COMPLAINT IN RELATION TO A PARKING VIOLATION, ISSUED THROUGH A THIRD PARTY
Dear Sirs,
I am an expat currently living in Spain, whilst on holiday recently, visiting relatives in England I had an unfortunate experience, which is outlined below. My complaint is in relation to two separate companies, Hertz Car Rental and Euro Car Parks.
I recently rented a Kia Picanto from Hertz at Bournemouth International airport depot, details
Rental Agreement Number: 243165576
Vehicle Registration: LC22OCY
During the course of this rental I incurred a parking violation, which I dispute details
Reference: 88885202954
Date/Time: 04/07/2022 17:54
Authority Name: Euro Car Parks
Document Type: Parking Charge Notice
You will see from the notice that I was only parked for 41 minutes. Upon entry to the car park there were no obvious ticket machines and nothing we could see by way of signage to make it clear and obvious that this was a pay and display car park.
I am disabled, and we only stopped for a toilet break. If I was fully aware of the parking charges I would of paid them. I was not issued with a parking ticket, the offence was recorded by time coded photos of number plates entering and exiting the car park.
This is not a well defined car parking area, it is not on a hard tarmac surface marked out with lines and disabled places, there are no parking bays marked out and it is just a natural shingle area of waste ground. The car park was empty, so I assumed it was an area of unrestricted parking.
Upon review, it is evident that many car drivers have been caught out in the same way at this particular car park. It is almost designed to catch people unaware and make money by way of collecting fines, whether justified or not..
In addition, because the parking fine was issued by way of a third party, ie Hertz, I had no choice but to pay as the money is taken straight from my registered credit card, failure to pay, on my part would have undoubtedly resulted in further penalty charges being added, increasing the debt.
As I said, I had no idea that I had incurred a parking ticket until I was notified by Hertz of the the parking violation on 2/8/22 by E mail (copy attached).
In order for me to have obtained a £40 discount for early payment I needed to have paid the fine to Euro Car Parks by 25/7/22, so I was never given this option. Additionally Hertz have raised an administrative charge against me in the sum of £42, which I given the circumstances outlined in this communication is outrageous.
As it stands I have paid a total of £142 for 40 minutes parking in a field, as a necessity for my health, inconveniencing no one. This seems completely unreasonable to me.for the reasons given above, and from my research it would appear that many other people have been caught out in exactly the same way. I know the amounts involved are not of great consequence, but I believe there is a strong matter of principle and code of ethics at work here.
Before contacting you, I have tried, in vain, to make contact with somebody in customer service from Hertz or from Euro Car Parks. It is actually impossible to talk directly to a representative of either company, infact it proved impossible to even contact Hertz by E mail. Again, I believe in this digital age, some legislation should exist to make it compulsory for companies to have a manned customer service department in order to resolve disputes such as this.
Euro Car Parks Reviews
17th August, 2022
COMPLAINT IN RELATION TO A PARKING VIOLATION, ISSUED THROUGH A THIRD PARTY
Dear Sirs,
I am an expat currently living in Spain, whilst on holiday recently, visiting relatives in England I had an unfortunate experience, which is outlined below. My complaint is in relation to two separate companies, Hertz Car Rental and Euro Car Parks.
I recently rented a Kia Picanto from Hertz at Bournemouth International airport depot, details
Rental Agreement Number: 243165576
Vehicle Registration: LC22OCY
During the course of this rental I incurred a parking violation, which I dispute details
Reference: 88885202954
Date/Time: 04/07/2022 17:54
Authority Name: Euro Car Parks
Document Type: Parking Charge Notice
You will see from the notice that I was only parked for 41 minutes. Upon entry to the car park there were no obvious ticket machines and nothing we could see by way of signage to make it clear and obvious that this was a pay and display car park.
I am disabled, and we only stopped for a toilet break. If I was fully aware of the parking charges I would of paid them. I was not issued with a parking ticket, the offence was recorded by time coded photos of number plates entering and exiting the car park.
This is not a well defined car parking area, it is not on a hard tarmac surface marked out with lines and disabled places, there are no parking bays marked out and it is just a natural shingle area of waste ground. The car park was empty, so I assumed it was an area of unrestricted parking.
Upon review, it is evident that many car drivers have been caught out in the same way at this particular car park. It is almost designed to catch people unaware and make money by way of collecting fines, whether justified or not..
In addition, because the parking fine was issued by way of a third party, ie Hertz, I had no choice but to pay as the money is taken straight from my registered credit card, failure to pay, on my part would have undoubtedly resulted in further penalty charges being added, increasing the debt.
As I said, I had no idea that I had incurred a parking ticket until I was notified by Hertz of the the parking violation on 2/8/22 by E mail (copy attached).
In order for me to have obtained a £40 discount for early payment I needed to have paid the fine to Euro Car Parks by 25/7/22, so I was never given this option. Additionally Hertz have raised an administrative charge against me in the sum of £42, which I given the circumstances outlined in this communication is outrageous.
As it stands I have paid a total of £142 for 40 minutes parking in a field, as a necessity for my health, inconveniencing no one. This seems completely unreasonable to me.for the reasons given above, and from my research it would appear that many other people have been caught out in exactly the same way. I know the amounts involved are not of great consequence, but I believe there is a strong matter of principle and code of ethics at work here.
Before contacting you, I have tried, in vain, to make contact with somebody in customer service from Hertz or from Euro Car Parks. It is actually impossible to talk directly to a representative of either company, infact it proved impossible to even contact Hertz by E mail. Again, I believe in this digital age, some legislation should exist to make it compulsory for companies to have a manned customer service department in order to resolve disputes such as this.