Legal dispute
This project aims to raise funds to resolve a claim, or other type of dispute.
I have been the victim of a legalised parking scam. Feel you've experienced the same? Join in with this and discover you're not alone...
Recently I parked my car in a private car park. The ONLY way to pay was online, downloading the Poppay App. Ok, I'm a pensioner but I do own a smartphone, downloaded it, put in all my details (which took a while) and pressed the button to pay. Not possible. Repeated the process. Still not possible etc.. I could write much more but it's not really relevant, the point is I did everything possible to try and pay, there was no user error on my part, the App malfunctioned and if you check the trustpilot reviews of Poppy you'll read of many similar tales of woe. And once I'd wasted over ten minutes trying to make the thing work I realised I was already liable for a fine.
When a letter arrived it was already too late to pay the reduced fine of £60 (how generous) and I was expected to pay £100. I wrote explaining the circumstances rather naively imagining they would cancel the charge. To my astonishment they referred me to a debt collector. Now I was expected to pay £170, and told that I was advised to phone them to 'discuss my options.' After waiting interminably to be connected I was cordially told that my options were either to pay this exorbitant amount or end up paying more.
One Parking wrote to me and said they couldn't accept my challenge as it was now out of their hands, they'd passed it on to Debt Collection. I have taken legal advice on this and it seems this is a complete lie. In fact their code of conduct states they can still accept complaints up to 56 days after the incident. In any case, I have also been legally advised that the debt collectors can do nothing without court action, something else about which One Parking lied.
When I discovered that the car park in question was actually owned by a charity that professed to care for the elderly I was beside myself with fury. When I put this matter on social media I was besieged with tales of people who'd experienced similar things.
I very much doubt that One Parking would actually take me to court, but in case they do I'm asking for funding to fight it. If I win the case you get all your money back. If I lose it...well, I'll do my damndest to get some companies some richly deserved bad publicity.
I'm encouraging as many people as possible to make small donations. Obviously if you want to give a lot you're welcome but really, a couple of quid, whatever. There is strength in numbers.
As I said, I'm a pensioner but a fairly robust one (I recently appeared on BBC Children in Need playing the violin upside down) but so many people of my generation would be scared of the overwhelming administration involved in trying to get justice and so many people would pay the extortionate fine, worried that it will escalate. FIGHT THAT INJUSTICE WITH ME NOW.
This project aims to raise funds to resolve a claim, or other type of dispute.
This project closed unsuccessfully on 16th February 2024