it would help.

Sainsbury’s employs Euro Car Parks. Not the other way. If Sainsbury’s tells Euro Car Parks to cancel a PCN, that’s what they have to do.

They can’t decline to do so.

Ignore debt collectors. We don’t need to see their nonsense. But who was it? This will guide us on the next step. Whoever they are, stop communicating with them in any way. Especially not by phone - where is the written record of your conversation?

You will pay £0 if you follow advice here.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2025, 05:48:44 pm by jfollows »
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #2 on: »
Thank you that’s brilliant.

The company is called Debt Recovery Plus.

I haven’t done anything further other than the telephone conversation - I haven’t written to them, I’ll follow the advice going forward, and hopefully haven’t already caused any issues through action or inaction I’ve already taken!
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #3 on: »
Ignore DRP or any other debt collector. They are powerless to do anything except to try and intimidate the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree into paying out of ignorance and fear. Never, ever, EVER communicate with a useless debt collector.

Your strongest piece of evidence is the email response from Sansbury's confirming that they ordered them to cancel the PCN. A lesson learnt, hopefully, is that you do not conduct any negotiation by phone because it is not worth the paper it is not written on. Everything by email only.

For now, continue to ignore anything from DRP or any other useless debt collector. You can safely shred their letters and use them as hamster bedding, for all anyone cares. What you need to now do is send a formal complaint to ECP together with your evidence of the email from Sainsbury's agreeing to cancel the PCN.

You will need to remind ECP that they are not the Organ Grinder, only the Monkey, in their contractual relationship with Sainsbury's.

Send this to ECP at info@eurocarparks.com and CC yourself:

Quote
Subject: Formal complaint – Unauthorised pursuit of cancelled PCN [PCN: ______ / VRM: ______]

Dear Euro Car Parks,

I am making a formal complaint regarding your continued pursuit of PCN [_______], issued at Sainsbury’s [location] on [date].

The Sainsbury’s Store Manager confirmed by email on [date] that this Parking Charge Notice had been cancelled. Despite that, your appointed agent, Debt Recovery Plus (DRP), has now contacted me demanding £155 and asserting that Euro Car Parks refused Sainsbury’s request to cancel.

You are not the landowner; you are merely their agent. The landowner, Sainsbury’s, is the principal — the “organ grinder” in this arrangement. You have no lawful authority to override or disregard their instruction to cancel.

I therefore require a full and unambiguous explanation:
1. Did Euro Car Parks refuse the cancellation request from Sainsbury’s?
• If yes, provide the date, the name of the individual who made that decision, and the written justification for rejecting the principal’s instruction.
• If no, then your agent, DRP, has made a false representation of fact to a data subject while acting on your behalf. In that event, you are jointly and severally liable for your agent’s misrepresentation and any resulting distress or data misuse.

2. Provide a copy of the audit trail showing:
• The date and time you received Sainsbury’s instruction to cancel;
• Any internal correspondence regarding that instruction;
• The date on which you disclosed my data to DRP and the lawful basis you relied upon for doing so.

Once Sainsbury’s cancellation was confirmed, you no longer had any lawful basis to process or share my data. Continued processing and disclosure to DRP would constitute unlawful data processing under Articles 5(1)(a) and 6(1) of the UK GDPR.

If I do not receive a full response within 14 days, I will escalate this complaint to:
• The British Parking Association, for breaches of the Private Parking Single Code of Practice and misuse of landowner authority;
• The Information Commissioner’s Office, for unlawful data processing and disclosure; and
• My Member of Parliament, to highlight your misuse of private data and disregard for the authority of landowners who have clearly instructed cancellation.

Please treat this as both a formal complaint and a request for erasure of my personal data under Article 17 UK GDPR, save only for any data required to evidence compliance with this complaint.

Yours faithfully,

[Full Name]
[Postal Address]
[Email Address]
[Vehicle Registration]
You can also send the following to Sainsbury's head office at customer.service@sainsburys.co.uk:

Quote
Subject: Formal complaint – Euro Car Parks ignoring Sainsbury’s cancellation instruction and misusing my data [PCN: ______ / VRM: ______]

Dear Sainsbury’s Customer Care / Head Office,

I am making a formal complaint concerning the conduct of your parking contractor, Euro Car Parks, in relation to an alleged Parking Charge Notice (PCN [_______]) issued at your [store location] on [date].

