Tiredness kills!!

firefighter

Guest
"Tiredness kills take a break" Thats what the signs on the motorway say so last week on my way back up from welsh wales (great place) pulled into Marks and Spencer's Moto services Forton Lancaster, had lunch, bit of shopping, spoke to a guy about electronic gizmos then went on my merry way through lake district (another great place!) and then back to Scotlandshire only to be met with an 80 QUID FINE!!!!! on my doorstep 2 days later!! They had pics of my MH arriving and departing had contacted dvla and then politely informed me that I had stayed there for around 3 hours (didn't see any obvious signs) and I owed them 80 quid or 50 if I paid within 3 weeks which I have now done:mad: I looked at ignoring it etc but the legal side would seem to say that I've got no option but to stump up. Needlless to say one of my customary complaining letters is winging its way to trading standards, marks and spencer and the manager of the service station. Won't be using service stations again for fuel etc. and only to use free toilet facilities:mad::mad::mad:
 
I don`t blame you in the least firefighter....another example of where people want to rip you off with the high prices of goods at motorway service stations...but show you that actually,...you`re not really welcome !! We only tend to stop for the loo`s and move on these days, because of your kind of experience, and it`s all too common an occurrence these days :(:(
 
Tiredness kills or rips you off !!!

What a sick place BRITAIN is turning into,so sad.
 
Agree this is a sorry situation. Not content with being given a captive market for their overpriced tat, service stations have to go the extra step and fine people for using the very facilities they were established to provide.
I dimly remember a book listing all the supermarkets close to Mway junctions as a better alternative to services. Does anyone know if this is still around?
 
We had something similar to this on a thread a few months ago, my reply was in future, stop, kettle on and have a drink and a butty, use their WC, and wave with 2 fingers on the way out. Done just that ever since:D
Sorry you got done, the nastid barstewards.
 
Don't Pay!

Its a shame that you didn't post about this before you paid the fine. I was in a similar situation not too long ago. My girlfriend stayed slightly over the limit in a car park and we got an £80 fine. Luckily I'd seen a mention on a local forum about the company and noted at that time that they are actually invoices sent by a company for, effectively, loss of trade due to you overstaying what you paid for (or in your case the free time limit). I looked into it a bit more and came across the Pepipoo site/forum:

FightBack Forums -> Parking and Decriminalised Notices

Hopefully it will answer a few of you questions and explain the situation a bit better than I can. The problem here is that the law on this is a grey area - no doubt one that needs clarifying! Only the councils can send an enforceable fine - i.e. those issued by traffic wardens or when you've gone down a bus lane etc.. but these companies send out a very similar looking letter which can confuse people. The detail is in what PCN stands for, Penalty Charge Notice or Parking Charge Notice, the latter being unenforceable. There are all sorts of issues with these companies from the way they get your details from the DVLA to the disproportionately large fine for your discretion.

The advice is to ignore this completely and not even enter into dialogue with the company. You will receive a set of increasingly threatening letters which add additional costs, but in the end they will give up as they know they will never win in court - they have lost all the cases they have tried. We are currently in the process of ignoring and we've not heard much for a while! :)

I hope this will be of some help to others,

Regards,

Bob
 
Most services restrict you to 2 hours parking,usually on the first sign as you drive in,
 
Excellent

uglybob23 said:
Its a shame that you didn't post about this before you paid the fine. I was in a similar situation not too long ago. My girlfriend stayed slightly over the limit in a car park and we got an £80 fine. Luckily I'd seen a mention on a local forum about the company and noted at that time that they are actually invoices sent by a company for, effectively, loss of trade due to you overstaying what you paid for (or in your case the free time limit). I looked into it a bit more and came across the Pepipoo site/forum:

FightBack Forums -> Parking and Decriminalised Notices

Hopefully it will answer a few of you questions and explain the situation a bit better than I can. The problem here is that the law on this is a grey area - no doubt one that needs clarifying! Only the councils can send an enforceable fine - i.e. those issued by traffic wardens or when you've gone down a bus lane etc.. but these companies send out a very similar looking letter which can confuse people. The detail is in what PCN stands for, Penalty Charge Notice or Parking Charge Notice, the latter being unenforceable. There are all sorts of issues with these companies from the way they get your details from the DVLA to the disproportionately large fine for your discretion.

The advice is to ignore this completely and not even enter into dialogue with the company. You will receive a set of increasingly threatening letters which add additional costs, but in the end they will give up as they know they will never win in court - they have lost all the cases they have tried. We are currently in the process of ignoring and we've not heard much for a while! :)

I hope this will be of some help to others,

Regards,

Bob
Click to expand...

This is great info so thanks but I too am with the brew, butty, poop in theirs then two fingers to the greedy barstewards.

Chrissy
 
jann said:
Most services restrict you to 2 hours parking,usually on the first sign as you drive in,
Click to expand...

That's probably the case, you know, just at the time that you have left the motorway at speed and are trying to see which small entrance you are supposed to negotiate into.

I am a little cynical this evening aren't I :eek: :(

Chrissy
 
Chrissy said:
This is great info so thanks but I too am with the brew, butty, poop in theirs then two fingers to the greedy barstewards.

Chrissy
Click to expand...

Have seen the signs, but had no idea if/how it was enforced. I too will boycot services with said signs, except for free facilities. BTW have notcied showers in many services. Are they free? (I suspect not:mad:)

Another query (a little off track) - could this information also be relevent to those "No Overnight Parking" signs. Who actually polices them and are they enforcible? I know many MHers ignore them ........................ has anyone ever been fined, or just moved on? Our view is generally to abide by them but I have often wondered ............................... particularly in the remote areas we tend to go to.
 
I ignored them before Easter Margaret (in Scotland). I think off season you are probably OK. The council will not pay someone a wage to go around checking and the Police have other things to do.

If tourism causes problems then I think there may be enforcement at those times but not out of season.

If it is a big sign listing exclusions and it is put up by an official body (local authority) then I think it must be respected at all times. The small signs that just say `no overnighting` are different. I just park in front of the sign so nobody can see it.;)
 
magbrin said:
Have seen the signs, but had no idea if/how it was enforced. I too will boycot services with said signs, except for free facilities. BTW have notcied showers in many services. Are they free? (I suspect not:mad:)

Another query (a little off track) - could this information also be relevent to those "No Overnight Parking" signs. Who actually polices them and are they enforcible? I know many MHers ignore them ........................ has anyone ever been fined, or just moved on? Our view is generally to abide by them but I have often wondered ............................... particularly in the remote areas we tend to go to.
Click to expand...

I remembered this from last year, you may find it interesting.:

http://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forums/general-chat/6797-good-news-no-overnight-parking.html

Bev
 
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