PRIVATE PARKING FIRM GETS EGG ON ITS FACE AS IT LOSES A HIGH PROFILE CASE  IN COURT : A VICTORY FOR PUNCTUATION

Mrs Cammelleri's discovered to her horror that her car had been impounded for overtime parking. So would a tiny grammatical oversight be enough to save her from paying the fine ?
The offence she was alleged to have committed was a breach of a West Jefferson village parking ordinance , which stated it was illegal to park " any motor vehicle camper, trailer , farm implement and/or non-motorised vehicle " on a street for more than 24 hours. 
All bases covered ?. Well may be not.
Her defence was that her car wasn't a " motor vehicle camper ". Infact it appears that motor vehicles were not included in the list and therefore by deduction were exempt from the one day restriction.The municipal office were quick to point out that the grammatical error was inadvertant , and that it was obvious to everyone what the list set out to include. 
At the bench trial the case went against her.  The judge declared that " anyone reading the ordinance would recognise the fact that a comma was clearly missing , and that  motor vehicles were therefore included in the list......along with campers "   
But undeterred she appealed to the Twelfth Appellate District of Ohio.  Here, the three higher ranked judges held that there was ambiguity in the ordinance as it was written. Consequently , the claim for the $120 fine was dismissed. According to grammer rules , items in a series must be separated by commas. The judges concluded that reading "motor vehicle camper "  as one item did not produce an absurd result. If the village desired a different reading ( one to distiguish motor vehicles from campers ) then a comma should have been inserted.
Indeed in English law a car parking company can also be hoisted on the horns of its own petard through bad or inadequate wording on its signage. Ambiguity may well invoke the contra proferentem rule , which will often come to the aid of the weaker put-upon party.

PARKING FINES : WHY NOT TURN THEM INTO SCRATCH CARDS ?

Private parking companies could do no worse than change the existing albeit dreaded PCNs into something motorists would welcome and accept : new and exciting PCN scratchcards.
These would state what the parking violation was, along with the parking charge to be paid. However,  now there would be on offer three alternative options , one of which lies under the grey coated area to be scratched off...... should the motorists be prepared to gamble.  

Option 1.   Pay double   50 % chance

Option 2    Paying nothing   40 % chance

Option 3    We pay you the parking charge  10 % chance

The PCN scratchcard has to be returned to the company within 14 days or  face a much stiffer parking charge and court proceedings. If an unscratched PCN card is returned by letter ,  inside must be the payment for the original fine. If the scratched PCN card has revealed the pay double fine , a much more welcome cheque of course needs to accompany it.  Any motorist who sends in a winning PCN must remember to provide details of his/her bank account so that the payment can be made straightaway. Happy days indeed.

All this will bring fun and excitement to motorists who previously viewed PCNs with hatred, anger and contempt. The adrenalin will start flowing the moment the scratching takes place. The prospect of getting off scott free or perhaps even winning will be tantalisingly irresistible. The reality of having those expectations met will bring unbridled joy into a situation so often associated with doom and gloom .
                                                                                                                        
This innovative concept could make the proposed new parking bill an irrelevancy with motorists for the first time ever more than happy to pick up PCNs.

WHY DO PRIVATE PARKING COMPANIES TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS WITH  UTTER CONTEMPT

It beggars belief that some companies like Parking Eye and Excel go out of their way to treat their customers like shit. Their business model is based on obtaining money by fraud , seizing upon the slightest transgressions with pernicious bullying tactics , relying on victim's apathy or lack of funding to fight back. They never listen to reason or legitimate excuses . Their unforgiving and aggressive attitude towards motorists is breathtaking in its zealous and  ruthless pursuit of lucrative profits.
Whereas most businesses promote customer care as one of its core mission statement objectives, private parking companies choose to have a hidden agenda to " screw the bastards " anyway they can.  Whatever happened to showing customers a little bit of sympathy and respect ?
These modern day highway robbers go out of their way to make life  difficult , awkward and miserable for the motorists. Everything they do smacks of deliberate entrapment to lead their customers astray.......to make mistakes .......and then hit them with the threats , intimidation and harassment to pay these deviously engineered albeit bogus fines. 
They are completely unhelpful in the extreme. Requests for information and/or explanations
are treated with contempt. Do they provide sticky-back tickets which adhere to the dashboard ? No. Do they choose to have a set up where payment for tickets is on exit ( not entry ) ? No. Do they allow overstayers to pay the extra on return to the car park ? Like hell they do. These are firms which have mind sets like a cruel sadistic tyrants.  
Name me one other company that " fines" its customers. Yes , customers may be asked to leave or be blacklisted. They will often be given warnings first about unacceptable behaviour. Many might well be chased for non-payment of goods and services , but in the main customers are valued because building up a strong customer base is essential if businesses are to survive in a world of highly competitive markets .
So why do private parking companies treat their customers with such contempt ? Well in many cases they have a captive market with parking spaces being at a premium. Demand will often outrun supply, and therefore if car parks are busy then it seems there is no need whatsoever to  envourage repeat custom. In other cases what does it matter if a car park is only half full. Clobbering just one unsuspecting motorist earns the same revenue as 50 paying ones. This racket has  almost become a licence to print money. Customers are like sitting ducks......fish in a barrel......there to be shot at time and time again.
The welcome sign ....such irony....always prominently displayed outside the car park ...is modelled on the " welcome to my den said the spider to the fly " scenario , or on Hannibal Lector's invitation  " let me make you dinner tonight ". Motorists are never viewed as customers but victims on which to feast.. 

