Parking - worth appealing?

[PurBal]

One of those “argh” moments. I parked at a carpark with numberplate recognition, I hadn’t realised it wasn’t a normal manned by traffic wardens carpark like the rest of the town. Anyway. I got a ticket. I have an 8 month old baby and I often get to my destination early to allow him to nap a bit longer in the car. In this instance it says I paid 6 minutes after arrival. I don’t park in this carpark often so I remember that I breastfed my son after I got back to the car, so I left 25 minutes after the time the car is paid for. Obviously had there been a warden on duty they’d have seen my boobs out and I just didn’t think to extend the parking as I got back to the car on time. It’s euro car parks, is it worth appealing? I was only 5 minutes from home but just thought feeding DS there made more sense than strapping him in, him napping and then him waking starving. 🤦‍♀️

I’m not sure I understand - are you saying you paid for your stay then sat in the car for a further 25 minutes feeding your baby?

If so then I’m not sure you have grounds for appeal, tbh. You made a mistake, annoying as it is, but it’s not like they’ve issued a ticket incorrectly.

If you were parked there, even sat in the car, then its valid surely? Why didn't you pay after feeding?

Whilst I deeply dislike these car parking companies and their unfair charges you pay for an amount of time for your car to be parked not for your car to be unattended. So if you need to be in your car for longer you need to make sure you have enough time paid for.

@CecilyTheWake Yeah, basically that. I just didn’t think, honest mistake. But yes, I was parked longer than I should.
@Aroundtheworldin80moves my ticket was valid until 1025. I got back and fed my son until I left, the camera says I left at 1049. I just didn’t think to pay, I was back in time. Then when I subsequently decided to feed DS I did so out of convenience, parking wasn’t on my mind to be honest.
@Hwory 👍

Thanks all. Will duly pay. Frustrating nonetheless.

You won’t get anywhere as they do state that you have x amount of time after you have paid, to leave the car park.

Whether you were feeding a baby or sitting there picking your nose, it’s irrelevant.

Not worth appealing at all. I'm not sure why you think it would be.

You paid for a set time. You stayed for an extra 25 minutes which you didnt pay for. You were caught on camera. That's that.

You arent paying for the time you are away from your car so being "back in time" doesnt mean anything. You're paying for the parking spot and for as long as your car is in it. Just because you got back to your cad and sat there doesnt mean you dont need to pay.

No point in appealing. Just pay the fine.

Unfortunately it doesn’t really matter what you were doing for an extra 25 minutes , you over stayed so I’m not sure what your grounds for appeal would be.

Is it with a private company?

I've appealed so many like this and always won. I don't agree with them at all. Please fight, at least just for fun. You have a chance to appeal without it affecting anything so why not.

What sort of car park is it? I successfully appealed for an overstay in a retail car park.

I always think it's worth a punt at appealing whether you think they are wrong or not.

I don't really think you've got a leg to stand on in this case though and I'm not sure how you'd spin it!

@Tiger401 I like your optimism. Yes private company. Any tips? I’ve appealed tickets in the past for mitigating circumstances (eg funeral/ breakdown/ paying for the wrong vehicle on one of the parking apps) but they were much more clear cut and could be more easily evidenced (eg I don’t tend to take time stamped pictures of myself breastfeeding) and as previous posters have alluded to, my sons need to eat isn’t likely to be worthy of an appeal however honest the mistake.
@ScrumptiousBears it’s a just the town car park nearest to the soft play, most of the carparks are council but this one is private.

Anyway, I’ll duly pay as even the 50% reduction if paid within 14 days is £45. (Ironically this is more than the local council fines.)

But a car breakdown, or inadvertently paying for your other vehicle is very different from just using the car park for longer than you've paid for. Even then, I think you've been lucky to be let off the penalty in the past. The bf is irrelevant.

You don’t have a valid excuse.

If you had paid and got back to the car and there was a delay in you driving off perhaps because the baby was sick and you cleaned it up, then you could have mentioned at the barrier intercom that you were delayed and they may have stopped a fine going out.

Breastfeeding is a complete red herring here. The point is you were in the car park for longer than you'd paid for and therefore you don't have grounds for a challenge.

I’d appeal. Why not? They can only say no.

You could try the breast-feeding card, it might work. I've seen sad faces in the Daily Mail with similar stories.

[quote PurBal]@Tiger401 I like your optimism. Yes private company. Any tips? I’ve appealed tickets in the past for mitigating circumstances (eg funeral/ breakdown/ paying for the wrong vehicle on one of the parking apps) but they were much more clear cut and could be more easily evidenced (eg I don’t tend to take time stamped pictures of myself breastfeeding) and as previous posters have alluded to, my sons need to eat isn’t likely to be worthy of an appeal however honest the mistake.
@ScrumptiousBears it’s a just the town car park nearest to the soft play, most of the carparks are council but this one is private.

Anyway, I’ll duly pay as even the 50% reduction if paid within 14 days is £45. (Ironically this is more than the local council fines.)[/quote]
Join the Facebook group "appeal your private parking ticket"

If a ticket is incorrectly issued or the company is trying to mislead people with signage then I’d absolutely agree that tickets should be challenged.

If the ticket is valid (and in this case it clearly is), then trying to wriggle out of it is just pretty entitled. People seem unable to take any responsibility for their own actions.

I was once stuck in a car park for ages, after a theatre performance, when everyone was leaving at the same time. I wonder whether you’d be fined if you overstayed in that situation. I expect they’d see on CCTV.

On this occasion, I think you have to pay op OP.