Car towed away whilst on holiday

[Guest sibon]

Where was that? In Sheffield?

 

.

 

Yes. In a city centre car park. I phoned up and miraculously, they decided that my ticket had the same number as one issued in Handsworth. They cancelled mine over the phone and then wrote to me.

 

So it can be done.

[Planner1]

Yes. In a city centre car park. I phoned up and miraculously, they decided that my ticket had the same number as one issued in Handsworth. They cancelled mine over the phone and then wrote to me.

 

So it can be done.

Yes. You were on the phone and you'd evidenced an obvious processing error. They will cancel if they are given evidence which allows them to.

 

Most people who appeal do it online or write in. Many send in some kind of evidence. either scanned or hard copy. Anything coming in "in writing" gets dealt with pretty much in the order they arrive after an initial sift to see what stage of the process the correspondence refers to.

 

---------- Post added 18-12-2016 at 16:34 ----------

 

Hmmm...

 

... I've got a bit of an issue with this!

 

Either we're all wasting our time by discussing this with someone who appears to be no more than a lowly council admin person, or the council are paying highly qualified people to do menial tasks like wandering the streets to personally post parking fines through our doors!

 

Does anyone have any idea which one it might be?

 

There are very few "administration" people left in many parts of the Council.

 

Penalties are sent out by post where they can' t be issued directly on-street.

 

The example I gave you was a consultation letter on a proposed scheme. Sometimes the engineering or transport planning staff distribute their own consultation letters if it's a modest sized scheme. It was a good few years ago when I was lower down the ladder than now. It's still a valid example though.

[Starlc]

I have had a few dealings with both Rotherham and Sheffield councils from planning to parking issues. In all cases I have had nothing but problems and have no time or respect for the shambles the call councils. (Disgraceful)

 

I also have had first hand experience of there council regeneration projects of kitchens and bathrooms around ten years ago and have walked away from jobs having seen there Dire antics in people's houses !

Edited December 18, 2016 by Starlc

[nightrider]

Where was that? In Sheffield?

 

They have to abide by the law and after taking appropriate advice, this is the way that's felt best to deal with it. It isn't perfect. Nothing could be.

 

---------- Post added 18-12-2016 at 13:04 ----------

 

 

As I understand it, the normal practice is to send out a letter to all affected properties two weeks before planned commencement.

 

There's nothing wrong with changing the dates on the street signs if they give the right length of notice before commencing work.

 

In any letter drop, it's possible someone is missed. But how does anyone prove that?

 

I have had experience where people swore blind that they had not received a letter, when I knew they had, because I put it in their letterbox and noted that I had. The sad truth is that some people will lie because they think it will help their case.

 

I did not receive a letter. I know I didn't, because my neighbours confirmed they also did not receive a letter. So its clear no-one was sent a letter.

[Cyclone]

Even using those timescales, people would still get towed.

 

Those timescales may be acceptable to you. They aren't currently to Amey or the Council.

 

I'd suggest contacting your councillors if you want anything to change.

 

And, don't forget, if a longer notice period meant Amey incurred extra costs, no doubt it would need to be paid for by the council with YOUR money.

 

Considerably fewer people would be incorrectly towed though, which is the issue.

And thanks, I'm already aware that discussing it on here can't change anything and I know the email address of my councillor.

[hackey lad]

I did not receive a letter. I know I didn't, because my neighbours confirmed they also did not receive a letter. So its clear no-one was sent a letter.

 

yes but according to some , you could be lying to get off of a fine

[nightrider]

yes but according to some , you could be lying to get off of a fine

 

This is why I'm worried SCC and/or Amey may lie and say they put a note through my door.

[onewheeldave]

 

I see no reason why they can't work out a way of dealing with parked cars in a civilised manner, rather than hiding behind some arcane rules.

 

We live in a culture where bureaucracy is being used as a weapon. Use of arcane rules/bureaucracy slows down processes to the point where people simply give up, thus saving the organisation money, and encouraging it to ramp up the bureaucracy even further.

 

---------- Post added 20-12-2016 at 10:04 ----------

 

Stop targeting motorists with tickets and there wouldnt be a backlog of appeals.

 

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Cyclone]

There was a town that tried getting rid of it's traffic wardens. You should google it and see how well that worked, you might change your 6 thumbs up opinion.

[jubby]

Important to note that it is not SCC changing the dates on the notices, it's Amey, who are the contractors carrying out the work.

 

Parking services would not normally tow vehicles away unless the required period of notice had been given.

 

If your car was towed and you could prove that Amey had not given the required notice, you'd be refunded.

 

So you are basically saying that I need to make sure I have a camera to hand to take pictures of ANY notices in case they get changed while parked and then towed (car taken without permission or otherwise known as stolen) trhen pay lots of money (that i might not have available) to get said car back and then claim it was taken incorrectly as I was not at fault. But that's OK as I take photo's everytime I park in case signs are changed or put up.

 

---------- Post added 20-12-2016 at 16:07 ----------

 

Important to note that it is not SCC changing the dates on the notices, it's Amey, who are the contractors carrying out the work.

 

Parking services would not normally tow vehicles away unless the required period of notice had been given.

 

If your car was towed and you could prove that Amey had not given the required notice, you'd be refunded.

 

How do I prove the date had been changed while I was parked???

 

The signs say SCC on them have the nice logo of SCC on them so they are SCC associated signs. The guy changing the signs had no logo on his hi-vis so I would not have known if he was Amey or SCC and known even less if I can back and card had been towed as wouldn't seen the sign being changed only my car missing - hey the signs may have been removed at that point as work completed.