Raw Deal: I should have gone to Specsavers but shouldn’t have got a ticket

Lesley Hodgens shouldn’t have gone to Specsavers.

The college lecturer’s two-hour appointment at the optician store in Arbroath, Angus, in February, ran over time.

As a result, she was issued a fine from the parking operators at the Abbeygate shopping centre, which climbed to £170 – and she was also being pursued by a debt collection agency for the money.

“Specsavers advertise their agreed arrangements for appointments which go over the two-hour limit,” Lesley, 49, said. “I had a routine appointment which, due to complications, led to me being unable to drive.

“I wasn’t too worried about the appointment taking longer because Specsavers said they had arranged with the parking company to have my car there slightly longer.”

However, Lesley was shocked when a parking fine for £40 arrived through the post a few weeks later.

“I took the letter to Specsavers, and they contacted the parking company, CP Plus, who they said had assured them it had been cancelled and I shouldn’t hear anything further,” Lesley said.

“I then received a debt collection letter, so again I got in touch with Specsavers who said they had contacted CP Plus again and who had reiterated that the charge had been cancelled.”

However, more demands for payment arrived at the couple’s home and the amount soon increased to £170.

“I was furious because I had already spent about £400 on new glasses,” Lesley said. “I was very worried that I was also going to be liable for this parking charge because it is a lot of money.”

After months of getting nowhere trying to get the ticket cancelled, Lesley contacted Raw Deal.

We wrote to both Specsavers and London-based CP Plus – and the parking charge was soon scrapped.

Jamie Buchan, store director at Specsavers Arbroath, said: “The nature of our healthcare business means the two-hour parking limit is not adequate for many of our customers – those with eye trauma may need longer appointments or those who have their pupils dilated must not drive for some time afterwards.

“When parking charges were introduced we raised this issue with centre management who agreed to cancel our customers’ tickets where required.

“We are pleased to learn centre management is now working positively towards a better solution for our customers which will be implemented in the near future.”

A spokesman for CP Plus added: “I can confirm that this charge has now been cancelled.”

Lesley said she was delighted that the stressful situation had been resolved.

She added: “Thank you, Raw Deal. I just couldn’t seem to get anyone to listen to me.”

If you have been wrongly charged by a parking firm, then challenge it. Don’t just give in and pay up.

A Parking Charge Notice (PCN) from a private parking firm or landowner is not a “fine” and cannot be enforced under criminal law.

The claim is that you’ve “broken the contract” of the car park terms and conditions. The money collected is, mostly, kept by these parking firms.

A common defence is to state that the amount of the fine isn’t appropriate to the normal costs of parking.

If you have been charged £60 for overstaying 15 minutes, then you could try offering the landowner or parking operator the money you think is fair and covers the cost of your overstay. Some motorists have reported this to be a successful way of settling the charge.

Gather evidence. If the sign with the parking terms on it could not be read properly, take a picture and send it to the company.

If you think the charge is unfair, or you have a mitigating excuse, then contact the parking operator or landowner explaining why you are refusing to pay.

If they refuse to reconsider, you can appeal against this decision to an independent adjudicator like POPLA (Parking On Private Land Appeals), set up by the British Parking Association.