Absolutely right! This is exactly what I would’ve done. I certainly wouldn’t have handed over any of my hard-earned to them because as most of you say, the “fine” they impose isn’t in proportion. I mean, they charge about £20 to park there for 24 hours and have the ■■■■ cheek to demand you pay £75 (£50 if paid within so many days) if you stay 35 minutes over their allowed 2 free hours. Oh, and for those that asked, it was Strensham services on M5 when I was heading north.
My problem though is not just with them, it’s also with my employer who didn’t even give me a chance to fight it. They simply paid it then took money out of my next weeks wages. They didn’t even spread it over a few weeks for me, just took the whole ■■■■ lot out in one go!! (And like I said before, without explaining what that deduction was on my pay slip!) I wouldn’t mind as much if I was on a fantastic hourly rate, but at £7.35p an hour they really are kicking a man when he’s down!
So, I basically worked that whole day for them for nothing. Well, it’s no surprise to learn, I am now seeking work elsewhere again!
Dipper_Dave:
In the past It used to be easier to ignore these letters and treat them as garbage, which i have done twice.
Now I would send a cheque for the true cost of the parking with perhaps an extra £1 for goodwill in an offer of full and final settlement.
In the unlikely event this gets to small claims court/mediation (which rareley award opposing parties costs anyway) you will have a good case for showing you have been prepared to offer a reasonable amount which if rejected was unreasonable, also theres no need to involve solicitors, representing yourself is easy in small claims proceedings.
Course you have to weigh up the cost of having time of work.
But if you have made a true offer already and then receive genuine court papers I believe you can counter claim for the loss of wages and time off work in dealing with the matter. Your defence will be that you have offered a realistic and reasonable settlement and on the balance of probabilities the parking company is acting unreasonably and wasting courts time, etc
I’m no solicitor though, this is just what i would do.
LJA:
Recently, I had money taken out of my wages by my employer without any reason. My wage slip just stated ‘Miscellaneous’ on it. I wondered why this money had been taken so I phoned the office. When I phoned the office, I spoke with someone in accounts and was told it was because I had a parking fine! Exactly the same as the one the OP mentioned. 5 minutes after requesting they give me back my money they took off me without asking, I had the boss (owner) of the company I work for phone me back. Then after a ten minute argument, he told me that he wouldn’t allow the accounts to give me back my money as he had already paid the fine and it had already cost him 75p (for the cost of the cheque & a stamp!?) He also said he wouldn’t have let me fight the fine because it would have also cost him more money to do so, hiring solicitors etc! I think that it’s totally unfair to just automatically pay it then take it out of my wages without my permission and not give me the chance to fight it.
Oh, the truck I was in was caught on their cctv coming into the services then leaving 2hrs 35mins later. I said, we could’ve easily told them I had a problem with the truck (or whatever) but of course it was just easier for my boss to just pay it, knowing he was going to take that same amount off me!!!
He cannot do that under any circumstances, as said phone ACAS because you will get your money back. If your boss is stupid enough to pay speculative invoices that’s his problem. Send me his details I have a few invoices I could send him too.
More than one way to skin a cat…as they say…re.compensate yourself by putting your feet up a couple of hours extra a day…if he complains just say well i didnt think i needed to ask you…i just took it for granted like you took my wages !..took it for granted.
Dipper_Dave:
In the past It used to be easier to ignore these letters and treat them as garbage, which i have done twice.
Now I would send a cheque for the true cost of the parking with perhaps an extra £1 for goodwill in an offer of full and final settlement.
In the unlikely event this gets to small claims court/mediation (which rareley award opposing parties costs anyway) you will have a good case for showing you have been prepared to offer a reasonable amount which if rejected was unreasonable, also theres no need to involve solicitors, representing yourself is easy in small claims proceedings.
Course you have to weigh up the cost of having time of work.
But if you have made a true offer already and then receive genuine court papers I believe you can counter claim for the loss of wages and time off work in dealing with the matter. Your defence will be that you have offered a realistic and reasonable settlement and on the balance of probabilities the parking company is acting unreasonably and wasting courts time, etc
I’m no solicitor though, this is just what i would do.
Thats admitting you were liable for going over the time and tried to get out of a fine by paying a ‘bribe’
if you know when you are leaving just take your time from now on,a half hour or so extra per day will soon mount up,dont do anything illegal so there is no come back when you leave.good luck with getting out of there as I think I would of had the boss around the throat it is hard enough to earn a crust without having deductions
Dipper_Dave:
In the past It used to be easier to ignore these letters and treat them as garbage, which i have done twice.
Now I would send a cheque for the true cost of the parking with perhaps an extra £1 for goodwill in an offer of full and final settlement.
In the unlikely event this gets to small claims court/mediation (which rareley award opposing parties costs anyway) you will have a good case for showing you have been prepared to offer a reasonable amount which if rejected was unreasonable, also theres no need to involve solicitors, representing yourself is easy in small claims proceedings.
Course you have to weigh up the cost of having time of work.
