Children's Hospital Underground Parking

[Dtmorley]

Hello,

 

Okay, so I parked in the Children's Hospital Underground and got myself a PCN, despite best intentions!

 

Arrived at 7:31am, was going to be there for less than 2 hours, which was the case, didn't have change so paid £3 for a ticket, which according to their website should be fine, as up to 2 hours is £2.50, happy days, until PCN landed!

 

What I can see now is that the ticket only gave me 1 hour, not 2hrs, the issue I think is that the Parking sign on the wall with tariffs has different times for overnight stays than the hospital website.  Hospital website says 7:30am end, which would have been fine as I arrived 7:31am, but sign on wall says 8:15am end, so based on the parking sign it has flagged me as arriving during the overnight tariff time and leaving in the daytime tariff, hence why my £3 didn't go far enough!

 

I explained this in appeals with no joy, as they are treating the parking sign as right.

 

I'm now being threatened by debt collectors, but going back to what the Children's Hospital Underground parking page is telling me, I was in the right and surely there must be hope to overturn this charged caused by confusing misinformation, what do people think?

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

[HeHasRisen]

You need to register on the Pepipoo forums and ask them there 

 

http://forums.pepipoo.com/

 

You should not have identified yourself as the driver at any point btw, but they can go into more detail with you.

 

As an aside, it still says 7.30am on the website, have you actually spoken to the PALS team? Why on earth have they not changed it yet if they know its wrong? https://www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/patients-and-parents/parking/

 

Who did you actually "appeal" to?

 

£3 is more than enough time to park for 2 hours even in the daytime, if it got as far as a judge it would likely be laughed straight out imo. "Debt collectors" is an empty threat at this point, they arent High Court bailiffs, that can only happen after a CCJ unpaid after a period, they have as much right to enter your house and seize your property as the milkman does.

Edited July 11, 2023 by HeHasRisen

[carosio]

As HHR says.

 

Judges take a dim view of unclear signage in private car parks.

Where was the appeal, to the company or BPA/IPC?

 

Civil Enforcement Ltd, seems like another cowboy company squeezing money out of minor parking infringements.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186402-d214008-r784584271-Birmingham_Botanical_Gardens_and_Glasshouses-Birmingham_West_Midlands_England.html

Edited July 11, 2023 by carosio

[Resident]

25 minutes ago, carosio said:

As HHR says.

 

Judges take a dim view of unclear signage in private car parks.

Where was the appeal, to the company or BPA/IPC?

 

Civil Enforcement Ltd, seems like another cowboy company squeezing money out of minor parking infringements.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186402-d214008-r784584271-Birmingham_Botanical_Gardens_and_Glasshouses-Birmingham_West_Midlands_England.html

Thing is the signage at the hospital isn't unclear. Myself and my wife have unfortunately needed to use the car park on several occasions. 

A judge will only look at this, they will dismiss the website claim as it's not signage at the location and simply state that the OP obviously saw the sign, read that the times were different and chose to ignore the updated information

[HeHasRisen]

8 minutes ago, Resident said:

Thing is the signage at the hospital isn't unclear. Myself and my wife have unfortunately needed to use the car park on several occasions. 

A judge will only look at this, they will dismiss the website claim as it's not signage at the location and simply state that the OP obviously saw the sign, read that the times were different and chose to ignore the updated information

However, paying £3 for 2 hours parking is sufficient enough for any time of day, and will likely be thrown out on this basis imo.

 

Where does the signage specify that from 8.15am you have to re-pay? I bet it doesnt.

Edited July 11, 2023 by HeHasRisen

[carosio]

7 minutes ago, Resident said:

Thing is the signage at the hospital isn't unclear. Myself and my wife have unfortunately needed to use the car park on several occasions. 

A judge will only look at this, they will dismiss the website claim as it's not signage at the location and simply state that the OP obviously saw the sign, read that the times were different and chose to ignore the updated information

My presumption was based on the OPs description which made be believe there was some ambiguity in the signage, however if you insist it is clear, then ok.

 

There are potentially many other factors which the OP could challenge, but would have to seek advice from Pepipoo, MSE etc.

[HeHasRisen]

 None of this excuses the fact that the website remains inaccurate, that one is a ridiculously easy fix.

[carosio]

Sometimes parking companies might alter the contract terms (with the driver) which aren't in keeping with the original contact between them and the hospital, this wouldn t surprise me considering the scam in post #3.

[Resident]

52 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

 None of this excuses the fact that the website remains inaccurate, that one is a ridiculously easy fix.

Sadly as it's the hospital's website (as per OP) then it's entirely possible that the management company has informed the hospital of the changes and due to the usual incompetence of NHS IT, not yet updated it. 

 

[Meltman]

There will be no rush to change either the website or the sign as long as it's making some money!