Unfair private parking fine

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PotatoPie

Member
22 May 2021
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So my parents received a 'fine' from PES for parking over time even though it hadn't been one hour yet (the time limit they have). The time/clock on the one of their ticket machines was a few minutes late (and after recently checking the machine recently, this difference has further increased). Also, when parking, me and my parents would usually check the time on our phone right after arriving and then quickly obtain a ticket. We usually wouldn't check the time on the machine and would assume it is correct. As such we used the 'actual time' to make sure we didn't overpark. However, the operator in charge of checking the cars charged us before the one hour due to the incorrect time on the machine.

I made an appeal for my parent, however due to certain reasons we made the appeal quite late. The company required us to make an appeal within 21 days but we look a bit longer than that. Do you think that they will continue to pursue us? Although we did make a late appeal, they fined us before the one hour mark and hence it is an error on their part. If the appeal doesn't work, what should we do as our next step? Should we just ignore it? Do you think they would take legal actions? Thanks
 

Tim W

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
28 April 2014
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Don't panic. It's not a "fine", nor is the letter an "infringement" or a "breach" (even if they use those words).

I recommend searching the archive of this site for information.