First Parking Reviews 209

SCUMBAG, deceitful, immoral, fraudulent criminal organisation that hides behind their emails and automated pay…how they have been allowed to penetrate institutes like the NHS, universities and colleges is outrageous and merely showcases the level of corruption from the so-called ELITE who pretend to run the country; profiteering at its UGLIEST!!!

I see a lot of people are complaining about this company being dishonest or unreasonable. Of course they are - they are a Private Parking company. PPCs survive on being threatening and misrepresenting the lawful process. Here are some tips for dealing with and understanding the process:

- Your appeal to First Parking - this will almost always be refused, even if you have a solid case. Don't be put off if they refuse your appeal, as this stage of the process is completely meaningless. It's your next appeal - to POPLA - that mas some meaning

- When First Parking refuse your appeal, they will give you a reference number to make an appeal to POPLA, which is the regulatory organisation for private parking. Make an appeal on the POPLA website, stating your grounds for appeal clearly. There will usually be legal issues with the paperwork provided by First Parking. It is worth checking some of the main internet boards dedicated to challenging Private Parking invoices, but if you don't want to do this just submit the appeal to POPLA in your own words. You have nothing to lose in appealing to POPLA, the supposed fine will stay the same

- After the POPLA appeal. If you have a genuine case, it is likely that POPLA will uphold your appeal and demand that First Parking cancel their invoice. Even if they don't, you can still refuse to pay if you are happy to tough out the threatening letters

- Not paying. In order for you to me legally liable for this payment, or to have any credit damage, all of these things would need to happen:
a) They would need to take you to small claims court (they don't like to do this as it's a risk for them)
b) They would need to win (very unlikely, as it is a case of contract law, which they are unlikely to have a solid basis for)
c) You would then need to still refuse to pay

First parking will misrepresent this process all the way. They will try to make you believe that their "fine" is going up, that they will take you to court, and that your credit record will be damaged. This is NOT TRUE. This can only happen IF they take you to court, IF they win and IF you still don't pay. Obviously this is very unlikely to happen, and you would always have the chance to pay it before any damage.

They will pass it on to a "debt collector", even though there is no actual debt. Their debt collector will send threatening letters, but ultimately they have no power at all, as there is no debt and if there were one, the debt would be to First Parking not to the "debt collector". If you like, you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman that you are being pursued for an unproven debt and that they are misrepresenting the legal process. This usually scares the "debt collector" who will pass it back to First Parking, who will realise you are not easy prey and will finally leave you alone.

So to sum up:
- Make your appeal to First Parking although expect it to be refused
- Make your appeal to POPLA which will likely be upheld
- If it is not upheld by POPLA, ignore the threatening letters from First Parking
- When you receive threatening letters from a supposed debt collector, report them to the Financial Ombudsman
- Eventually they will leave you alone
- Only respond to actual Small Claims Court papers. The chances of this happening are so small as to be practically impossible
- Private parking companies cannot legally issue fines, only government bodies can
- Private companies work on contract law, which is complex, and which they will usually have made some mistakes on
- Whatever they tell you (and they will lie about this), you cannot get credit damage unless they take you to court, you lose and then you still refuse to pay.

First thing i knew about a fine was when I got a letter from DCBL saying I had a £150 fine. No previous contact. I actually tried to pay but the machine was broken

Luckily I took a video of me trying to pay, and contacted FP via email before DCBL, who come across as aggressive with the letter. I mailed FP explaining why I didn't pay and directed them to my video, and their own meter camera, so they could see me trying to pay.

They were very fair with their reply, confirmed there was a meter fault and canceled the fine. If you're genuine and couldn't pay, take a vid and send them it. They directed me to the app if it happens again.

Cant really argue with that. My only gripe is the huge fee, and the aggressive DCBL letter that is unpleasant and stressful to receive. Especially when they're not actually bailiffs.

They have literally give me a ticket when I'm parking on my drive in front of my university house. It's a warning ticket so there's no way of me contacting them and letting the know until i get a ticket number.

Had a ticket today for my Phev parked in an electric car bay. A simple free app called Vehicle Smart would have told them it's a hybrid. Or a basic knowledge of cars?

Just had a parking bailiff fine, no previous communication, letters, telephone call nothing about a parking fine had been enforced. There is no signage at Centenary Quay Limited to show you must pay for parking or hours of service. They do not have a customer service team you can contact. Disgusting service and scam merchants. BEWARE !!!

