Smart Parking Limited parking fine

ShaunB · 22 Feb 2020

Nope, although my wife still worries about it. She thinks she'll end up in court even though I explained that they've no clue who was driving

poorme · 23 Feb 2020

ShaunB said:
Nope, although my wife still worries about it. She thinks she'll end up in court even though I explained that they've no clue who was driving

Thats my concern as there is large cameras pointing at only entrance, if they produce a picture of me driving am i up that creek without a you know what?

eamon343 · 23 Feb 2020

poorme said:
In my circumstance as an expired badge was on display should i just pay? ...

You're looking at this wrong, a valid badge was on display, you done nothing wrong.

poorme · 24 Feb 2020

Brilliant Eamon, I never looked at it like that. Thank you. I can be a bit of a worrier as i have crap luck.

ShaunB · 24 Feb 2020

poorme said:
Thats my concern as there is large cameras pointing at only entrance, if they produce a picture of me driving am i up that creek without a you know what?

They've stopped sending letters now, so I hope that's it finished with, as in the intimidating official looking letter finished with.

Shannonsir · 7 Mar 2020

My wife just got 2 for 2 consecutive mornings leaving our son into nursery at a retail park in Bangor. It was his settling in days so she had to stay over the 2 hour allowed time limit. X2 £60 fines but now I've read through this she's calmed the f**k down , so thank you folks of RMS for making my weekend ahead a more peaceful one. I do want to ring the c**ts on Monday though and annoy the hell out of them.

ShaunB · 7 Mar 2020

That carpark is a nightmare for those whores handing out tickets.
My next door neighbour has had 3 or 4 tickets using that carpark.

Dan.86 · 7 Mar 2020

That’s where my mother got her parking charge too. Don’t ring them, just be safe in the knowledge that’s that’s £120 they aren’t getting and let them waste their time sending out hilarious letters

Gaz · 7 Mar 2020

Shannonsir said:
My wife just got 2 for 2 consecutive mornings leaving our son into nursery at a retail park in Bangor. It was his settling in days so she had to stay over the 2 hour allowed time limit. X2 £60 fines but now I've read through this she's calmed the f**k down , so thank you folks of RMS for making my weekend ahead a more peaceful one. I do want to ring the c**ts on Monday though and annoy the hell out of them.

Don't engage at all.

Alan Dickey · 11 Apr 2020

Dear All

A few weeks ago I parked in a small Smart Parking car park on Donegall Ave I think it was called in Belfast, near the Belfast Telegraph and St Annes.

I went to the machine and put my money in and it wanted my registration number. I put in my registration number too. It did not give me my money back and did not produce any kind of a ticket.

I thought it was a bit odd but assumed that the camera would show me paying and the machine would show that I had put the money in and would have the car reg saved.

About 3 weeks later I got a fine! They wanted me to send back my ticket as evidence but as the machine did not produce a ticket how could I?

The original fine was 60.

I appealed, even though I discovered in a phone call they had not checked with the man who lifts the money if he had had my money and it seemed rather too soon to be sending out fines without doing so.

So, despite lockdown I went to the post office, after spending another 30 mins on the phone which was never answered trying to find out if there was a way to avoid going to the post office due to lockdown.

The appeal has now been rejected and they now want £100!

I do not see any need to pay these people £100 for about 25 minutes parking just because their machine is clearly faulty or because their camera has not recorded me going to the machine.

What can I do? Has anyone else had similar problems with Smart Parking in Belfast?

Thank you for any replies!

Alan Dickey · 11 Apr 2020

Dervhead said:
I haven’t got a clue. Was over the phone and they aren’t the most clear of people to chat to. You know them annoying types, that never explain things properly, yeah one of them. I’ll try to get the exact wording and will update.

What has happened since...you willl see I have just posted myself....
Thanks
Alan

Nickyyy said:
Throw it in the bin

are you sure...please see my own new post....
Alan

Alan Dickey said:
Dear All

A few weeks ago I parked in a small Smart Parking car park on Donegall Ave I think it was called in Belfast, near the Belfast Telegraph and St Annes.