Your Store Manager confirmed by email on [insert date] that this charge had been cancelled following my discussion with them in-store. Despite that, Euro Car Parks has continued to pursue the matter and has now passed my personal data to Debt Recovery Plus (DRP), who are demanding £155 and claiming that Euro Car Parks “declined” Sainsbury’s cancellation request.

If that claim by DRP is false, then they have made a misrepresentation while acting on Euro Car Parks’ instructions. If it is true, then Euro Car Parks has disregarded the instruction of its principal, Sainsbury’s. Either outcome is unacceptable and reflects a serious failure in your contractor’s compliance and data governance.

I require Sainsbury’s to:
1. Confirm in writing that the Store Manager’s instruction to cancel was valid and authorised;
2. Confirm that Euro Car Parks was notified of this instruction and the date it was sent;
3. Direct Euro Car Parks immediately to:
• Cancel this charge in full;
• Cease all contact using my data via DRP or any third party; and
• Erase my personal data from all systems under Article 17 of the UK GDPR.

This situation has arisen solely because Euro Car Parks has either ignored your instruction or misled you. This situations involves the misuse of my personal data and has caused unwarranted distress.

Please also confirm that this complaint will be logged and investigated at head-office level, not redirected to the local store. If you are unable to resolve this promptly, I will be escalating the matter to:
• The British Parking Association, for breach of the Private Parking Single Code of Practice;
• The Information Commissioner’s Office, for unlawful data sharing and processing; and
• My Member of Parliament, to highlight the conduct of your contractor and the reputational damage it causes to Sainsbury’s.

I look forward to your written response within 14 days.

Yours faithfully,

[Full name]
[Postal address]
[Email address]
[Vehicle registration]
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Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain
Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #4 on: »
Thank you! Those are incredible letters, fantastically written. I will send the emails on, and I will keep this post updated with the outcome.

I do hope that there isn’t any negative come back on the store manager who did the cancellation, as it isn’t their fault that this has happened, although I presume that they are authorised to make the decision to do the cancellations, so hopefully any come back is on euro car parks!
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #5 on: »
It is not the manager who is at fault here. It is ECP and/or DRP.
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Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #6 on: »
Hi everyone,
Got an update from this.

Sainsbury’s have been absolutely brilliant, and they’ve replied apologising that ECP haven’t cancelled the ticket, and will escalate to ensure that it’s done.

ECP - unsurprisingly - have still refused to acknowledge the cancellation - and interestingly - they’ve denied having any communication from Sainsbury’s in the matter (which is contradictory to what the debt collection company told me by telephone, unfortunately I don’t have a written record of this).

I’ve attached copies of their correspondence, although have removed identifying features.

I am tempted to generate another GDPR request for a copy of all records and communication ECP hold regarding my case - and be interested to see if they do submit a copy of the request from Sainsbury’s to cancel, or if they delete - deny holding this, in which case I’ll complain to the ICO I suppose, but can’t imagine much will be done about it.

Regarding the ticket - until Sainsbury confirm the cancellation is confirmed, I presume that ECP will continue in their action, and honestly I’m not confident that they’ll stop even after the further request from Sainsbury’s, but it’s all further evidence to hopefully stop ECP if they did try to take me to court.

Oh, just a heads up - neither of the email addresses for Sainsbury’s or ECP work anymore, so I just had to submit the complaints via web forms on their websites.

Cheers for all your help so far!
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #7 on: »
Do you have these various promises from Sainsbury's in writing?
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #8 on: »
I couldn’t add an attachment so have copied the text.

