A man has vowed to never return to Cornwall after receiving a 'ridiculous' parking fine. Michael Davies, who is from Crediton in Devon, claims that he has been falsely accused of not paying for parking whilst visiting St Michael's Mount with his neighbour.
Mr Davies parked in Marazion before heading to the beautiful tourist attraction, where he spent three to four hours before returning to his car and paying £5 for his stay in cash at the parking machine, Cornwall Live reports. Before heading back to the car, Mr Davies, who is over 70, made sure that the machine said that it had 'accepted' his payment, which he claims it did.
A few weeks after visiting Cornwall, Mr Davies received a letter from Initial Parking, the parking company which operates the Marazion car park. The letter informed Mr Davies that he had not fully paid for his stay, as the parking company claimed he had paid £1 via contactless card (the fee for an hour's stay) before remaining at the site for another two hours and 58 minutes.
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Mr Davies has also been told he has to pay a fine, something which he says is not valid because he paid for his parking in cash. He has since been shown by Initial Parking that a £1 payment was made by contactless card for a car matching his registration number.
Insisting a mistake has been made, Mr Davies has appealed the fine. Speaking to our sister site Cornwall Live, Mr Davies said: "It's extortionate.
"I went to Marazion with my neighbour as part of a break to Cornwall after my father died. We parked up, went to the castle, and when we got back my neighbour put the money in the machine.
"He got the ticket and the machine said it was approved. When I got back to Crediton, I had a letter saying I'd been fined.
"There's no form of redress, I feel. They make a decision, you can't speak to anyone, you feel as though you're being harassed and you feel like you have no redress.
"There's no one to negotiate with. I don't want to pay this because it's extortionate and they're not being fair."
As Initial Parking rejected his appeal, Mr Davies said he then sent a £10 payment without prejudice, on legal advice. His payment was rejected and his fine was then passed on to i-Debt, a collection company; altogether, Mr Davies now owes £170, which will be escalated again to £235 if it goes to court.
Branding the fine 'ridiculous', Mr Davies said that the stress of being threatened with court action has taken a toll on his health. He said: "I had a brain injury and a stroke recently.
"It's all just getting to me and making me unwell. I'll never come to Cornwall ever again. I've worked all my life, I can't afford to give money away like this to people lining their pockets. It's daylight robbery."
An Initial Parking spokesperson said: "Having checked our payment system we can confirm that Mr Davies made payment of £1.00, which as per the advertised tariff purchases 1 hour parking time but stayed an additional 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 28 seconds without payment.
"As stated on our, very large, BPA approved signs, you can pay for parking time via pay and display machine, via phone or via app. It remains the motorist’s responsibility to ensure that sufficient parking time is paid.
"To assist you with payment there is a very large sign next to machines detailing how to pay. It is down to you as the motorist to make payment for your appropriate parking time - i.e. time you have been on site.
"As Mr. Davies paid via contactless/card payment, he should be able to provide the payment transaction from the date in question that would demonstrate the amount paid, which in this instance was £1.00."
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