I went to the machine and put my money in and it wanted my registration number. I put in my registration number too. It did not give me my money back and did not produce any kind of a ticket.

I thought it was a bit odd but assumed that the camera would show me paying and the machine would show that I had put the money in and would have the car reg saved.

About 3 weeks later I got a fine! They wanted me to send back my ticket as evidence but as the machine did not produce a ticket how could I?

The original fine was 60.

I appealed, even though I discovered in a phone call they had not checked with the man who lifts the money if he had had my money and it seemed rather too soon to be sending out fines without doing so.

So, despite lockdown I went to the post office, after spending another 30 mins on the phone which was never answered trying to find out if there was a way to avoid going to the post office due to lockdown.

The appeal has now been rejected and they now want £100!

I do not see any need to pay these people £100 for about 25 minutes parking just because their machine is clearly faulty or because their camera has not recorded me going to the machine.

What can I do? Has anyone else had similar problems with Smart Parking in Belfast?

Thank you for any replies!

Only occurring to me now, but why would the fine have gone up after the appeal....surely it should still be 60 as there was a dispute....There is still going to be a dispute because I put my money in the machine and it did not give it back to me! 25 mins and they want 100 quid! Madness.

jinjur said:
Hi gang, looking a little legal advice

Wife parked in a Smart Parking Limited enforced car park in Lisburn for an appointment. Once she arrived, the girl seeing her checked with her to make sure she had paid and advised that they have cameras etc and my wife confirmed that she had paid. So she did. That's all i need to know.

Roll on a few weeks later, a beautiful Smart Parking Limited letter arrives in the post saying "blah-de-blah, you didn't pay, here's a picture etc" and "pay £60".

The pic shows our car going in and out.

Now, obviously, my wife does not have the ticket, as she had paid fair and square (and I also bust her head about leaving them littered around the car) so she can obviously not prove that she paid. It was paid with cash.

The only proof that we have to date that she didn't pay is Smart Parking Limited saying so.

We went back to them to that effect and they came back with

Thank you for your recent communication.
Having considered your appeal in detail we have decided to uphold the PCN 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 05/09/2018.
We note the comments in your appeal advising that when visiting the site in question on the day of contravention, you had purchased a ticket for your vehicles stay. Please be advised that having thoroughly checked our payment system we can confirm that there was no payment made for the correct Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM) of VO14ZGH for the 47 minutes stay the vehicle was on site, which subsequently resulted in no payment being assigned to the correct VRM.
Please be advised that as detailed on the car park signage motorists must enter the full and correct VRM into the payment machine, and ensure payment is made for the full required duration. Furthermore, we can confirm that the tickets are printed after the motorist has confirmed that the details they have entered are correct.
Subsequently, as you have failed to pay for your visit for the correct VRM you have breached the advertised Terms and Conditions and as a result we can confirm that we have no option but to uphold the PCN. The Terms and Conditions of the car park are clearly advertised around the site and must be adhered to by all drivers.
Your 3 payment options are:
* By Post: Please send a cheque or postal order, payable to Smart Parking Ltd to Smart Parking Ltd, Unit 43, Elmdon Trading Estate, Bickenhill Lane, Marston Green, Birmingham B37 7HE.
* By Web: To make a payment online with a debit or credit card, please visit www.smartparking.com and have your Parking Charge Notice Number to hand.
* By Phone: Pay via our 24 hour automated telephone payment service on 0845 805 4802. Please have your Parking Charge Notice Number to hand.

Yours Sincerely
Smart Parking Limited

The only thing that we can think of is that she might have put the reg in wrong as the car was new to us (i.e. perhaps putting a "0" instead of an "O" but again, we are not sure.

I am honestly not down with paying the fine to be honest so would I be within my rights to ask them to provide a list of all of the cars that were parked in the car park at that time along with all of the register number plates around that time. This would obviously show a simple character mistake if indeed there was one.

If i told them i would rather take the matter to court (out of principle and I don't have spare 60 sheets etc) would I be within my rights to do so, how would that go down, would a court be reasonable and accept a mistake, does anyone have any experience of the same scenario/company etc?

Sorry for the brain fart

J