[Update. I have now been contacted by Helen Dolphin, who is the owner of people's parking. Gladstones Solicitors/the IPC built the domain and constructed the web site. I have therefore further blogged about this here]
[Update 2. People's Parking's right of reply is here. It appears People's Parking assume The Prankster is referring to them as scammers. This is not the case and this article has now been rewritten to clarify the behaviours The Prankster believes are indicative of a scam. The Prankster apologises if the original article was badly written]
A new entrant to the lucrative 'give me £100 to rate your car park' market has arrived - People's Parking.
A quick check reveals that the domain was registered by one John Davies of Gladstones Solicitors.
Registrant ID: MNT62B55114729
Registrant Name: John Davies
Registrant Organization: Gladstones Solicitors
Registrant Street: 31 Malvern Close
Registrant City: Congleton
Registrant State/Province: Cheshire
Registrant Postal Code: CW12 4PD
Registrant Country: GB
Registrant Phone: +44.7825699622
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: john@gladstonessolicitors.co.uk
John Davies also runs the Independent Parking Committee, an organisation famous for its lax policing of its members and an appeals service which has all the characteristics of a kangaroo court.
Behaviour reported to the Prankster by IPC Members includes
- Charging motorists for stopping at barriers
- Charging motorists for stopping at zebra crossings
- Placing the charge notice over a genuine ticket to obscure it in photographs
- Charging motorists who paid but the machine failed to issue a ticket
- Condoning appalling bad signage
- Charging motorist when tickets peel off in the sun or blow over in the wind
- Charging motorists when they have no contract
- Apparently faking photographs
- Providing false evidence to the appeals service
- Knowingly using an appeals service which they regard as a sham
- Sending out wardens in the middle of the night to target residents parking
- Charging motorists when it is not physically possible to read the signage
- Issuing ghost tickets
- Pursuing motorists to court for hopeless cases which get laughed out of court by judges
The Prankster believes that these types of behaviours are indicative of a scam. Motorists using a car park are entitled to believe it is being fairly managed for the benefit of all; not managed in a way to issue as many charges as possible, legitimate or not. The Prankster therefore believes that it is fair to call operators using these tactics 'scammers'.
Based on this, the liklihood of receiving a charge at a People's Parking car park appears to be a lot higher than one run for the actual benefit of the people. Car parks with the People's Parking award seem to The Prankster to be ones to avoid at any cost. However, even scammers have families which they need to feed, so perhaps The Prankster should not be so harsh. Perhaps a fairer way would be to introduce an addition to the logo so that consumers can make the choice.
Based on this, the liklihood of receiving a charge at a People's Parking car park appears to be a lot higher than one run for the actual benefit of the people. Car parks with the People's Parking award seem to The Prankster to be ones to avoid at any cost. However, even scammers have families which they need to feed, so perhaps The Prankster should not be so harsh. Perhaps a fairer way would be to introduce an addition to the logo so that consumers can make the choice.
The Prankster suggests an alteration to the logo, which People's Parking can use at no charge, in those particular car parks which deserve it.
Happy Parking
The Parking Prankster
Weasel's Parking
ReplyDeleteMaking Scamming Easy!
(Weasels can use this alternative wording for a modest 50% of Pranky's advertised price)
To provide greater clarity, as my old mate Trouserfire would say, I have re-written my reply,
DeleteWeasel's Parking
Making Scamming Easy!
(Business owners who associate with parking weasels can use this alternative wording for a modest 40% of Pranky's advertised price, but only if they agree to use it within 14 days).
99% of IPC members would be disallowed based on the application criteria
ReplyDeleteIf you go to their webpage it claims there aim is to drive up standards in the parking industry, maybe after setting up the IPC he is trying to counter all the negative impact that has had (while nicking the BPA's tagline!)
ReplyDeleteI suppose in their own twisted way they do sort of drive up standards by tempting the worst parking weasels away from the BPA. We'll call them the Yellow-Bellied Weasels. The BPA are then left with, we can't really say better weasels but maybe slightly less dastardly weasels. Let's call them the Least Weasels.
ReplyDeleteAnd we should always choose the lesser of two weasels.
DeleteIs that the same Helen Dolphin who is connected to Disabled Motoring UK?
ReplyDeleteThe same person, but she no longer works for DM UK
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHere is a bit more about her "leaving". When asked why she was leaving she replied - "How long do you have?
ReplyDeleteI assume her consultancy is involved in driving up standards.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leaving-dmuk-helen-dolphin-mbe
It's always been a puzzle to me why the DMUK logo appears on so many of these scammer's websites, suggesting some sort of approval of their disgusting practices. Is there published criteria for use of the DMUK logo or has rather a lot of money been changing hands here?
ReplyDeleteDMUK used to have an arrangement with UKCPS whereby if a motorist did not appeal their fake fine but paid up, then they would get a discount off their DMUK membership.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the first thing people do when they get the sack? They create their own consultancy.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world, Helen Dolphin Consultancy - and welcome to the world, paper company People's Parking Limited.