You did fairly well...What's that 3 posts before becoming condescending? From thier website; [h=2]Parking Prices[/h]First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £10. HGV/Caravans range from £16 - £21 for parking only and from £18.50 - £24 for parking & a meal voucher. So dumbed down; The first 2 hours are free. After 2 hours you must pay an addition fee £10 (Not £100). JR45 appears to have exceeded the 2 hour free period and not paid the £10. Therefore he has been issued a charge notice (fine) of £100. The £100 is therefore a fine/penalty/kick in the bollocks! [This example is by way of the simplelist illustration without using crayons!]
However, being serious... Nelson - I agree with you in principle. I think it's taking the piss that they charge £100 for having to send out a letter telling me that I overstayed my welcome. However, there is a big sign there saying that they will do so - so I have no excuse for not realising that I had stayed too long and not paid. If I had the time / money to argue with them, maybe I would. As it is I have neither the time nor the money to go through the hassle of arguing with them , getting a solicitor to take the case, going to court to argue the point ( which, as Pete rightly points out, I would probably loose anyway... ). I suspect that many people are in a similar position - they pay up because it's the easiest thing to do. I'm not saying that it's right or that I agree with it... Lesson learnt - next time I will stop at Michael Wood instead !
You could do worse than have a look on Pistonheads for an alternate view. Iirc there has been much debate about how to deal with parking eye etc, and paying merely the actual missing charge and a token amount for genuine ' loss'. They( the private firm issuing the fine/charge, call it what you will) are then 'invited' to take you to court, which they apparently don't, because of the unreasonableness of the charge as perceived by the judiciary. that forum is inhabited by some who are lawyers, I am not aware that we have m(any) qualified as such, on this forum. caveat, I am not a lawyer, in respect of my humble comments above, and you believe what you read on the interthingy at your own peril, unless you verify it for yourself. You would,have thought the services would make it easy for people to stay as long as poss, given the profit margin they probably have on the goods they sell inside. to conclude succinctly, tossers!!!!
