I was threatened with bailiffs after typing the wrong number on a £5 airport parking fee – it’s a joke
A MOTORIST says he has been threatened with bailiffs after a dispute over a £5 airport parking ticket spiralled completely out of control.
Pravin Kotecha, 66, only mistyped a single digit while inputting his car registration when paying to park at Heathrow Airport.
The pensioner from Thurmaston, Leicestershire, is convinced the £5 online payment – which was for dropping off his wife at the airport in November last year – went through as he got a confirmation email.
He later travelled to India for a month and returned home to find two notices from the firm telling him he had not paid for his short stay.
Mr Kotecha told LeicestershireLive: “I sent an email to them that day, when I realised my small mistake, to explain.
“But they didn’t respond.”
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The motorist accepted the no reply was because it was so close to Christmas so he waited until January 7, but he was met with more silence.
Despite his efforts to contact them to discuss an appeal, he continued to receive letters from parking firm APCOA warning him he would be whacked with a whopping £150 charge.
This later soared to £235.
The letters left Mr Kotecha fuming as he had proof of payment for the initial £5 charge – despite entering the wrong registration.
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To his horror, he then received a letter telling bailiffs had been informed of the debt and would be on their way.
After a blind panic, the 66-year-old managed to speak with the debt collectors and was able to explain that he had been given no opportunity to appeal the initial charge.
Mr Kotecha is now furious that such a company does not appear to have an obvious appeals process.
He slammed: “I wanted to challenge this because it makes you wonder how much these companies are taking advantage of people.”
The saga has led to Mr Kotecha contacting solicitors and he is even considering taking the matter to the small claims court.
He was advised to offer to pay the full fee into an escrow account – a segregated account opened by solicitors to hold cash until the two parties can come to a contractual agreement.
He has put this offer to the debt collectors who he claims are still waiting for a response from APCOA.
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A spokesperson for APCOA told LeicestershireLive: “APCOA understands that keying in an incorrect car registration is an easy error to make and we will take that into consideration.
We have provided the direct contact details of our customer service manager who will be able to resolve the matter.”