From ECP:

Further to your email received
a further
investigation has been completed, and I can now confirm the following:
• PCN
/ VRM -
• Vehicle Entry -
• Vehicle Exit -
• PCN Contravention - Your vehicle has overstayed the maximum time period allowed
The PCN was issued on the
at Sainsburys
- Out of Hours for "Your vehicle has overstayed the maximum time period allowed"
Notice to keeper was forwarded on
No payment was made or an appeal logged within the 28 days' time period and a Final Notification Letter was issued on
No payment was made and the PCN has been transferred to a debt recovery agency.
Please note appeals should have been made within 28 days from the date of the Parking Charge Notice or Notice to Keeper/Owner. As no appeal was submitted within this time frame - we are unable to accept your correspondence as this Parking Charge Notice has now been passed to a debt collection agency.

I can confirm that Euro Car Parks have not received correspondence from Sainsburys regarding the above parking charge notice.
This site is 2 hours maximum stay, the vehicle was parked on site for a duration of 2 hours, 28 minutes.
The site is private property and signage on entrance within the private car park clearly set out the rules and regulations of the site and the tariffs (if applicable). By entering the site, parking and leaving the vehicle the driver has accepted the "contract" and therefore if the driver fails to comply with the terms and conditions a parking charge notice will be correctly issued.
Signage on site is quite clear in its intent and clearly sets out the rules and regulations of The Site and the tariffs (if applicable). By entering The Site, parking and leaving the vehicle the driver has accepted the
"contract" and therefore if the driver fails to comply with the terms and conditions as stipulated on the signage a parking charge notice will be correctly issued.
Please be advised that there are a number of signs around the car park indicating the restrictions of the site and it is the responsibility of the driver to read them when parking.
Euro Car Parks offer a space management system, and therefore it is imperative that the terms and conditions are adhered to at all times.
In regard to your GDPR query, I have passed it to the Data Protection Officer, who will respond in due course.

The debt is now with the debt collection agency, and any further correspondence would need to be forwarded to them direct.
Kind Regards,
Customer Services


From ECP regarding the GPDR request:

Thank you for your correspondence regarding your request under Article 17 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018, which provides individuals with the right to request the erasure of their personal data in certain circumstances.
We have carefully reviewed your request and the information we hold about you. After thorough consideration, we must inform you that your request for erasure has been declined. This decision is based on the fact that your right to erasure does not override our legitimate interests as a car park management company. It remains necessary for us to continue processing your data to ensure you adhered with the terms and conditions of the car park, which you agreed to when using the facility.
Furthermore, we are obliged under HMRC (Inland Revenue) guidelines to retain certain information for statutory purposes, such as records relating to payments for a minimum period of six years to comply with financial and tax regulations.
Please note that the right to erasure under Article 17 is not absolute. It applies only in specific situations, such as where data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or where consent has been withdrawn and there is no other lawful basis for processing. In this case, our processing remains lawful and necessary under the legitimate interest basis and for compliance with legal obligations.
For further guidance on the scope and limitations of the right to erasure, you may find the following resource helpful:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/individual-
rights/right-to-erasure/
If you are dissatisfied with this outcome and wish to raise a complaint or escalate the matter, you may contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) using the link below:
https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
ВРАЙ
IBCSC
Euro Car Parks Limited Registered in England No. 1270612
Registered Office: 30 Dorset Square, London, NW1 6QJ
A member of ECP (Holdings) PLC Group
Should you require any additional information or clarification, please quote the reference number provided in the subject line of this email (GDPR Ref ART17-20251114-15) in all future correspondence.
Kind regards,
Data Protection Officer
ECP


From Sainsbury’s:

Thank you for your email and the information requested.
I am sorry that Euro car parks have not cancelled your parking charge notice at the stores request.
I have escalated this to the relevant teams within Sainsbury to ensure the parking charge notice is cancelled
I will be back in contact with you once I have confirmation that this has been processed.
In the meantime, should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below.
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Re: Eurocar parks / Sainsburys - ticket cancelled by Sainsburys but passed to debt collectors
« Reply #9 on: »
Quote from: DWMB2 on November 14, 2025, 05:43:55 pm
Do you have these various promises from Sainsbury's in writing?


Yes - not the first cancellation request (only have my outgoing email to Sainsbury’s, but never got a reply), but the second request I’ve got a reply from the store manager by email telling me that the PCN has been cancelled, and have just attached in my reply above the response from Sainsbury’s customer services telling me that they will escalate the cancellation and confirm when done.
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