INTERPRETATION OF CAR PARKING SIGNAGE

EXCEL AT SCAMMING  v. BIGOT-JOHNSON (2018)

Another brazen attempt by a morally bankrupt private parking company to nail Bigot for ignoring his most recent PCN . This was issued on the basis that he failed to park within the designated lines of the bay. 

Counsel for the plaintiff (CP) : As you can see your honour from this aerial photograph Bigot's car tyre was touching the white line .....contrary to the terms and conditions he agreed to abide by....... when he entered the contract of his own free choice

B-J : Which were ....?

CP : To park the car  "within " the the lines...........which in simple language means inside  

the lines 

B-J : And the purpose behind this term ?

CP : Well , this offence amounts to using up two bays......which in simple language means double parking.......a mischief which can cost the company a great deal of money in lost revenue

B-J : Yes......this could be the case if the car park is exceptionally busy with waiting motorists desperately looking out for available spaces.....but your photo clearly demonstrates that the parking lot was empty.......hence no mischief done

CP : But it is still a breach of Excel's conditions

B-J :  And the damage to revenue is what ?

CP : Er.....er.....I can't say exactly

Judge : Well ......it seems to me that your relentless pursuit to shaft Bigot in court is nothing more than indulging in pernicious bullying tactics......and yes there has a breach but only on a petty technicality , which suggests nominal damages of £1.....with all costs of course to be met by the claimant. Case dismissed.

B-J : Don't you think £1 is a bit steep ?

Judge : Yes....on reflection I do.....change that to one penny

B-J : Your honour I am eternally grateful

Judge : And so you should be.....you cheeky little scallywag

PARKING FIRMS' TOP EXECUTIVES ENGAGE IN YET ANOTHER REVEALING PHONE CONVERSATION

- How are things ?

- Couldn't be better........it's amazing how so many motorists pay up without a whimper
- I know....I know.......why the other day we nailed a confused old man who drove into our

  car  park by mistake .......fannied around looking for an exit ......before eventually finding 

  one and leaving. Needless to say we banged him a ticket and the silly old fool paid up
  having never actually parked his car

- Well......beat this .....we issued a PCN to a guy who bought a ticket and displayed it  

  on the dashboard as instructed.......trouble was the hot sun caused the ticket to curl up so
  much so..... our rottweiler attendant... with an IQ well below 60..... couldn't read it. The 

  awkward bugger put in an appeal but our inside man at POPLA told him the fine still had 

  to be paid.....and hey presto a cheque for £100 was duly paid 

- The sucker

- The sap

- Yes we could go on for ages with these wonderful stories of how motorists get taken  

   for a ride........but I am worried about this new Parking Bill that could become law within 

   the year

- Don't worry .....parliament will still give us enough leeway to carry on screwing motorists

   left, right and centre. With parking spaces at a premium we can always resort to doubling
   the hourly charges....and let's face it by making motorists pay on entry based on their  

  wildly optimistic predictions of what time they might need.....there will be vast numbers of 
  overstayers who we can legitimately clobber. Moreover if we increase the number of  

  reserved and disabled bays many wlll choose to chance it believing the car parks to be  

  unmanned......it's like shhooting fish in a barrel

-  So good of you to reassure me

-  It's a pleasure

-  Going any way nice this year ?

-  Oh yes......just bought a million pound yacht to cruise around the mediterrean

-  Well .....have a good time....bye

-  Bye

   

PRIVATE PARKING FINES ARE NOT FAIR OR FINE AT ALL.......

