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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To believe that NCP are money grabbing w**kers who would rob their own grannies?

22 replies

tigersmom · 09/02/2007 14:16

Does anyone have any great tips to get out of carpark fines??

I've just retruned to my car, in a NCP carpark to find a £25 charge (£50 if it takes me more than 2 weeks to pay). I was only 7 minutes late!
Obviously the jobs worth car park attendant was pissed off with working in the snow and decided to get me!

He was probably the same prick who argued with me a couple of months ago for taking 'too long' to get a baby in the car - to set the scene.... someone decided that they HAD to park in my space and therefore hold up the flow of traffic. I was alone, pregnant, with umpteen bags of shopping, pushchair and DS in 'meltowwn mode' over having to get in the carseat.
GGGRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!! these guys make me SOOOOO mad - how do they sleep at night?!

OP posts:
edam · 09/02/2007 14:17

no, you aren't, they are swines.

Feel better now?

Original poster
tigersmom · 09/02/2007 14:20

almost. wold maybe feel better if I could have seen NCP car park attendant fall on his fat ass in the snow.

OP posts:
Twiglett · 09/02/2007 14:23

PMSL misread that as NCT

.. don't think £25 is a lot .. I got a £70 parking ticket for being a minute late on the road

Twiglett · 09/02/2007 14:24

is it not enough that you're now in the warmth .. and he's still out there freezing his nads off

FluffyMummy123 · 09/02/2007 14:25

Message withdrawn

twelveyeargap · 09/02/2007 14:27

Not unreasonable, but nothing you can do. I used to have a yellow line outside my house, which came into effect at 8.30 in the morning. The wardens used to wait by the car from 8.25. The fckers. They got me once. £50.

Lucycat · 09/02/2007 14:27

yep they are, fil used to work for them and they are the worst employers ever!

If someone doesn't pay their parking or there is a discrepancy of any sort with the day's takings, it comes straight out of their wages.

sexkittyinwaiting · 09/02/2007 14:30

Tigersmom, write to them and make up a lie about why you were only a tinsy bit late. Make it a sob story, make it to do with ceethildren, motherhood, some incident which prevented your prompt return e.g, helping someone in the street who'd had an accident etc. etc. You say say things like: I was wondering if.... you might consider/ could see you way to/ you could possibily.

I use your car parks frequently and always manage to arrive on time

However, I quite understand if you can't.....
I'm sure you can appreciate that this is a very frustrating thing for me.....

These might work, it depends very much who reads your letter and what mood they're in at the time.

good luck

Original poster
tigersmom · 09/02/2007 14:33

I may have to wait until I'm slightly less steaming angry before writing that letter!! but maybe worth a go, as long as they respond within 14 days - or I'll have to pay £50 !

OP posts:
TheArmadillo · 09/02/2007 14:42

Hate NCP car parks.

Expensive. Spaces excrutiatingly small and with not enough room to manoevre out (in ours) if you have even an average family car. Not disabled user friendly. Poorly lit and poor security. Digusting stairwells etc - not normal disgusting carpark standards but unbelievably bad.

I really hate them and I've never come into contact with one of their staff.

sexkittyinwaiting · 09/02/2007 14:50

Armadillo, mostly their staff are pale, cave dwelling types, who rarely see daylight and cannot speak any recognisable language

Original poster
tigersmom · 09/02/2007 14:54

PMSL kitty! how true!!

OP posts:
DrDaddy · 09/02/2007 15:19

Hate them as a rule, but the other day couldn't pay by card at the machine as the "server was down". Attendant by machine asked why I couldn't pay by cash. I said because I don't bloody want to pay cash, I want to put it on my Amex card. Ok fine, says he, you can park by the office on the way out (it's multistory) and pay there. But, the server was "down" there too (obviously). So they gave me a free ticket to get out. Free day's parking.
So I would write to them. You might be lucky.

VikkiiKawaii · 26/05/2013 23:24

As a general rule I don't think they can actually charge parking tickets. I'm fairly certain they're unenforceable. Do some googling don't just believe me obviously but might be able to not pay it.

Snazzywaitingforsummer · 26/05/2013 23:27

YANBU. Their machines stopped working once and told people payments had gone through when they hadn't. Cue queues Smile of irate drivers at the barriers unable to get through. The staff were unbelievably patronising to us, as if we were all small children who hadn't been able to work the machines properly, and didn't apologise. The sheer number of people proved it was the machines not us, but oh no, we were the stupid ones.

McNewPants2013 · 26/05/2013 23:32

Is my eyes playing tricks or is this a zombie thread

LastTangoInDevonshire · 26/05/2013 23:36

Vikki obviously hasn't noticed how out of date it is Grin

thismumismad · 27/05/2013 07:51

Parking tickets from anybody but the police or from traffic wardens are unenforceable.

belladonna666 · 27/05/2013 10:36

If the ticket was issued by Private Parking Contractors (not council) then you don't have to pay it. They will start sending you threatening letters but these are all hot air. Go to the website www.pepipoo.com as they specialise with dealing with both private and public (council) tickets and how to get off paying them. They are really good and have saved me a lot of money in fines over the years!

BillyGoatintheBuff · 27/05/2013 10:40

6 years ago!!

SoleSource · 27/05/2013 10:47

I used to work as a car park attendant for NCP 40hoursfor 112.00 per week after tax in 1996
Robbing bastards they are

flatmum · 27/05/2013 10:51

Still stands though, you don't have to pay them, just ignore. I have done this twice, once with NCP and once with meteor.

They are still unenforcable, despite recent law changes that make it a bit less clear.

First time I wrote complaint letters. Second time I ignored. Both time they sent ludicrous threatening letters for about a year then gave up.

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