Car parking - picking up from a late running train

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Dispute at Chippenham Railway Station sees motorist slapped with £100 fine for 'not parking'

WHEN Tim Rombach picked up his partner Julie at Chippenham railway station last year he got slapped with a £100 fine for parking.

Except he says he didn't park his Volvo but simply drove in to pick up his partner Julie using the 20 minute grace period which is part of the owner APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area)'s terms and conditions.

"I drove in but Julie said the train would be late," he said, "so I drove straight out without parking and returned later, went shopping and when I knew the train was arriving drove back and picked her up.

"However according to APCOA Parking who lease the carpark from GWR he didn't leave in between his first arrival and so slapped him with a £100 fine.

On appeal to Parking on Private Land Appeals, (POPLA) they produced two images from their cameras which they said proved he didn't leave on the evening of October 26.

However Mr Rombach, an electronics engineer at Siemans insists this was not the case.

He said: "APCOA allow users a grace period for the purpose of picking up and dropping off.

"However the grace period is not detailed on the car park signs because there is no requirement for it to be.

"Users have no way of knowing when they are in breech of the terms and conditions of parking meaning that a parking fine may be issued to them.

"This is particularly the case if a train is late or delayed and you risk waiting for it without leaving the car park and returning later.

"However, as in my case leaving and returning provides no assurance that you will not receive a parking fine."

Very concerned ... parking charges ... perhaps pickup and drop-off issues coming to Melksham in the near future, where (5th Feb survey) for every 2 people driving and parking 3 are dropped off / picked up (and at both ends of the day that means 3 x the vehicle movements for "kiss and ride".

[SandTEngineer]

At Plymouth we have a ticket machine for the short stay car park (free for 30mins).  No cameras there that I've ever seen, but they might be hidden somewhere.

[JayMac]

A "double-dip" where the first entrance and second exit have been recorded by the ANPR, but seemingly not the intermediate exit and entrance. A common issue with the inadequate ANPR software used by the private parking companies.

Sadly, there's little to compel the private parking companies to get their act together. Supine 'independent' appeals bodies, and auto-generating £100 demands with menaces is their business model. Far too many people just pay up.

Law unto themselves, but there are plenty of ways to fight the unlawful and unethical parking charges after legitimately visiting a location twice. Even after losing an 'independent' appeal.

Details of more such cases.
http://notomob.co.uk/discussions/index.php?topic=5768,0

[plymothian]

It happens all over with ANPR parking - there are loads of reports like this - leaving and returning within a charging period does not count as 2 separate visits, but one.  Thus the first exit and second entrance are discarded and the vehicle charged for the first entrance to the second exit, be that a 20 minutes free grace or 3 hours maximum park.

[grahame]

The Gazette and Herald reports further issues

Another victim who has objected to the fine is Emily Ward. The Gazette challenged APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) over her fine which was received when she picked up family members from the station. Now she has been told that she doesn't have to pay.

Victim number three Denise Blackmore received a fine last November when she dropped off her son at the station. She said: "I was so shocked when I received this and was shaking whilst I read it.

With car park charging coming in at Melksham this summer, some of us are a little concerned; in asking questions, we are re-assured that a biased picture is presented by the media as people rarely write in to say what a great experience they had paying to park ...

[JayMac]

... we are re-assured that a biased picture is presented by the media as people rarely write in to say what a great experience they had paying to park ...

Someone from the car parking vested interests (TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)? PPC? CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership)?) said that to you with a straight face?