Parking firms have continued to keep up the pretence that fines can be imposed upon motorists who fail to abide by their terms and conditions. " Fines " carry the connotation of criminal liability warranting compulsory payment. Such a devious and cunning ploy.
However all alleged contractual  breaches are simply and purely a civil matter , which mean that parking firms can only put in claims for liquidated damages . And as the law still stands today  these claims must be a genuine pre-estimate of the loss suffered as a direct result of the breach. The only exception being overstaying in a busy site where the only income for the operator comes from parking charges , which can in certain circumstances embody a deterrent component ( see Parking Eye v Beavis )
In pay-by-the-hour car parks which on most occasions are rarely full any liqidated damages claimed for breach of contract are still subject to existing Consumer Law regulations , along with many general principles established in Contract Law precedents.
One of these is that the injured party cannot make a profit from a alleged breach of contract, since the liqidated damages claimed must be based on a genuine pre-estimate of the loss. 
All this is perfectly fair and fine. Contract damages are meant to be compensatory. They cannot be wildl over-the-top estimates. Pre-determined damages cannot be set at an  amount that will put the injured party in a better position after the breach , than the party would be in if all the contractual terms had been performed.
So how in God's name can a fixed sum parking charge of £100 be a genuine pre-estimate of a loss , when a serious breach of a term carries the same punitive consequences as a minor and petty breach. How can a five minute overstay give rise to the same claim for damages as a 5 hour overstay. How can a £100 demand for compensation be genuine when the breach , such as failure to display correctly paid-for ticket, causes no loss of income to the parking firm whatsoever. 
But now let's look at the real lie and total lack of genuineness in their estimate of their losses. Usually they kick off with a standard £70 PCN. Is this genuine ? I think not. By offering a £30 discount for prompt payment suggests otherwise given that £40 is beginning to approach the correct estimate. Motorists who send in say a cheque for £15 to cover  alleged losses often don't get chased up for the rest. Why ? Well firstly , the company may still have made a profit out of the scam , and secondly the motorist could argue ( quite successfully in court ) the duty imposed upon firms to mitigate their losses has surely been achieved by this appropriate and fair payment..     
Private parking firms will no doubt continue to flout the law with utter contempt. Never ones to willingly mitigate their losses , they prefer to compound and esculate them with the help of dodgy debt collection agencies. They continue to find ways to deceive and entrap motorists into making mistakes. They resort to countless scams to boost their already obscene profits. They act without sympathy , compassion and forgiveness. They muscle in on supermarket sites on the pretext of resolving a traffic flow problem , which probably never existed in the first place. All part of a ruthless business model to exploit the thousand of motorists , who are prone to poor timekeeping and keying in incorrect car registration details. 
If these morally bankrupt operators were committed to basing parking charges on genuine pre-estimates of loss , then they were be forced to adopt a sliding scale of parking charges ranging from £2 to £20.......but no more. If there was ever an industry which seemingly has a licence to commit fraud ,  then the private parking industry stands head and shoulders above despised loan sharks and shameful big name banks.    
   

INCORRECT REGISTRATION MEANS PCNs BEING ISSUED FOR PARKING WITHOUT A VALID TICKET .........BUT THIS RAISES A CURIOUS POINT OF LAW 

When a motorist for whatever reason keys in the wrong car registration plate details but pays the correct money either a valid contract has been entered into or not.
Car parking firms can not say in one breath a contract has been entered into but the ticket is unfortunately invalid , because if a valid contract has been entered into then by definition the ticket has to be valid.
Moreover , if the ticket is deemed to be invalid by failure to carry out a precondition of the offer that correct CRP details are deemed to be an essential requirement to establish an unconditional acceptance of the offer, then by definition no contract has come into existence on which to allege any subsequent breach.

How private car parking firms have not been questioned in court over this curious point in law beggars belief. 





   

PRIVATE PARKING COMPANY'S TOP EXECUTIVE TELLS BIGOT WHAT'S WHAT IN A SHORT SNAPPY LETTER......

Bigot ,
Your blog with its outrageous articles in a disgrace. It's full of spurious allegations and wicked lies. How dare you !
Companies like mine run a legitimate busines where we look after the majority of honest, decent , rule-abiding motorists by hammering the selfish minority who refuse to carry out their  part of the contract.....which they freely entered into. If I had my way I would have all the rule breakers severely flogged as opposed to letting them off with payment of a modest and measly fine.
The undeniable fact is that these miscreant motorists seize the opportunity not to pay the fine , which causes companies like mine to spend a great deal of time and money.......making all manner of threats...... to keep the montrous bluff alive.
Why in God's name was clamping banned by parliament ? What is the world coming to when profiteering gravy trains are brought to a grinding halt ?  Clamping always got the buggers to pay up without any fuss or risk of costly legal disputes. 
Now that you are on our hit list you had better watch your step.

