Club Arnage

I was at Silverstone yesterday and every car was ushered into the big fields to park so i followed suit. I came back to my car at the end of the day to find that i had a parking fine on the window, strange to see but looking around 1 in 3 had them aswell. Now there was no mention of payment by marshals, no signs and no paying stations anywhere. I drove over to a marshal at on the way out and asked were we where meant to pay and how come we had not been advised of this he just thrust a bit of paper in my hand and looked away  >:(

Basically it says that i was to call a number and pay over the phone a fee of £30 to park for the day and if not i would be fined £60 (£30 if i pay within 14days).

It seems like this should of been given to us before we got into the car park  >:(

It seems that there was a few issues in 2009 but has anyone advise on these at all? I plan on emailing them today (strange there is no number to call them) but seems a big con to me!

I have been told to ignore it but i wasn't in my car as its being repaired but i was in a courtesy car and dont want them to pay it and come after me.

Any advise?

Ticket below -

(http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/Kev_G7/photo1.jpg)

(http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr272/Kev_G7/photo.jpg)

Kev

Just a quick Google brought up this

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2600273 (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2600273)

Looks like a scam so ignore it according to Martins Money Savers

Thanks Stu ill get onto the company now

Reading the Silverstone site, they say civil parking notices will be issued if a parking permit is not displayed.

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/popup/events/gettingthere2011/ (http://www.silverstone.co.uk/popup/events/gettingthere2011/)  - About half way down under the parking heading.

One link will take u to Pistonheads, check for more updated info there as well

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=709939&nmt=Silverstone%20%20parking%20ticket

Also you already been ripped off by them, as Vinci own most of the toll roads in france.

Big company Vinci group. They give nothing away (oh yea and there French!  ::) )

Have fun, hope if did not mess up F1 to much for you. - Any pics? (besides the wheelie bin)

pics will be up tonight btw but contacted the hire company who have added notes to the affect of "dont pay its a scam" to the account. Got the guys full name, ext number, direct number the works and he agrees dont pay. Only issue is they have my card details so fingers crossed dont take the funds lol :lol:

Firstly it is important to note tht in such cases that unless the carpark is council/Govt operated then THIS IS NOT A FINE!

It is a penalty notice and it means the driver of your car breached the terms of a civil contract entered into when he/she parked. The parking company, if it is a legitimate company, will get the registered keeper info from the DVLA and will start to churn out a series of preprinted letters of increasing menace. This frightens many people into paying up.

If they want to take the matter to court (and they almost virtually never do) they need to know who the driver was (as opposed to registered keeper) as the driver is the one who breached the contract. Legally you, as the RK, are under NO legal obligation to tell them. Thus they are f**ked!!

I would do two things:

1. Do not respond or reply to ANY communication from them WHATSOEVER until they actually file a case at the small claims court (which they won't, and anyway if they do, let me know as I have a draft letter that will f**k them right up).

2. Have a look around on Pepipoo forums, here's a good place to start... http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?s=51d28ce600ce2d1d3a561f73301e2336&showforum=60

Finally, these people are bullies, but the law is clear, you do not have to tell them who was driving, nor have any legal obligation to reply to them whatsoever. And unless you tell them who was driving they can't ake the matter further.

thank you chaps and merci Mr Zarse :angel:

Andy - why does that not surprise me  ;D

SPEAK TO YOUR HIRE COMPANY!

Clearly request verbally, followed immediately by a written correspondence, that they DO NOT pay the charge.

This is extremely important - if you don't do this, they will pay it, bill you, and charge you for the administration - then you have no come back/chance of not paying.

Vinci are sheisters though - always have been.

Scamming barsstards.

As Brad says make sure in triplicate that the hire company dont pay the fine. They have your card details and will be alot less hassle for them to just pay it on your behalf.

Cancel all your credit cards or at least call the card company as well to advise them no more money is to be taken by the hire company.

 

spoken to them and sent a letter signed recorded delivery to back it up. Have advised the bank that the payment if taken is fraud also for now

Hang on chaps.
It's very difficult to classify the above as "fraud". In fact it's easier to classify Kev's letter to the bank as libel!
The fact is that Silverstone intended to charge £30 for parking, as evidenced by their website. Silverstone appointed Vinci as their agents to collect that charge and for whatever reason Vinci are now seeking to recover that £30 from Kev with no surcharge, so long as he pays within a fortnight of last Friday.
Personally I wouldn't go anywhere near Silverstone, as I won't pay their ticket prices, but turning up and then labelling a perfectly legitimate charge as fraud is out of order.

The biggest Pirate's here are Silverstone and of course Berni, a GE for what, about £140 + £30 for parking and then shift in the bully boys to clean up. *astrads, at some stage in the future it might be worth going to an F1 race, but many of us will just be locked out on cost, Bas*ards.

Looks like yet another good reason not to go to the British GP / Silverstone!

Yes I reread the OP, and you're correct, i had thought this was a scam. However, seeing as kev was "herded into a field" and nobody saw fit to take any money off him at the gate nor was there any apparent signage advising of a requirement to pay, nor were there ticket machines, then please advise where is the basis of a contract?

I'm not say there was a contract, but calling it fraud is another matter.
I wasn't there, so I can't say that there were signs or no signs, just that Kev didn't see one.
However other people seem to have known how to pay.
I seem to remember a similar situation at Goodwood last year. Wherever it was I know I paid after I worked out what the system was.

For what they are worth, my thoughts;

  I attended the BGP for many years in the 90's. Parking was always free, but in the post along with the entrance tickets came a parking permit, which had to be displayed on the windscreen. The fact that the parking was free was irrelivent, all that the permit showed was that you had bought entrance tickets and had every right to use the car parks for free. Kev did state that not every car had a fixed penalty notice on it. Did these cars, or some of them at least, belong to people who did not go to the race and were only there to steal hubcaps or whatever. A lot of us know from bitter experience that a car park during such an event is an ideal place for skulldugery. If Silverstone still send out parking permits as they used to, and ask that they be displayed then surely they have every right to place a fixed penalty notice on cars not doing so as in theory they have no right to be there.

Sorry but if they intended to charge for parking on a field (ie not a permanent car park with ticket machines etc) then they should clearly take the money off you at the gate as you enter the car park and have up clear signs on the way in of the car parking charges.

Giving out tickets like this afterwards is bang out of order. But £30 for car parking for the day, no chance of me ever going to a GP at Silverstone. As Andy has said ignore it, they will be laughing at those that sh*t themselves and pay but won't follow up those that don't, its just not worth the hassle for them.

A book of tickets costs about £5, say 100 people panic and pay a £30 fine, thats £3000 just for sticking a few tickets out and they are laughing, so they have no need to chase up all the others.

Yes it does state on there site a fee for parking it doesn't tell you what car park this is for out of the many car parks there was. This is a quote from another forum -


There really was no signs anywhere and the 2 boys (early teens) that where parking people up where more amazed at a old honda preludes rear wheels turning than anything else.

I think im not going to pay it and then go from there as there where plenty of car parks and the field i parked in wasnt even close to the circuit.