Hi, hope someone can give me advice on this. A couple of weeks ago I went shopping and paid to park in the car park. Put my ticket on the dashboard but when I came back I had a penalty charge and when I looked, my ticket was still on the dashboard but facing down so you couldn’t see the info on the front - so fair enough that I was given a ticket. However I thought that when I appealed with a photograph of the ticket I’d purchased and a statement from my bank to prove I’d purchased it that they would withdraw the charge. When I appealed I also explained that the ticket had been facing up when I’d left, a piece of the sat nav had come off so I think it must’ve knocked the ticket somehow...
Anyway, today I received an email saying that despite proving I had purchased a ticket they are going to uphold the charge because it wasn’t displayed correctly. That’s just mean isn’t it??
They said they are willing to reduce it to £20 if I pay within 14 days. But I paid almost £10 for the parking ticket itself, I can’t really afford to blow another £20!
I’m just wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience of this and knows whether there’s any way of getting out of paying this.
The email also says that I can appeal again to POPLA – The Independent Appeals Service. But that I’ll lose the right to pay the reduced charge if I involve POPLA and if my appeal with POPLA is unsuccessful I’ll have to pay the full amount (it was £80!). If I decide to pay the £20 then I’m unable to apply to POPLA.
At the end of the email they also say this which I found confusing:
By law we are also required to inform you that Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org/) provides an alternative dispute resolution service that would be competent to deal with your appeal. However, we have not chosen to participate in their alternative dispute resolution service. As such should you wish to appeal then you must do so to POPLA, as explained above.’
Sorry for the long and boring post but I would be so grateful if anyone has any advice about this!