Anger mounts at unfair city parking charges
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A CONTROVERSIAL Inverness car park has left dozens of drivers out of pocket and thoroughly fed up.
Last week we asked readers to get in touch to tell us any problems encountered with the Strothers Lane car park next to TK Maxx – and you certainly weren’t slow to respond.
Our Stop Taking the P campaign still wants to hear from you because the time has come to put a stop to unfair charges at this car park.
In the past seven days we’ve received almost 60 emails from people near and far, detailing how parking charge notices looking for often huge sums have been sent out by Smart Parking, which runs the site.
Our appeal has also generated some lively conversation online, where Facebook posts have so far reached an audience of more than 3000.
Readers tell how they have received demands despite only waiting in the car park for a very short time for a space to become available, or for not buying a parking ticket – even though, they say, ticket machines weren’t actually working when they tried to pay.
Others detail how they were "fined" for their parking ticket being upside down in the windscreen, or for minor errors in the registration number they had to enter into the ticket machine.
There are even claims from some that they have received letters from debt collection firms as their "final warning", despite this being the first correspondence they had received on the matter.
Charge notices range from £60 up to £160.
One mum, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she only pulled into the car park because her child was being sick, and stayed for just 10 minutes while she cleaned him up.
Receiving a parking charge notice weeks later, she said: "I was shocked to say the least, but angry at the same time. I refused to pay the bill which now sits at £160, and I will never pay it.
"I would happily argue my point in court if it ever gets that far.
"On the day in question I didn’t even park in a parking space, I pulled over to the large loading bay, with my engine running the whole time."
Steven Brash from Beauly also got in touch to tell how he received a charge without actually being able to park.
"On August 19 I entered the Strothers Lane car park, but there were no spaces available so I drove around slowly for a while before leaving," he said.
"I at no point parked or even stopped my car, and didn’t purchase a parking ticket.
"I received a parking charge from Smart Parking with the reason for issue being ‘overstayed paid time’.
"I sent several emails to contest my parking charge, but all my appeals were rejected and now I have received a letter from Debt Recovery with the top line reading ‘Paying your parking charge of £160’. I feel I have been treated very unfairly."
Caroline Durrant also told us how she ran into problems due to faulty ticket machines.
"I parked and went to pay but the machine wasn’t working," she said.
"I went to another machine and a man was using it, but it was spitting out his money, then a lady came over and said the machine wasn’t working for her either and that she couldn’t pay, so I left a note on my car saying that I tried to pay, and took a picture of the machine as I passed."
Her appeal was rejected as Smart Parking insisted that "having checked our systems" one machine in the car park was working on the day in question, and "payment could have been made at any time".
They told her: "It is the responsibility of the driver of the vehicle to ensure they purchase a valid ticket for the duration of their stay when using this car park."
Citizens Advice Scotland has published information online about the rules governing parking in private areas such as that occupied by the Strothers Lane car park, detailing how “parking tickets” issued in these circumstances are not the same as official fixed penalties.
“It’s a notice that the owner of the car park or the private car park operator intends to take you to a civil court, and will offer to let you pay the charge to settle the case out of court,” it stated. “This is a civil matter, not a criminal one.
“There is no specific legislation dealing with parking on private land in Scotland. The general principles of contract law apply.
“This means that for a binding contract to be formed between you and the landowner, the rules about where and when you can park and what charges apply must be displayed clearly throughout the car park (particularly at the entrances).
“They must be clear enough so that no reasonable person could claim that they were not aware of the rules.”
A spokeswoman for Highland Council said: “If anyone believes they have been illegally charged for car parking fees then they should contact Consumer Rights on 0345 404 0506 and seek advice from the helpline.
“If a breach of the law has taken place then it will be passed on to the appropriate local authority trading standards.”
