One of the biggest problems for many people in recent years has been knowing where it is safe to park. You want to find a parking space that is convenient for your needs but when there is a high level of demand for parking spots, the cost of parking will inevitably rise. Another issue comes with the fact that not everyone is sure about where you can park or not. A lot of problems in areas like supermarkets or major stores who are now looking to clamp down on people using their car parking facilities when they don’t get the full benefit in return.
There have been plenty of people who feel as though these fines are not valid or suitable and it tuned out that one car park has recently admitted to fines being faked. This is exactly the sort of story that will leave people feeling angry and annoyed about the service that they received. It certainly isn’t going to do the long term future of the car parking facilities any benefit, and it may be that the company involved will have to go public with punishments on the employees involved with the situation.
The firm has been at the middle of a sizable fraud investigation and the upshot of it is that they will refund motorists who were wrongly given fines. UKPC have come clean that certain employees altered times on tickets to make it appear as their customers had “over-stayed” the time limit in their car park. This means that plenty more people will be thinking back and wondering if they were wrongly fined. The incidents happened at a Lidl supermarket in Newcastle, which is where the 3 motorists were wrongly given parking fines.
A Motorists Proved the Fine wasn’t Valid
A 61 year old man, Neil Horton, was able to prove that two photographs on his car, supposedly different images taken at different times, were actually taken at the exact same time. Mr Horton had previously been hit with a £100 fine for the misdemeanour which took place back in July of this year. The company claimed that the motorist had remained in place for thirty minutes beyond his limit, and as you would expect, Mr Horton is rather angry about the situation.
The firm has now come clean about the fact that some of their employees changed the time on their parking tickets and then they fined drivers for over-staying, with the fines reaching up to £100. The firm has come to an agreement to provide a full refund to the victims. There will be plenty of people who feel that the company is only doing this after their scams have been exposed, and not really because they are genuinely sorry, but this is the least that the company should be doing in this sort of situation.
The Company has Tried to Minimise the Damage
UKPC have released a statement, saying; “We regret to confirm that a limited number of pictures of vehicles, at a small number of car parks, have had their time stamp altered by a few of our employees to make it appear as though the vehicles had over-stayed when this was not the case.”
This is exactly the sort of story that catches on with local media and newspapers and you can bet that there will be plenty of people turning against the company now. The supermarket will be able to say that it was an external company who takes care of the car parks, which means that they will try and deflect attention away from them, but it is clear that some people will think of Lidl when it comes to this whole mess.
It may not be the end of the story as the British Parking Association, the BPA, have announced that they are currently undertaking an investigation into the matter. This is definitely something that an association or national body has to take an interest in because the whole industry can be affected by this. When consumer confidence in a service falls, businesses across the country can suffer, which means that many other car park operators will be keen for some form of punishment to be handed out.
When it comes to dealing with people who undertake or commit fraud, there is always a need for them to receive proper representation. This is where the role of an experienced defence solicitor can be crucial in ensuring that the alleged parties are fairly represented.
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.