But if you have made a true offer already and then receive genuine court papers I believe you can counter claim for the loss of wages and time off work in dealing with the matter. Your defence will be that you have offered a realistic and reasonable settlement and on the balance of probabilities the parking company is acting unreasonably and wasting courts time, etc
I’m no solicitor though, this is just what i would do.
Thats admitting you were liable for going over the time and tried to get out of a fine by paying a ‘bribe’
Admitting it doesn’t matter. Where these parking companies come unstuck is in court. The only thing they can claim for is loss of business they would have had if you weren’t parked there. There is no way to prove you have lost them custom. This is where the £1 comes in. It is a nominal amount designed to compensate them for the loss incurred. The statistics are available somewhere but I think it’s something like only 5 successful court rulings in favour of these parking companies per year.
This is why they don’t take you to court. It costs too much in relation to the reward they receive.
They prey on people fearing their strongly worded letters. They’re the equivalent to the playground bully after your lunch money. Just stand up to them.
I think the amount of loss is immaterial.
If the sign says park for two hours, over that is £50, then that is what you are agreeing to.
Wether it is called a penalty, fine or invoice is all a bit irrelevant if you have agreed to their parking conditions.
Of course the issue is wether they decide to pursue it.
Wheel Nut:
If a car park owner charges £5 per hour and someone stays for 2 hours, that company has only lost £5 in revenue
Not if it is at a place where people can buy goods. The true loss is anywhere between £5 and whatever people typically spend inside the store.
I don’t think its possible as its the parking firm seeking the losses from parking rather than the supermarket claiming for what could be considered hyperthetical losses or ‘loss of chance’ as I think the legal bods call it (had to google it, I’m not showing off). Also a lot of supermarkets don’t own the land and its the parking firm acting on behalf of the landlord.
Thats said it would be interesting if a supermarket tried it apart from being incredibly unpopular they would have to show the carpark was totally full during the parking overstay, also probably have to show some way of calculating their footfall vs spend average as its just as likely someone could walk in and spend very little or just use the loos, cashpoint.
LJA:
Absolutely right! This is exactly what I would’ve done. I certainly wouldn’t have handed over any of my hard-earned to them because as most of you say, the “fine” they impose isn’t in proportion. I mean, they charge about £20 to park there for 24 hours and have the ■■■■ cheek to demand you pay £75 (£50 if paid within so many days) if you stay 35 minutes over their allowed 2 free hours. Oh, and for those that asked, it was Strensham services on M5 when I was heading north.
My problem though is not just with them, it’s also with my employer who didn’t even give me a chance to fight it. They simply paid it then took money out of my next weeks wages. They didn’t even spread it over a few weeks for me, just took the whole ■■■■ lot out in one go!! (And like I said before, without explaining what that deduction was on my pay slip!) I wouldn’t mind as much if I was on a fantastic hourly rate, but at £7.35p an hour they really are kicking a man when he’s down!
So, I basically worked that whole day for them for nothing. Well, it’s no surprise to learn, I am now seeking work elsewhere again!
So you’re going to ACAS to sort it then, rather than ranting about it to randoms on internet forums?
Wheel Nut:
If a car park owner charges £5 per hour and someone stays for 2 hours, that company has only lost £5 in revenue
Not if it is at a place where people can buy goods. The true loss is anywhere between £5 and whatever people typically spend inside the store.
Parking Eye, are a contractor, they don’t own the land and they don’t own any shops. Making a reasonable offer is not the same as admitting any wrong.
I made them a similar offer in one of the emails I sent to Parking Eye, basically they ignored the offer - which I believe (as does my lawyer friend) would be seen to be unreasonable by any Claims Court. Claims courts do not like people acting unreasonably - they usually point towards mediation wherever possible. Judges do not like people or companies to be arrogant by refusing to negotiate where possible. Civil Courts such as the Small Claims Court may throw a case out if there have been offers - that have been ignored or not negotiated by a stubborn party. This is not to say they definitely will, but the judge may take a very dim view of any case brought where the judge believes it could have been settled outside the court.
Boomerang Dave:
I made them a similar offer in one of the emails I sent to Parking Eye, basically they ignored the offer - which I believe (as does my lawyer friend) would be seen to be unreasonable by any Claims Court.
Its almost as unreasonable as agreeing to terms and conditions, breaking them and refusing to pay the agreed penalty.
Boomerang Dave:
I made them a similar offer in one of the emails I sent to Parking Eye, basically they ignored the offer - which I believe (as does my lawyer friend) would be seen to be unreasonable by any Claims Court.
Its almost as unreasonable as agreeing to terms and conditions, breaking them and refusing to pay the agreed penalty.
It’s not that straight forward. There are legal requirements within the contract. Parking Eye would have to provide good evidence that they have met all the criteria.
In my specific case, they didn’t have a leg to stand on, because the law states that there should be good clear signage around the site. It was early hours of the morning - dark and none of their signs were illuminated, basically they were in breach of their own terms of contract - no case to answer.
