Brighton Station car park £90 Parking fine.

[saltdeanseagull1]

I parked at the station a couple of Saturdays ago to take the family up to London for the day. When I got to the car park the barrier was either up or missing, cant remember what, but anyway I was able to drive in without the need to take a ticket. I then parked up as normal thinking that the barriers must be busted so I thought i'd saved a tenner or what ever the daily charge is now a days.

I have today received a fine of £90 (reducing to £50 if paid in 15 days) for failing to display a ticket AAAhhhh!.

I dont have time to go back to the Station to check so was wondering if any of you folks use the carpark on a regular basis and can let me know if there are any signs stating pay and display etc as I dont recall seeing anything there and I dont remember seeing any Pay & Display machines (the normal machine that you pay at on the platform was also covered up).

Im a tad pissed off at having to stump up £50 as I genuinlly did not see any signage or P&D machines .

I can appeal it but fear if there are in fact signs I will have no option but to pay up. Anyone else been done by this

 

[pseudonym]

I parked at the station a couple of Saturdays ago to take the family up to London for the day. When I got to the car park the barrier was either up or missing, cant remember what, but anyway I was able to drive in without the need to take a ticket. I then parked up as normal thinking that the barriers must be busted so I thought i'd saved a tenner or what ever the daily charge is now a days.

I have today received a fine of £90 (reducing to £50 if paid in 15 days) for failing to display a ticket AAAhhhh!.

I dont have time to go back to the Station to check so was wondering if any of you folks use the carpark on a regular basis and can let me know if there are any signs stating pay and display etc as I dont recall seeing anything there and I dont remember seeing any Pay & Display machines (the normal machine that you pay at on the platform was also covered up).

Im a tad pissed off at having to stump up £50 as I genuinlly did not see any signage or P&D machines .

I can appeal it but fear if there are in fact signs I will have no option but to pay up. Anyone else been done by this

Just to the left of the entrance

 

[Marty___Mcfly]

I think the barriers are always open. There are signs that say you can buy a ticket using your mobile phone, there is a manned ticket counter but it is quite well hidden. The idea is you can say pay for 24 hours and come and go as you please, cameras at the barriers log your car reg and check whether you have paid.

 

[Smythe]

Yes the barriers are always open, you either have to prepay on line or by phone giving the reg of your car or you pay at a kiosk which is situated on the right as you walk from the carpark into the station. There are cameras filming every car entering and leaving.
I did the same and thought the barriers must be broken but wasn't there long and luckily didn't get a letter through. It wasn't until I parked there again a couple of weeks later that I thought it weird the barriers were still open so I actually decided to read the sign.

 

[Big G]

The barriers have gone as it all works on number plate recognition on entrance and exit. Unfortunately mate there are a few signs around the car park including one next to entrance explaining the new system and a bloke in the kiosk most of the time so to be honest its a waste of time appealing as you will not win. And you may incur extra charges if you do!

 

[JJB]

If it is a private car parking company

DO NOT PAY and DO NOT CONTACT THEM




FightBack Forums -> Private Parking Tickets Clamping

They are a Ltd company, fines issued are non-enforceable.

 

[severnside gull]

If it is a private car parking company

DO NOT PAY and DO NOT CONTACT THEM




FightBack Forums -> Private Parking Tickets Clamping

They are a Ltd company, fines issued are non-enforceable.

absolutely this

 

[Greyrun]

if it is a private car parking company

do not pay and do not contact them




fightback forums -> private parking tickets clamping

they are a ltd company, fines issued are non-enforceable.

]i endorse these comments google private parking fines,they are not fines they are penalties and as said are non-enforceable.

 

[Pinkie Brown]

As the good people have stated. IGNORE! Whatever, they have to prove they have suffered financial loss by you parking there plus their claim is against the driver NOT the owner. As it is on private land, you are under no obligation to reveal who the driver was, unlike a public highway. If they can't prove who the driver is/was, they have nobody to claim against.

They will send lots of letters with plenty of scary sounding jargon & dire threats. Ignore it all - Hot air. About seven letters is the average. They WILL go away.

 

[saltdeanseagull1]

Thanks for all your replies, The letter is indeeed from a private compancy, Meteor Parking Ltd and talks about "Parking Charge Notice" it contains 2 photos one of me arriving and one leaving but these do not show the driver just the to the top of the bonnet.
Should I write and offer to pay the actual cost I should have paid to park there in the first place, or ignore outright?? Thanks again

 

[LadySeagull]

Thanks for all your replies, The letter is indeeed from a private compancy, Meteor Parking Ltd and talks about "Parking Charge Notice" it contains 2 photos one of me arriving and one leaving but these do not show the driver just the to the top of the bonnet.
Should I write and offer to pay the actual cost I should have paid to park there in the first place, or ignore outright?? Thanks again

Ignore it outright.