Yours spitefully and with menace,
                       Simon Mega-Bucks

                            
                        GOTCHA  PARKING  
                            SERVICES


                We are the new boys on the block and 
                our main goal of course is to catch you
                motorists out.

                By using advanced big brother technology,
                non-user friendly ticket machines , terms 
                and conditions the devil himself would have
                been proud of , and ridiculously tiny parking
                bays...........we are all set up to pounce upon
                error-prone motorists to deluge them with 
                our new and exciting , colourfully designed,
                visually stunning 

                                   GOTCHA  PCNs 

            These money-grabbing documents should all
                 be taken in good spirit. So please regard each 
                 PCN as a reminder to keep promises, to avoid 
                 mistakes and not to stray from the straight  
                 and righteous path.

                 In heaven you will pay for your cock-ups here
                 on earth , but unfortunately Gotcha Parking 
                 Services can't afford to wait. We demand that
                 you pay us straightway for your parking sins. 
                 Patience and forgiveness are not virtues we
                 aspire to.... or ever will. 


                                     HAPPY PARKING   
                 
                   
                 

PARKING  OFFENCE :  OVERSTAYING
                                                                                                                                                     EXCEL AT SCAMMING v. BIGOT -JOHNSON (2018)

Low level car park. Heavy thunderstorms. Exit impassable. Cars stuck. Overstay PCNs issued in the hundreds. Bigot adamant he wasn't going to pay.  Yet another day in court.




Counsel for the plaintiff : Your Honour...this man....Excel's nemisis.....overstayed his 2 hour parking ticket by 27 hours and 14 minutes. His provocative behaviour and blatant defiance justifies the parking charge the company imposed upon him. Motorists like him cannot be allowed to flaunt the rules and repeatedly breach parking terms and conditions.
B-J : Allow me to point out I had returned to my car........well within the 2 hours ......only to find the car park flooded......and the exit area under 4 foot of water
CP : Come on.....get real......they was a heavy thunderstorm that day.....a few inches of water......nothing that a car couldn't overcome. You and hundreds of other drivers decided against returning to your cars because you didn't want to get your shoes wet. I have photographic evidence here .....your Honour.....that shows the depth of water in the car park barely reaching the wheel trims
B-J : It was a deluge.....the situation was getting worse by the minute....
CP :  The ticket clearly stated you  were to exit the car park by 3.13pm.....which you didn't
B-J : But the site has ceased to be car park.......it was a bloody big pond.......the terms and conditions don't apply to a pond
CP :  Don't be ridiculous.......it was still a car park albeit one under a few inches of water
B-J : But the photo shows ducks happpily swimming ........indeed the flooding was a direct result of the nearby river overflowing its banks......why I even saw one motorist sitting on top of his car catching fish with his nearly purchased rod......the whole place was awash with pond life......the site had become .....on that fateful day......part of the river
Judge : I've heard enough.....this subsequent and unforeseen event had clearly made it impossible for Bigot.....and hundreds of others to fulfil their contractual obligations. In other words the contracts were frustrated by the physical impossibility of getting to and driving their cars way. Case dismissed.....and what's more....... drivers who had ben bullied into paying these £100 parking charges  must be immediately reimbursed 
CP : My client is going to ape-shit when I inform him of this ruling
B-J : That's music to my ears.........
Judge : And mine too...

PARKING FINES : SO MANY  COULD BE AVOIDED IF PRIVATE PARKING COMPANIES ACTED IN A DECENT HONEST AND RESPONSIBLE WAY 

Decent honest private car parking companies operate a sensible, fair and just system to the benefit of all motorists. There is an entry barrier by which a ticket is acquired to gain access. No need of any requirement to enter vehicle plate registration details.  There is no looking around for an available parking bay because when the car park is full the entry barrier cannot be activated.
Moreover , the motorist does not have to predict what number of hours he needs to purchase. Predictions are real profit generators for the company : either they are over generous which inevitable leads to overpayment , or they are under-estimates leading to overstays and nasty savage PCNs. Motorists are therefore on a hiding to nothing. 
In respectable car parks , the motorist only has to pay for the actual time of his/her stay , by entering his ticket on his/her return into a machine which then calculates the tariff, takes the money and validates the ticket to activate the exit barrier. Beautiful , fair and involving no loss to both parties.
Why this barrier system is not adopted by the parking pirates is obvious. The potential loss of revenue from saving the motorist from over-payments, overstays and miskeying in car registration details is huge. This customer-focussed system does not generate sufficient profits. Motorists are error prone and this human condition needs to be exploited , Forcing them into into making bad or wild predictions , and careless mistakes when keying in car registratiuon details ,  is a what their evil business model is all about.
Ticket systems need to be simple and fair , having the customers' interests in mind.  They should not be designed to exploit the motorist out of their unsatiable greed for profit. Rogue parking firms are nothing more than vindictive , ruthless, money-grabbing bastards , which I hope and pray will be brought to task when new parking law legislation comes into force.
In the meantime , my advice is to overpay rather than overstay. Take great care when keying in those seven characters. Challenge each and every PCN where injustice can be established, and if feel you were in the wrong..... only pay a reasonable sum , which clearly equates to the actual loss the company could legitimately claim. 