The bottom line is - as someone has already pointed out - which is the main issue you appear to be disputing, if you lose £5, you lose £5. You can’t pluck a figure out of the air and claim that as your loss - regardless of what terms and conditions you put on a sign.
ROG:
Parking charges and penalties is yet one more thing which needs to be discussed before starting any job
If the employer says its the responsibility of the driver then do not start the job
These things are normally in your contract anyway Rog, what the employer can’t do is unlawfully deduct money from you for no good reason, a speculative invoice is not a real bill, the employer chose to pay the bill and in my opinion if he is in business he should be questioning every invoice that drops on his mat, I used to get an invoice from The European City Guide or something like that every year for about £300, I never paid it though, this guy probably pays that one too. It makes you question their business sense.
The very first thing he (the boss) should have done is brought it to the drivers attention and asked him about it, he (the driver) would have come on here (probably) and asked advice before telling the boss to rip it up.
LJA:
Absolutely right! This is exactly what I would’ve done. I certainly wouldn’t have handed over any of my hard-earned to them because as most of you say, the “fine” they impose isn’t in proportion. I mean, they charge about £20 to park there for 24 hours and have the ■■■■ cheek to demand you pay £75 (£50 if paid within so many days) if you stay 35 minutes over their allowed 2 free hours. Oh, and for those that asked, it was Strensham services on M5 when I was heading north.
My problem though is not just with them, it’s also with my employer who didn’t even give me a chance to fight it. They simply paid it then took money out of my next weeks wages. They didn’t even spread it over a few weeks for me, just took the whole ■■■■ lot out in one go!! (And like I said before, without explaining what that deduction was on my pay slip!) I wouldn’t mind as much if I was on a fantastic hourly rate, but at £7.35p an hour they really are kicking a man when he’s down!
So, I basically worked that whole day for them for nothing. Well, it’s no surprise to learn, I am now seeking work elsewhere again!
trick to do is start taking your breaks outside dodgy looking camp sites with transit vans and orange lights on top,be sure to close the curtains and get your head down a few hours at a time,if anything happens is the boss going to make you pay for loss of diesel,load etc.just say you cant take the chances with the service cameras
LJA:
Recently, I had money taken out of my wages by my employer without any reason. My wage slip just stated ‘Miscellaneous’ on it. I wondered why this money had been taken so I phoned the office. When I phoned the office, I spoke with someone in accounts and was told it was because I had a parking fine! Exactly the same as the one the OP mentioned. 5 minutes after requesting they give me back my money they took off me without asking, I had the boss (owner) of the company I work for phone me back. Then after a ten minute argument, he told me that he wouldn’t allow the accounts to give me back my money as he had already paid the fine and it had already cost him 75p (for the cost of the cheque & a stamp!?) He also said he wouldn’t have let me fight the fine because it would have also cost him more money to do so, hiring solicitors etc! I think that it’s totally unfair to just automatically pay it then take it out of my wages without my permission and not give me the chance to fight it.
Oh, the truck I was in was caught on their cctv coming into the services then leaving 2hrs 35mins later. I said, we could’ve easily told them I had a problem with the truck (or whatever) but of course it was just easier for my boss to just pay it, knowing he was going to take that same amount off me!!!
check your contract if its says they will take deductions for certain things then they may be allowed to, but if there is no mention of deductions you have a strong case against your employer. and you shouldnt let him get away with it.
LJA:
Absolutely right! This is exactly what I would’ve done. I certainly wouldn’t have handed over any of my hard-earned to them because as most of you say, the “fine” they impose isn’t in proportion. I mean, they charge about £20 to park there for 24 hours and have the ■■■■ cheek to demand you pay £75 (£50 if paid within so many days) if you stay 35 minutes over their allowed 2 free hours. Oh, and for those that asked, it was Strensham services on M5 when I was heading north.
My problem though is not just with them, it’s also with my employer who didn’t even give me a chance to fight it. They simply paid it then took money out of my next weeks wages. They didn’t even spread it over a few weeks for me, just took the whole ■■■■ lot out in one go!! (And like I said before, without explaining what that deduction was on my pay slip!) I wouldn’t mind as much if I was on a fantastic hourly rate, but at £7.35p an hour they really are kicking a man when he’s down!
So, I basically worked that whole day for them for nothing. Well, it’s no surprise to learn, I am now seeking work elsewhere again!
trick to do is start taking your breaks outside dodgy looking camp sites with transit vans and orange lights on top,be sure to close the curtains and get your head down a few hours at a time,if anything happens is the boss going to make you pay for loss of diesel,load etc.just say you cant take the chances with the service cameras
This multiplied by a thousand! I’d take the financial hit tbh, but as it’s obvious that your boss is a spineless self pleasurer I’d cost him double what he’s cost me.
All I want is to treated fairly and squarely with a fair days wage. Give me that and I’ll give you hard working, reliable, not breaking anything and with a can do attitude. Take the ■■■■ and I’ll take it right back!
Well, it’s no surprise to learn, I am now seeking work elsewhere again! 