Pepipoo forum results (auto Google search, wait for it to load)

MSE forum results from same place.

NEVER pay nor think you can 'appeal' a private parking ticket. Big G said 'it's a waste of time appealing' but didn't seem to know that it's because it's not a real ticket and the cost will not go up when there is no 'cost' for ignoring a scam.

The only train station parking ticket to take seriously would be a real 'penalty' issued by the Train Operator mentioning Byelaws. Not a fake one from Meteor.

 

[Northstand CAT]

I wouldn't bother to contact them at all, it'll just be a waste of time and money. Pinkie Browns post above pretty much sums everythig up, expect lots of threatening leters and dubiously worded legal threats- throw them away and ignore. Last time i got one of these parking charge notices from brilliantly ironic named 'Ethical Parking Management' they sent a few letters then just gave up. Just ignore and if your still feeling uneasy upload scans of your ticket to the Pepipoo forum or similar and they'll help you out.

 

[Muzzy]

Thanks for all your replies, The letter is indeeed from a private compancy, Meteor Parking Ltd and talks about "Parking Charge Notice" it contains 2 photos one of me arriving and one leaving but these do not show the driver just the to the top of the bonnet.
Should I write and offer to pay the actual cost I should have paid to park there in the first place, or ignore outright?? Thanks again

This old chestnut... I believe this is the same company that run the parking at Lewes station?

We had a debate on this a while ago... It might be worth doing a search for the thread and pm the op from that to find out how they got on?

Just a thought. Good luck I think you may ride this storm in a teacup mate.

 

[LadySeagull]

I think in the Lewes case the person had paid the P&D fee (ticket fell down?) and had already appealed when they posted here. Unusually, Meteor cancelled it.

But the best advice - except if a real Railway Byelaws 'penalty' such as Northern Rail issue themselves - is to ignore any private 'parking charge'. As per the Watchdog clip.

 

[JetsetJimbo]

Yep, that's eminently ignorable. You only have to worry if it's from a council (or similar authority), or if you've been clamped (have they got around to banning that yet? It was on the agenda when I left the UK, not sure if it ever happened though).

 

[Westdene Seagull]

As others have said - IGNORE them !!!! I'm sure [MENTION=451]BensGrandad[/MENTION] will be along soon to re-enforce the ignore message.

You could write to the Argus to highlight the con - make sure you point out to them that this isn't and can't be a "fine" - it's unenforceable invoice.

 

[marshy68]

I parked at the station a couple of Saturdays ago to take the family up to London for the day. When I got to the car park the barrier was either up or missing, cant remember what, but anyway I was able to drive in without the need to take a ticket. I then parked up as normal thinking that the barriers must be busted so I thought i'd saved a tenner or what ever the daily charge is now a days.

I have today received a fine of £90 (reducing to £50 if paid in 15 days) for failing to display a ticket AAAhhhh!.

I dont have time to go back to the Station to check so was wondering if any of you folks use the carpark on a regular basis and can let me know if there are any signs stating pay and display etc as I dont recall seeing anything there and I dont remember seeing any Pay & Display machines (the normal machine that you pay at on the platform was also covered up).

Im a tad pissed off at having to stump up £50 as I genuinlly did not see any signage or P&D machines .

I can appeal it but fear if there are in fact signs I will have no option but to pay up. Anyone else been done by this

You have to pay using the cashless parking system - sorry to say signs everywhere... you have to call them and register your car etc - banged to rites matey - sorry.

 

[brunswick]

dont pay it - it is not a law - it is an act.....you could say you charge £90 to sign anything....it is just the same.....but drone FEAR takes over.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

IGNORE. Its not a fine, its an invoice and as such unenforceable. Their business model is to scare you into paying, they don't go to court. Expect about 3 more letters, each one looking nastier, and then they'll go away. Read here Meteor Parking PCN - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums and here :*Meteor* Parking Charge Notice at Railway Station Grrrrr (Pictures enclosed)). You'll find such threads all over the internet.

 

[chipofry]

So if people are correct in what they're saying I can just go there everyday and park for free. Then the only downside is the potential hundreds of letters through the door or the possibility of being clamped?