                                                   
                 PARKING NOTICE

 A modern progressive private parking company have 
 taken up the option of £30,000 per annum rent on a 25 
 year lease to convert and use this scrubby piece of land
 into a 100 bay parking lot. And boy do we at Nightmare Parking Services intend to get our money back PLUS MORE.
  

 A parking tariff of just £1 an hour will earn us in a 
 typical 10 hour day ( 50% occupancy) around £500 ,
 and over the year well in excess of £180,000. Happy 
 days indeed.

 But the best bit is with minimum outlay and overheads 
 we can install 

•   big brother camera surveillance
•   difficult to use ticket machines  

to boost our earnings considerably , from simply issuing our customers with nasty PCNs. These bogus fines are expected to represent a mouth-watering 75% of our total revenue. Unbelievable isn't ? And it's all down to you motorists being error-prone , dumb and stupid.  

Looking forward to emptying your wallets

Parking Outside Bays  
                                                                                     NIGHTMARE PARKING SERVICES v. BIGOT-JOHNSON (2018)

Bigot has just bought himself a new very expensive top-of-the-range car.  This was his pride and joy. However he had to spend well over £4000 on an urgent respray , following an earlier visit to the site , when the car had got badly scratched. This time he was determined not to suffer the same fate. The solution was simple : take up 4 parking spaces. Not surprising surveillance photos captured this alleged violation and so came the inevitable PCN. 



Counsel for the plaintiff  (CP) : Your honour.....I have photographic evidence here of this outrageous bit of parking. Four bays this selfish man used up.....severely limiting the opportunities for other motorists to park up. Behaviour like this needs to be stopped.....my client has every right to issue Bigot with this £100 PCN .....and justice demands that the money should be paid
B-J : Hold on here......just look at the photo .....the bays are no narrow it is impossible when the car park is full to open any door without banging it into the vehicle next to yours . 
CP : Look at the size of this man your Honour.......he's far too fat to slide in and out of a parked car. These bays are wide enough to cater for people of normal height and weight
B-J : Well , I have a right to protect my car from criminal and/or accidental damage. The bays are deliberately designed to be small for obvious reasons. Firstly , more bays equal more revenue potential. Narrow bays enable vast sums of money to be made by issuing PCNs for double parking..... a violation which is not always the fault of the driver.
CP : But you used up four bays 
B-J : That's because the bays aren't long enough either. OK for Minis perhaps but not for cars like mine
CP : I'm sorry..... but these excuses wont wash......you used up 4 bays.... but only purchased one ticket
B-J:  Ah.... but I paid for all four bays
CP : No you didn't ...... one ticket entiles you to use one bay only 
B-J :  Sorry to correct you here......I believe your AVRC records show I stayed for one hour 
CP :  Yes....that's correct
B-J:  Well , I had a choice .......either I bought 4 one-hour tickets .....or just one 4-hour ticket.
Expediency suggested the latter.....so either way I used up just 4 hours of bay time ....and  please note...... I paid for that time in full
Judge : How clever of you Bigot......your logic and your maths cannot be questioned.....and as a classic car driver myself I fully recognise and understand your concern over your pride and joy. Judgement it seems must go in favour of the defendant. Case dismissed......
CP :  What......how can that be right ?
Judge : Your client was not out of pocket. No loss had been incurred by Bigot's inventive solution to his problem. So why not tell Nightmare Parking Services to provide bigger and safer bays to cater for all motorists .............especially those who have bought shiny new expensive cars......... making sure that cases like this will never crop up again

