It is the problem we have ourselves caused by letting these modern highwaymen (should it be carparkmen) get away with it. A possible case for people power All that can be done is educate everyone possible that these companies can be fought as it was not my first encounter with them although these other encounters were in the days when they could only go after the driver which of course they did not know. Biggest culprit is the DVLA who seem immune to the Data protection Act and are giving out peoples names and addresses to what are in effect private individuals without permission

Does anyone know why these companies do not seem to operate in France and Belgium ?

Thanks Silverfox. That would be good and am sure my family is not the only one caught out by this scheme in Morrison's Crawley - Reigate (Ex Safeways) has also had its hours reduced to two from three. Also with regard to Reigate the original planning stated that evening parking was free but signs now say limited to two hours when store is open so they Parking Eye which run the car park seem to have little regard for the planning authority or visitors to the town. I not seen these companies operating in Belgium or France even when super / hyper markets are in the middle of cities so how did they get such a hold here... money crossing palms ?

Worked OK as luckily decided to go through the various appeals process and did not rely on an incompetent or couldn't care less Morrison's manager (edited) doing the right thing Why would ECP try to defend themselves when they know full well they are in this scheme to entrap people by using deception that is easy to prove i.e. changing hours, putting ticket machines out of use, poor signage in places where it cannot be easily seen. The inaction of the Morrisons with regard (little regard) for their customers shows that in spite of them saying to the contrary these supermarkets do get a commission from the PPC's boosting there profits so it is also not in their interests not to cancel these invoices

Thanks for the advice and this is by way of an update to let you know how it all went in case it helps another reader First step was to write to Morrison's store manager 15th March with proof of purchases (till receipts) and explain why the signage was so easily missed. Whilst waiting for the reply (that never came) put in an appeal to ECP just in case Morrison's refused to cancel it having first visited the store to take a number of photographs of signage etc. Needless to say the store manager did not reply and then received (surprise, surprise) ECP's refusal of appeal and a demand for £85.00. Using the number supplied I put in an appeal to POPLA on the 15th May using the code ECP had supplied together with a further letter to the Morrison's store manager this time sent by recorded delivery. Morrison's received the letter on the 17th and signature was "Natalie". The Appeal submitted to POPLA had copies of correspondence to Morrison's and photographs showing detail where signage failed and in addition a photo of signage in a rival (and more honest) supermarket where signage was clear and in a prominent position so it could not be easily overlooked POPLA appeal came through today as a Win for me, ECP coming in second . It transpires they had not even put in a defence. To date no reply has been received from Morrison's to either letter, not even a basic acknowledgement. Whilst I am pleased with the result I am not happy over the waste of my time (I am self employed and extremely busy) writing letters filling in the appeals and having to make a special trip to visit and photograph the car cark so a further letter will be going to Morrison's HQ. The whole setup seems very dodgy with a hint of blackmail coming from ECP in the appeal refusal letter. They had in this stated that I now owe them £85.00 and then in "POPLA appeal paragraph stated that if I go to POPLA then the option to pay the lower amount will go and I will have to pay £85.00 if I lose at this stage. They also state that this is the only appeal stage they recognise and that they have not signed up to any other options. With the lack of replies and trouble caused should I now take this further i.e. Trading Standards, The Planning Authority, Local and National Press

Yep BPC just an owners club made up of themselves and similar Hopefully the till receipts have not been binned but the invoice was the first we knew of it - will certainly be complaining to the store manager. Will send appeal for good measure and copy letter to Morrison's manager to them. No way am I going to say who was driving and am a little surprised they do not include this in the photograph. When I received one courtesy of another family member it showed the whole front of the car and driver although very blurry but this the infamous MET in the days when ignore was always the best option I drive quite often on the continent mainly France and Belgium and none of their Superstore carparks have these "management" companies - guess any camera would be ripped out of the ground by angry shoppers so how on earth did they manage to get such a grip here.

Answer found when hovering over the "ignore" word - yes was going to write to the manager of the store with it cc'd to the head office. It almost feels like entrapment as by adding a restaurant to the store it encourages people to stay longer.

It seems my car overstayed in a free car at Morrisons and now have a "Parking Charge Notice" (PCN) yes this is what is called even though I am fully aware it is nothing more than a speculative invoice. Does this invalidate it if indeed it could be classed as valid in the first place The driver and party visited to do weekly shop - had a tea in the stores restaurant on the way in, then did the shop then decided to have a meal at the restaurant to save cooking dinner when they got back home. They had not realised that the time allowed had recently been reduced to 2 hours so by the time they exited they had been in the free carpark owned by Morrisons for nearly 3 hours. It is Euro Car Parks with a date of issue of the 27th Feb however they do give a from date of the 7th March.. .. it has only just arrived today (11th) In the past on the rare occasions I have received these I have just ignored the threratograms but I gather law may have changed. I was not the driver as what in my workshop with a client and I do not see why I should name the person who was driving - all the photos show is the number plate. The vehicle is insured for several drivers Looking on Google I can see a poster stating that the hours have been reduced to two hours but it is not in a position where it would be seen easily if driver is concentrating on the road ahead (as he or she should be) - if you need to look it is Morrisons store, and car park entrance is in Pegler way, Crawley West Sussex Advice please of how best to tackle this - i.e. play their game and get an appeal refusal and give them the cost of the POPLA route or just ignore them

How long has your son had the car. Some of these companies are definitely are not using the DVLA and are using a database of car purchasers so it could be a previous owner. Have personal experience of this as they (MET and a couple of others) have sent me their spurious invoices for a car we brought one of our offspring that has never been registered to me. Have tried to get them to take me to court for not paying the invoices but they have refused to co-operate on this every time. They have also been reported to the IC

Thanks DX Have followed the instructions I thought this would be the best way to get Vodafone's attention as have experience of their incompetence before when I attempted to switch from a PAYG to contract. To explain for the benefit of others Last year when I did this they emailed me to say the phone had been delivered to my local store and was ready for collection. On visiting the store there was no phone so got in touch with there office and they assured me the phone had been delivered to the store. Again a vist to the store who spent some time going through their modest store room to check it wasn't hiding and sure enough it was not there. The same proceedure of checking with Vodafone and visting the store continued for aweek or so until I got so fed up that I cancelled the order. A month after cancelling the order I found my bank account had starting being debited for the phone I had never received and it took numerous phone calls to find the right department to have my money (two months worth) refunded. I am sure a lot of people have a troublefree time with Vodafone but as you can see from the above and the many other postings if you have a problem sorting it out is going to be very problematic Chris

My son has finished his contract and paid his final bill with Vodafone and has his final statement (dated 20/11/12) which shows the account as a total owing of £0.00 that is nothing/nowt/zero/nothing etc.etc. outstanding. It therefore came as a complete surprise to receive a letter from fpc debt collection services (also dated 20/11/12) chasing a debt of £41.47 Whilst I realise that debt collectors are just individuals who just write threatening letters the matter clearly needs to be sorted out but here is where the problem lies - getting touch with the right Vodafone department to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. Suggestions welcome Chris

Thanks Elsa They did not phone back so will write to Churchill Chris

We are in the process of trying to sort out a mess our daughter has got into with her car insurance. She is with Churchill and it seems she missed a DD payment last year but they never notified her and it is only when she went to renew that she was told it had been sold to a DCA, Allied International. So far they have not written to her however my wife has tried to phone them but they never seem to be there Is there a way to switch it back to the Insurers Churchill for the original amount as I suspect they will try to add rip off charges Chris