Thieving dishonest company
We got a £150 fine for parking at centenary quay's under Mettricks -Woolston-Southampton
It was after hours- No signs- no pay point
No letter to our address to say we had a fine - so we could dispute or get an early payment reduction. Naturally you cant call them or the bailiff- Direct Collections. Obviously they make more money by not sending you a letter of notification as they make more money putting the Debt collection bailiffs on you and so no early payment reduction. How can they impose such a high fine- its disgusting- Karma coming your companies way as this is daylight robbery.

do not pay always appeal the NHS should not be employing these scumbags to rob people who need to visit an hospital they need closing down now

There isn't any button on their website despite them saying you can do online pay and there's no way to contact them. Total scam.

I dont know who to be more angry at, this company or the NHS for choosing such an awful parking company to work with. I am a doctor working between multiple busy mental health hospitals and the day I was on-call I made a clear sign in the window that I am the doctor for the hospital and currently on shift. I also do have a valid parking permit. Despite this they still issued a parking ticket. My hospital had informed me that they would be disputing all the parking tickets that our staff received as it was unfair. Despite this the company continued to issue me warning letters increasing the price every time. In the end I paid the increased amount with the baliff warning letter as I did not want any threats of being taken to court. How awful to treat NHS staff this way despite clear evidence of my employment to that particular Trust. Another reason why NHS staff in this country do not receive the respect they deserve.

This company operates at Southend Hospital Essex, my daughter rushed to the hospital on Saturday morning 18th June as my son had been admitted with suspected stroke/bleed on the brain. The ticket was out of order so she just rushed in. Upon leaving several hours later she had been issued with a ticket. We appealed and explained the situation, the response we got was "we should have found another machine". What scumbags, so uncaring, us not knowing what was happening. I only hope these scumbags never have any distressing news like this.

Parking fine for expired parking ticket in Newcastle city centre busy multi storey - £25

First Parking fine for expired ticket in a field that's 80% empty in Lancaster - £45

Scum bags charging excessive amounts on private land simply because they can. I was in the wrong for an expired ticket (not disputing that) but the amount charged is just offensive. Absolute scum bag organisation just mugging people in broad daylight.

Awfull company robbing all the residents of money who are legal parked no human to speak to

I can't wait for our uni (Keele) to get rid of First Parking because so many students have issues... I have a day where I have 6hrs of back to back lectures with no breaks meaning I can't move my car after reaching the 4hr maximum booking slot (which is another issue all in itself). There's another car park run by them on the other end of campus which if I moved would make me almost 20 minutes late for my lecture... I thought if I paid for the 2 last hours I needed anyways without moving my car, they'd have mercy, I've done it once or twice before but at a different time, this time I got fooled, got back to my wonderful £40 fine (subject to increase). Tried to appeal it and good met with an attitude acting as if I was an idiot and I was try to mug them over, when I'm just trying to work for my degree... now I have to rely on money from my parents to pay it off because I don't have a great enough income to do it myself...

Minimal signage, with a hefty fee incurred for not paying.

Totally unprofessional!
I parked in a bay that had no signs/road markings for a hospital appointment & received a ticket. I appealed such ticket with evidential photographs but didn’t hear anything until I got a letter from their debt collector who informs me that they rejected my appeal… without even telling me so how’s this legal??
You cannot speak to anyone within your company so have to rely on email but again your customer service team are not very helpful at this either.
The stress you cause is totally uncalled for

Do not park at Aston Uni car parks managed by them! Bunch of thieves

What a company!!! Effectively taking an NHS nurse to court for a pcn despite having a permit to park at the hospital. All evidence provided showed a PCN on windscreen that was then removed again after photo taken. Dcbl then get involved and add 80/100 quid extra then lie claiming they have made and admin error and reduce it by 20 quid. Dont reply to the evidence provided ( ie permit and proof of payments made) then issue court proceedings in the hope they can then win by default ( keeper not defending). Add interest for the period they took to reply ( two years) to letter before claim. Taking a Nurse all the way to court which is gonna cost them more than they will actually win if they do win . They even have to pay more out before the hearing WHY!!!

During the pandemic they were issuing tickets to NHS staff for non payment despite the fact the government and ordered free parking at all NHS hospital during lockdown Same people probably out clapping for NHS during pandemic!!!!!!!!!.

Poor accessibility, dismissive communications, contradictory information provided. This company's primary function is to act as a additional tax to underpaid public sector workers parking at their place of work. I was reassured that my car was parked in an acceptable location to then find a ticket when I returned. If you apply for an independent appeal you are then unable to apply for a reduced ticket rate in a clear attempt to bully plaintiffs into paying without independent, unbiased review.

All the reviews seem accurate, a total bunch of w**k**s, who take no responsibility, or give anyone the chance to discuss First Parking policy of fleecing whoever happens across their path.
Clearly these reviews are just rant outlets for their victims, because First Parking just continue to rob people with explanation or justification