 AT SMART ARSE PARKING SERVICES  
 WE HAVE COME TO APPRECIATE AND VALUE  ALL OUR CUSTOMERS           

THEREFORE THE MANAGEMENT WOULD LIKE TO OFFER THEIR WARM AND HEARTFELT THANKS TO MANY THOUSANDS OF MOTORISTS WHO HAVE

• Overpaid by virtue of paying for more hours than they actually needed
• Overpaid by not having the exact coinage when purchasing a ticket
• An appalling sense of time having overstayed by just a few minutes
• An inability to read and/or understand the terms and conditions listed on our notice boards
•  An inability to key in the correct registration plate details at our ticket machines
• No backbone or guts whatsoever to challenge PCNs no matter how unjust these demands for money are 
• Continued to keep revisiting our site knowing full well the risks involved

                                HOPING TO ALL YOU AGAIN VERY SOON

  

VIOLATiON OF PARKING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
                                                                                        SMART ARSE PARKING SOLUTIONS v. BIGOT-JOHNSON  (2018)

One important hospital visit . A most unusual parking violation. An unforgiving PCN. But another resounding court success for Bigot.

Counsel for the plaintiff (CP) : Bigot......as co-driver and owner of the vehicle BRN 65 ZTX you violated the parking terms and conditions by blatantly obstructing access to an available bay......to the detriment of other motorists seeking to find one. Indeed , we have an aerial photograph of you sprawled out in an unoccupied parking bay. This was taken by one of the many on-site drones........such is the extent and capability of big-brother technology now used in modern day car parking sites 
B-J : I was saving the bay so my daughter ,,,,, who took over the driver's seat...... could at last park up. We entered the hospital car park at 10 am and had been driving around in vain looking to snatch an available space ...,,,but others kept jumping in before us. My wife was in great pain and was in need of urgent and immediate medical attention
CP : Yes....yes.....yes.....my client has heard all this clap trap many times before. These sob stories don't cut any ice with Smart Arse Parking Solutions you know 
B-J : Had we not got her to A&E as we did....... she might well have died.......a burst appendix is both serious and life-threatening
CP :  Well....it's my client's contention that....if other motorists play by the rules and are able to meet our terms and conditions without difficulty , then why should you be exempt from this transgression
B-J : A life was at stake..... goddamnit
CP : Yes....that may well have been the case.....but our business model relies on targeting types like you who fail to adhere to my client's complex rules and procedures at his facilities
B-J : Your Honour......this company operates an extortion racket the scale of which is growing at an alarming weight. Their current business model  which involves expanding into hospital sites has become an invidious attack on thousands of hospital patients and employees. Not only that .....these car park pirates then intimidate motorists with debt collection firms , who threaten usurious fees in pursuit of highly questionable parking fines.....all backed up with additional threats of court hearings and expensive legal costs. 
CP : LIsten Bigot....there is nothing wrong with my client acting as judge, jury and executioner. It's all stated quite clearly in their parking terms and conditions
Judge : Hold on.....I'm the judge here......and as a believer in natural justice , I believe your client's iniquitous business model is one that offers no justice whatsoever to the motorists that use their site facilities. It is repulsive and repugnant. It stinks infact....and It is on those grounds that I find for the defendant.  The claim is manifestly unreasonable and therefore unenforceable
CP : But what about the Supreme Court ruling in the Beavis case ?
Judge : That case has no relevance to this one , which can easily be distinguished on the facts. Cases like this will always be judged on its merits......and it is the defendant which merits the court's protection from Smart Arse's litany of dirty practices. Case dismissed.

COWBOY PARKING FIRMS : THEIR BUSINESS MODEL REVEALED .........( part 2 )

• The business of issuing PCNs is a monstrous bluff , which requires us to hold our nerve when motorists have the cheek and audacity to challenge them. Being committed and determined to take every case to court helps maintain the impact and effectiveness of the bluff 
• Chasing up PCNs requires dedicated and devoted staff committed to hitting non-paying motorists with a barrage of intimidationg and threatening letters
• Transferring PCN debt to an associate debt recovery firm to ratch up the amount of the claim is a highly effective way of persuading many more motorists to throw in the towel
• Letters from our agents need to maximise the fear factor by including terror-invoking words such as " bailiffs " , " CCJs ",  " loss of credit rating " ,  and  "  substantial legal costs "
• The business model requires us to play the percentage game in keeping with Pareto's 80:20 rule. This states that 4 out of 5 motorists will pay up immediately , usually out of apathy, ignorance , self-blame and fear 
• Even motorists who initially resist , 4 out of every 5 will capitulate well before the case goes to court . Of those who are left 4 out of every 5 will lose in court  because  (a) they are unable to prepare a decent defence , and (b) they lack the funds to afford a legally qualified lawyer to represent them  
• In rare and exceptional circumstances it may be prudent and wise to cancel a PCN or to reduce the charge to £10-20 as a goodwill gesture, in order to avert negative , adverse publicity , and to avoid an inevitable drubbing in court
• The business needs to stay in line , and toe the line,  with all the others operating in this highly lucrative market. The industry needs to operate as an all powerful oligopoly ensuring the total absence of competition 
• Out of spite the company will adopt a policy of a shelving an unresolved PCN claim for up to 4-5 years only to spring a court summons on the motorist as a nasty unwelcome surprise , taking full advantage of the six year time limit alowed for civil claims
• an appropriate percentage of the company's huge profits must sensibly be put aside to finance top-notch barristers to fight high profile cases in the higher courts : the risk involved in losing such cases has to be minimised no matter what the cost  
• A strong ongoing PR campaign is essential if the company wants to deflect the public's anger and outrage over the dirty practices which may well come to their attention: donations to hospitals and well known charities need to well publicised in the press to gain widespread approval   

