Complaining to the highest level....

Heliospherez · 7 Sep 2008 at 20:30

To cut a long story short.....

I have complained twice to a company manager about the services I have received in a specific car park (after my car was damaged in a long stay compound). Both in person - and by phone.

How can I get the address or a contact number of who is really in charge.

And the company is - McCauslands Car Parks (in Northern Ireland).

mangobreeder · 7 Sep 2008 at 20:32

dont bother take them to the small cliams court,

in my experience smaller firms will just ignore your complaint as they are nto regulated.

Muffin` · 7 Sep 2008 at 20:34

Well what caused the damadge?

JBuk · 7 Sep 2008 at 20:34

no idea but a guy I work with left his car at a long stay in London, when he came back his car had a few more hundred miles on the clock and had the remains if what he thinks was a strawberry milkshake in the passenger footwell :/

the management denied any knowledge so theres not a lot he can do

fini · 7 Sep 2008 at 20:36

You're unlikely to be able to go down a legal route as the car-park probably had a clear notice removing all liability on their part for damage etc.

You should be able to find the head-honcho so to speak through companies house though they're closed at the moment (someone explain to me why a website is closed on Sundays??).

Heliospherez · 7 Sep 2008 at 20:49

On July 26th - The front bumper of my car was hit in their car parking facility by something with the exact colour of their buses (bright yellow) - The bumper had paint and scratches scored off it.

My car was left in bay 1 for me to pick up (of approx 70 bays) - just where the pick-up buses turn full circle (with my front bumper in their turning circle)

I was told upon phoning them the following morning - that their CCTV doesn't cover that area, that I could bring the car down for inspection (if I phoned them before my recent holiday), or book it in again for this holiday, so their mechanics/garage could fix any issues and a parking charge would be waivered. It's £44 to book on the day (£34 on the internet).

When I went to pick my car up today, nothing had been fixed, the original scratches were still there, and gave me a 'reduced' booking price of £34 - even though this is the price I would have booked it in at -nothing fixed from my original damage, no free parking, no explanation

Tefal · 7 Sep 2008 at 20:55

there a big sign saying "any cars parked here are done so atc your own risk we take no responsibility for damage or theft?"

Heliospherez · 7 Sep 2008 at 21:04

Thats all very well, but at the end of the day - If their customer service is rubbish - their business will undoutably fail.

And at the end of the day, they are supposed to be the best - of 8 long stay car parks there - so you would expect their Customer service to be resonable. They are at least £10 more per week than all the competition. And I have used them more than 20 times over the last 10 years. The last thing I expected was my motor to get hit in a car park where someone else parks it.

If I gave you the whole run down of my phone calls to them and the complete picture of what was discussed, you would understand why it's a big issue for me.

misterPK · 8 Sep 2008 at 10:22

Tefal said:
there a big sign saying "any cars parked here are done so atc your own risk we take no responsibility for damage or theft?"

I'm fairly sure in the one module of contract law I took we were told that there are precedents where this can be ignored and that the company do have a duty of care. The example we were given was leaving your coat in a cloakroom at a club and it getting lost or damaged, but that was a student friendly example but I think its the same.

PK!

semi-pro waster · 8 Sep 2008 at 10:39

misterPK said:
I'm fairly sure in the one module of contract law I took we were told that there are precedents where this can be ignored and that the company do have a duty of care. The example we were given was leaving your coat in a cloakroom at a club and it getting lost or damaged, but that was a student friendly example but I think its the same.

PK!

You can't derogate out of personal harm caused by your negligence e.g. a sign saying "you use the car park at your own risk" and the person gets injured because your barrier is so poorly maintained it drops on them then your disclaimer won't be worth the paper it is written on. If you have created a contract with a company such as in your example for them to take care of your property then you can reasonably expect them to do their job or provide suitable compensation although harm to property isn't quite the same as actual bodily harm and is rightly regarded as less serious.

Most of the time the signs have more to do with discouraging claims rather than creating a legally binding disclaimer for harm.