Author Topic: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay  (Read 542 times)

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Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
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Hello folks,

Received a PCN from Euro Car Parks for the reason of overstaying at an Esso Petrol Station. It has been recently redeveloped, with a new rule on the time allowed spent on site, which was unbeknownst to the driver.

The driver was waiting in a queue to use the jet wash. As it was quite a busy afternoon, the time exceeded the permitted 30 mins on site. The transactions were provided as evidence.

I have appealed the PCN and received a couple of rejection letters; one which included paying an administration fee.

Please find all correspondence attached.

Would appreciate any advice on this matter.

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« Last Edit: March 29, 2025, 09:14:52 pm by AshNaz87 »

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Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #1 on: »
How on earth are we supposed to be able to assist if we don't have the full story. You have not shown the Notice to Keeper (NtK) you received or the wording of your appeals. We have no idea where the drivers identity has been revealed, inadvertently or otherwise.

Also, we have no idea why you have received two POPLA codes for the same PCN> On what basis did their reduce the charge to £20?

Have a read of section 3.4 of the BPA/IPC Private Parking Single Code of Practice (PPSCoP) and tell us whether that part of the code has been complied with.
Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience” - Mark Twain

Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #2 on: »
My bad.

Please find attached the original PCN, along with my appeal.

I appealed twice; once without any transactions or letters (done in haste due to emotions) and again with a letter and proof of use of the jet wash.

When you say full story, I'm not sure what you mean. Please let me know if there's anything else, you'd like to know.

As to why they reduced the amount to £20, your guess is as good as mine.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2025, 09:01:41 pm by AshNaz87 »

Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #3 on: »
You should repost the NtK with your personal information redacted.

You seem to have posted the second 'appeal' - could you also post the first appeal. Could you also post the rejection letters (EDIT: Ignore - I see these now on the first post)

b789 has also asked a fair question about PPSCOP 3.4 which it would be useful for you to answer (RE your claim that they have changed the rules)

Have you complained to the land owner that a legitimate customer (the driver) is being pestered by an unregulated parking company for a clearly unreasonable charge?

In their rejection they show a sign on the jet wash saying that time can be extended by giving the cashier your reg - I assume the driver didn't see this or didn't do it in any case?
« Last Edit: March 29, 2025, 07:41:46 pm by G6PRK »

Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #4 on: »
Further to my response above, it seems like the change to £20 is them using the BPA rule where they can cancel a charge and issue an up to £20 admin fee in instances of keying errors.

Was the VRM keyed erroneously? Or not at all?

If the latter, this would seem like a weird thing for them to do but I don't know much about this "rule".

Personally I wouldn't pay a penny and would fight them all the way, but if you do choose to pay the £20 you should clarify with them first that this will bring an end to proceedings.

Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #5 on: »
The “further appeal rejection” states that the PCN will be CLOSED on receipt of £20.

It seems they’re happy to treat this as a “keying error”.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2025, 09:13:58 pm by jfollows »

Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #6 on: »
@G6PRK

Thank you for letting me know about the redaction. Not sure how it escaped me!

With regards to the below questions:

Quote
Have you complained to the land owner that a legitimate customer (the driver) is being pestered by an unregulated parking company for a clearly unreasonable charge?

Indeed I have. MFG is the parent company and unfortunately have outsourced their customer service team to India. Let's just say the level of service is below par and they kept deferring me to Euro Car Parks, as they are unable to assist with the matter.

Quote
In their rejection they show a sign on the jet wash saying that time can be extended by giving the cashier your reg - I assume the driver didn't see this or didn't do it in any case?

There is no sign on the jet wash to indicate that time can be extended by giving your registration in-store. There may be signs elsewhere, but I would argue they can easily be overlooked, as they are not in the most obvious of places.

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« Last Edit: March 29, 2025, 09:15:50 pm by AshNaz87 »

Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #7 on: »
Quote
Indeed I have. MFG is the parent company and unfortunately have outsourced their customer service team to India. Let's just say the level of service is below par and they kept deferring me to Euro Car Parks, as they are unable to assist with the matter.

Maybe some of these guys would be able to help... https://www.motorfuelgroup.com/leadership-team/

Quote
There is no sign on the jet wash to indicate that time can be extended by giving your registration in-store. There may be signs elsewhere, but I would argue they can easily be overlooked, as they are not in the most obvious of places.

Are you sure? Page 4 of the first rejection and Page 3 of the second rejection show a sign which seems to be affixed to the 'glass panel' the typically surrounds a jet wash bay.

To be clear, I'm not meaning to be argumentative but you will need to be very clear on all of the circumstances in the instance this ends up in court. For example, if they're showing an picture from a different site the court would take a dim view, but if you say there isn't/wasn't one and its provable there was, that will also be a problem.

--

I would agree that it looks like they are willing to accept it as a keying error - but since there wasn't a keying error that would seem odd and I wouldn't simply take them at their word. If the online portal now also shows £20 I guess you'd probably be fine.

That said if there was a keying error by the attendant in the store (since it doesn't sound like a self serve situation) then how could you possibly be on the hook for any amount of money? The BPA guidance also says up to £20 for admin costs, I wonder if it really cost them £20 to reply to a couple of appeals with boilerplate/inaccurate letters? Their willingness to drop the cost would seem like they're clutching at straws to get something out of you.

You have a choice - accept the mugs discount - or fight them all the way for what is clearly an unreasonable charge.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2025, 09:44:33 pm by G6PRK »

Re: Euro Car Parks PCN at Esso (MFG) Petrol Station - Overstay
« Reply #8 on: »
Personally, I would not pay into a scam like this. I'd just let them issue a court claim through DCB Legal, defend it and wait for the inevitable strike out or discontinuation. I am 99.9% confident that that would be the outcome.

Let ECP waste their money. So what, if I get a load of useless debt recovery letters? More paper to shred into hamster bedding.

OP, what you need to understand is that this is a well trodden path and unless you're low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree who is likely to pay out of ignorance or fear, then as long as you follow the advice you receive here, you won't be paying a penny to ECP.
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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