RIP OFF PARKING v. BIGOT-JOHNSON (2017) Case No. 3

With history repeating itself again and again,  Bigot had become the perennial thorn in Rip Off Parking's side. With the company refusing to be beaten by this stubborn individual , Bigot found himself in court for the umpteenth time to fend off another unfair and unreasonable demand for money.

Counsel for the plaintiff : Bigot do you admit to overstaying your allotted free time by 20 minutes ?
B-J : Yes.....
CP : And the reason for this flagrant breach of contract ?
B-J : I had just taken some medication for a neurological condition I have , and these pills somehow had made me feel strangely giddy 
CP : That's no excuse for overstaying
B-J : Well, it was almost an empty car park and in the interests of road safety I felt it necessary to stay a little longer until my head settled
CP :  Might I point out that the signage was quite clear about the penalty for overstaying
B-J : Yes at the entrance the Car Park was called " Welcome Break " so I assumed that all motorists were warmly invited to take whatever break they needed. Otherwise that sign  is nothing more than a gross misrepresentation.
CP : The signage I'm referring to are the onerous terms and conditions of the contract
B-J : Oh .....well it so happened that where I had parked there was graffiti spray all over the signage board making it impossible to read
CP : No excuses....... there were plenty of other signage boards you could have looked at
B-J : Maybe.... but I didn't happen to see them. It seems to me that private car parking companies need to be stopped from hounding decent law abiding motorists like me on a public interest basis.
CP :  Listen ......Rip Off have taken over 60,000 cases to county courts against smart -arse defaulting motorists like you in the past three years. Indeed there's not a cat in hell's chance of my client stopping now.....especially when there's so much easy money to be made.
B-J : Well my defence is that road safety takes priority of your petty rules, the signage wasn't adequate in all places, and finally there's no need to target overstayers if car parks are almost empty. These views of course make the lump sum claim for damages both punitive and unreasonable....... and therefore unenforceable.
Judge : I have to say that I'm appalled by the claimant's hounding of the defendant. Rip Off Parking is adopting  pernicious, bullying tactics, relying on the victim's apathy or fear to extort money. Indeed thousands of other victims , unlike the brave and admirable Bigot,  lack both the ability or funds to fight back. So relying on a recent decision in Parking Eye v. Bowen ( 2017) , in which the defendant , a top notch barrister,  successfully argued that his overstay for a power nap was necessary to continue the rest of his early morning drive safely for the sake of other road users .... I therefore find for the defendant.
CP : This is an outrage......
Judge : So let this be an important lesson for your client to learn from .....one which the company directors need to carefully consider : the terms and conditions need altering to allow fairness , common sense and equal rights to apply. At present there are too many unconscionable practices being carried out in this unregulated business activity.