COWBOY PARKING FIRMS : THEIR BUSINESS MODEL REVEALED ........(part 1 )

Private parking companies operate in a moral vacuum. This is evidenced by their highly unethical business model , the key elements of which are listed below :

• Our true mission statement needs to be kept under wraps. No one must know that it contains two primary objectives :  namely " customer exploitation " and " legitimate fraud " 
• A PCN must be perceived by gullible motorists as a statutory " fine " : motorists must be kept ignorant of the fact that a PCN is nothing more than a speculative invoice or a claim for liquidated damages  
• PCNs must have no bearing whatsoever with being genuine pre-estimates of loss : their one clear aim is to return an 80% profit from receipts in keeping with Pareto's recommended ratio
• Sites must be set up like " honey traps " , inviting motorists in at their peril 
• The irresistible lure of much sought after parking spaces creates a captive market . one to be fully and ruthlessly exploited
• Motorists must never be viewed as " customers " : they are simply a means by which the company can make easy money 
• It matters not that the pretext on which a PCN will be issued is trifling or absurd : what matters most is that the pretext is inventive or imaginative
• The greater the number of contractual obligations imposed on the motorist the greater the likelihood of catching them out
• All contractual terms and conditions imposed on the motorists must of course be strictly adhered to by them : no exceptions or excuses permitted
• All manner of obstacles must be put in the way of motorists at every turn , if only to ensure a contractual breach becomes a regular and repeated occurance. These obstacles might well include :

                                 1. lack or absence of signage
                                 2. use of misleading and/or ambiguous words
                                 3. unreadable small print
                                 4. ticket machines that don't work properly
                                 5. restricted width of parking bays
                                 6. unclear parking bay boundaries

• Overstays represent the best source of PCN revenue to the business , since motorists find it impossible to predict their intended length of stay. Therefore payment for tickets on leaving the site with ticket-operated exit barriers are a complete no-no

RIP OFF PARKING SERVICES :  TOP DIRECTOR FINALLY  AGREES TO BE INTERVIEWED

- I take it you're the chief executive of this highly lucrative business
- Indeed I am....and an extremely well paid one at that
- So tell me.....how are things going at present ?
- Up and down ?
- What's on the "up" then ?
- The number of PCNs we issue every day.....you see they now run into thousands
- And the " down "
- Oh....that's the number of cases we win in the courts 
-  Why's that ?
-  Well ...our business model works on a complete bluff.......but when savvy motorists call 
   our bluff the company still needs to take the dispute all the way . because if the word gets
   out that we throw in the towel many more motorists will refuse to cough up.  Thankfully,
   the majority of motorists don't want the hassle and agree to pay  ....such is their fragile 
   state of mind
-  But don't you feel for motorists who.... for instance.... are asked to pay a parking charge of
   £100 having already paid the money for a ticket
-  No....these numpties probably broke the rules regarding data entry regarding their car 
   registrations..... or failed to display their tickets properly
-  So you're happy to treat motorists like shit
-   And why not......if they made mistakes they need to be punished
-   Then I assume these parking charges are really about punishment ?
-   No.....our primary goal is all about making huge profits
-   By ruthlessly punishing motorists in the process ?
-   Yes..... it's a double whammy effect
-   But you're a motorist yourself aren't you ?
-   Yes....but not one who breaks the rules
-   But what if you.. inadvertantly.... did incur a PCN from another parking company ?
-   Well , I would sort it out with a quick phone call . In this industry all the companies 
    work together as one big happy family, looking after each other's interests
-   Honour amongst thieves ?
-   Yes....you could say that........but in reality it's all about privilege , mutual back scratching 
    and doing one another favours.  In business... oligopolies work a treat. We don't compete
    against each other. We adopt the same business model......we impose the same fixed 
    extremely high parking charges , along with a ruthless, unforgiving attitude towards 
    whinging motorists , who constantly bleat out pathetic excuses expecting to be let off.
  . Moreover , we apply the same terms and conditions to ensure consistency and certainty 
    in our dealings with those we see as a soft touch
-   I'm appalled at what I'm hearing
-   Do I give a fuck about what you and your readers may think about me. One develops an
    extremely thick skin when wallowing in vast sums of money I pay myself......so you can
    sod off now....... and let me revel in spending my ill-gotten gains
  
