Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello,

The driver was invited by the hotel to view their facilities as a prospective wedding venue on 13 September 2024. Upon arrival at the hotel, the driver was immediately met by a member of hotel staff at the car park who guided them into the hotel and showed them around. Upon leaving the venue, the driver was asked to provide their vehicle registration number to the member of staff so that the hotel staff could enter it into the system following their departure. The driver promptly left the hotel.

25 September 2024 -- the registered keeper of the vehicle was issued a PCN from Smart Parking Ltd. You can see the PCN here: https://imgur.com/a/2BKppJ3

4 October 2024 -- the PCN was appealed by the registered keeper on the basis that the driver of the vehicle was attending a pre-arranged appointment and was instructed by hotel staff to provide them the vehicle registration to be entered into the system by hotel staff. Evidence of this appointment was provided to Smart Parking Ltd as part of this appeal.

24 October 2024 -- the appeal was rejected by Smart Parking Ltd with the following wording:

Thank you for your recent communication.
Having considered your appeal in detail we have decided to uphold the Parking Charge as we believe that it was correctly issued in accordance with the terms and conditions advertised within the area concerned. As your appeal was received within the initial discount period we have extended the discount period until 07/11/2024.

We note the comments made within your appeal and that you have stated that you had registered your vehicles details on site on the date of the above contravention however, we cannot rescind the Parking Charge  on this basis. Please note, it is the responsibility of the motorist to ensure that their full and correct vehicle registration mark (VRM) is registered to ensure  that their vehicle be made exempt from the advertised terms, conditions and parking restrictions. Having thoroughly reviewed our records, we can confirm that no validation was made against your VRM therefore your vehicle was not made exempt from the advertised Terms and Conditions.

We would like to make you aware that a new contract is formed between yourself and the parking site, with each visit that you make and complete, entering and exiting. Motorist must ensure that they either register/purchase a ticket against their Vehicle registration mark (VRM), whilst it remains on site and that this covers the full duration of their stay for each visit that they make.

Subsequently, we wish to confirm that the contravention of insufficient paid time occurred as our system confirms that no ticket was obtained for the 23 minutes the vehicle was on site. The signage clearly advises motorists to enter the full correct vehicle registration into the machine, ensuring that the total duration the vehicle is on site is covered. As you have failed to obtain a ticket for the full and correct VRM, we can confirm that this PC has been issued correctly and in accordance with the advertised Terms and Conditions.

The hotel have been contacted regarding this matter and are refusing any assistance or to get involved.

Would appreciate any advice on how to proceed.

Thanks for the response. When appealing in the first instance, the registered keeper (unaware of this potential quirk) responded using the term "we". Does that exhaust that avenue of resolution?

The hotel have been contacted regarding this matter and are refusing any assistance or to get involved.

Would appreciate any advice on how to proceed.

do you have any intention of using this venue?
I would contact the manager and say under the circumstances you cannot use their facilities as you are not prepared to risk your wedding party guests to incur significant parking Charges even after following the required procedure. As such they can wave goodbye to your money. I would also send it to the hotel owners.
if you still get a negative response then their social media should get a bashing.

although you have said "we" that doesn't let them assume the driver is the RK. indeed "we" may have been 5 or so people.

Thanks all. I have managed to locate the exact wording that was used on the appeal.

I am writing in regard to your letter dated 25 September 2024 (PCN reference ----------).

We were invited to attend and park at the location by staff at the Mercure Leeds Parkway Hotel as we were attending an appointment to view the venue. Please see attached email correspondence as proof. We provided our vehicle registration number on arrival at the venue -- if this was not processed correctly by the hotel staff, please pursue the matter with them.

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Safe to say on this basis that the best way to take this forwards is a POPLA dispute? Any recommendations on how best to word this?