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Friday 9 September 2016

Excel Parking get Gladstoned...by BW Legal. Peel Centre machine failure means no liability

Claim no. C8DP11F9 – Excel v Mrs S – 09/09/2016, Oldham Court

Excel Parking got Gladstoned** today at Oldham Court by BW Legal

Mrs S. parked at the Peel Centre, paid the correct tariff, and the machine issued a ticket showing ‘QQ’ in the registration number field.

The ‘witness statement’ from Mr Majid, of BW Legal, suggested that she had deliberately typed QQ into the machine – one of many ridiculous assertions. A witness statement is meant to be a statement of truth, with facts in the knowlege of the witness. It should not contain fatuous accurations made up by the witness with no basis in fact. Mr Madjid, who is apparently a tutor with the Open University, should surely know better.

Mrs S. made a preliminary application for this statement to be excluded, but the DJ didn’t go with that. Mr Majid didn’t appear in person, but a freelance advocate turned up.

Mrs S. had a defence prepared by Bargepole which relied on the fact that she had made reasonable endeavours to comply with the contractual terms, and if there was a malfunction between the P&D machine and Excel’s systems, she couldn’t be held liable for that. Mrs S. made the point that if the ANPR was linked to the P&D, it would be impossible for anything other than a valid registration number to be printed on the ticket.

The judge took note and dismissed the claim. 

Excel have therefore been well and truly Gladstoned, with BW Legals costs at least £154, Mr Majids attempt at a witness statement an estimated £200-£300, the advocates fees another £200-£300, and court fees of £50.

Only £100 of these charges would have been recoverable had they won, leaving Excel impressively out of pocket.

Prankster Note

The machines Excel use at the Peel Centre and elsewhere seem particularly prone to failure, and The Prankster's postbag has been inundated with complaints that charges have been issued even when a valid ticket has been purchased.

Excel and the Peel Centre turn a blind eye to these failures, refusing to cancel charges even when CCTV evidence from nearby shops shows a ticket was purchased.

The machines used by Excel have a number of known faults which cause these problems and The Prankster suggests that all such instances are robustly defended and that complaints are made to the Peel Centre, the IPC and the DVLA.

Happy Parking

The Parking Prankster


**Gladstoned

Enticed to file a claim by a greedy or incompetent solicitor which has little or no prospect of hope.

Enticed into filing a claim where the amount awarded would be dwarfed by the legal fees you will have to pay out, even if you win

Receiving a cobbled together witness statement from your solicitor full of inaccuracies, half truths, misrepresentations of the truth and inaccuracies, which scupper your claim.

Getting your claim thrown out without the defence needing to speak

Any or all of the above

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