    



   
  

ILLEGAL PCNs :  HOW PRIVATE PARKING COMPANIES EXPLOIT THEIR BARGAINING POWER

With so many private car parks operating AVPR systems there is no opportunity for the motorists to question , query, challenge or amend the terms and conditions imposed upon them. This form of automated contracting enables these mercenary companies the to exploit their unfettered bargaining power to the full. The severe bargaining inequality that currently exists has of course been relentlessly abused , so much so the whole situation has become increasingly inconscionable. Motorists have been screwed in their tens of thousand again and again.
In the USA these imposed agreements are known as Contracts of Adhesion. Motorists are stuck with them. They must accept their terms and conditions if they wish to park there. With street parking spaces not available as an option , motorists have no choice but to park in the one and only site available. In such circumstances the weaker party finds him /herself with Hobson's choice , which is having no choice at all. So how do the private parking companies go about abusing their extreme bargaining power to such unforgiving extremes ?

• dressing up the PCNs to look like proper fines ( suggesting criminal liability )
• never coming clean about the fact that a PCN is either a speculative invoice and/or claim for liquuidated damages 
• parking charges are never about recovery of actual losses cause by alleged breaches; they are purely penal and punitive in nature designed to earn the these money grabbing companies vast profits
• every dirty trick imaginable is repeatedly put into practice to snare and entrap unsuspecting motorists into making mistakes , by which breach of contract is then alleged 
• PCNs are issued even though the alleged/technical breach causes no  actual loss whatsoever to the company
• no matter how serious or petty the alleged breach is  , the same excessively high fixed sum parking charge is applied
• in cases where a there is 5 minute overstay as opposed to a 5 hour overstay the parking charge does not reflect the fact that one motorist is far less guilty than the other
• even when motorists are faced with the this take-it-or-leave-it choice , only to choose the latter , they will still receive a PCN having entered and left the car park without paying any tariff
• parking companies know full well that the motorist hasn't the will or the financial muscle to challenge an illegal PCN in court , and so it is easy for them to bully the motorist into paying up 
• even when County Court judgements go in favour of motorists these evil companies will still continue to issue the same kind of PCNs , knowing that these court decisions do not set binding precedents
• no excuses or mitigating circumstances are accepted , even when the motorist has a genuine , honest and innocent reason for his/her transgression
• cancellation of a PCN is an absolute no-no 
• appeals can only be made to non-independant bodies , who are closely associated with or in cahoots with the private parking companies 
• difficult questions and/or requests for further information by motorists contesting PCNs have and always will be be completely ignored

Indeed , despite all the worthy aims of consumer law and safe-guarded princilples of contract law , private parking companies ride roughshod over hard-pressed motorists. Corporate power in this despicable industry has crushed the opportunity for the individual to negotiate fairer terms. Why the law has not recognised the need for "unconscionability " to be a complete defence beggars belief. Certain terms should by rights be declared void in order to bring about a fairer balance of bargaining power. Motorists if asked whether their assent is willingly given , the answer would be a resounding " no". They are always hit by the unfair surprise of a £100 parking charge when the breach has caused no actual loss to the company. They are often astounded by the lack of notice , or the number of important terms which are deliberately misleading...... or which so often appear in small print.                Motorists should be entitled by law to enter privately managed car parks with reasonable expectations , but what should these be ? Well , firstly not to have the parking rules applied in the strictest way. There will always be circumstances which warrant a far more lenient approach , especially when the transgressions involve minor or innocent mistakes ,  made by motorists who are genuine and honest. When a person receives a £100 parking charge in circumstances which seem grossly unfair , it comes as a shock to one's conscience. It 's perceived as unjust.......and rightly so.
Moreover , it is totally wrong for motorists to have to wait for... and fight for..... justice in the courts. Private parking companies  should from the outset treat customers with goodwill, consideration and respect. But hey....that would be like asking the Devil Incarnate to adopt Christian and altruistic values. Fat bloody chance ! 

So welcome to the hellish and nightmarish world of private parking companies.