£90 to park at Lidl !

[#1]

Lidl customers hit with scores of £90 parking fines simply for forgetting to scan their receipts as the budget chain introduces new high-tech system

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5108711/Lidl-shoppers-fined-90-new-parking-system.html?ITO=1...

In Buxton there is a supermarket where you have to enter your car registration into a machine before you park there.

Often a queue of people that can't remember their car reg, especially at store opening time.

We don't use that store anymore.

And they are not fines, they are invoices you can challenge in Court.

I am of the mind if it happened to me, I would fill a large trolley with frozen goods, and just leave it in the store, possibly with a note, whilst I used a small trolley or hand basket  for just a few items.

Our local Aldi has Number Plate recognition, and is situated almost out of town, but close to a few interesting shops, & Dentist !

I will park there, but always buy something I want at Aldi, but at the end of my visit, if I visit local shops, the time difference being whilst I was perusing Aldi !

We always keep our shop receipts, especially food shops, for a period of time, around 3 months.

However, our local Co-op has a massive carpark, with loads of spaces, you get one hour free parking, and it is situated right in the centre of town.

It also has a really good pharmacy, so a visit doesn't necessarily mean you buy anything.

It is situated right next to the train station, with 30 minute travel into Manchester, and is not extortionate to pay the car parking fee for such a visit.

There is also plenty of on street parking, with a 30 minute time limit, perhaps 100 spaces available, on wide roads

[#2]

When supermarkets get stupid about their car parks, the simple answer is to boycott that shop. You've already taken that decision. Some businesses think they can abrogate their customer relations to a third party who is intent on making a profit.

As always, when corporate procedures are wrong, make a formal complaint to prevent them denying there's a problem.

[#3]

So What happens at Lidl if you have a disabled parking badge ?

They cant charge ,, or can they

[#4]

Yeah at my local Morrisons, they used to use a Pay and Display Machine. They would take it off your bill, I think if you spent over £5.

They replaced with a system called ParkingEye, got rid of the machines. So it ANPR's you coming in an out. I prefer the older system as I think "What if this new system didn't ANPR me leaving?", I don't want the hassle of contesting a fine.

I can understand people take advantage when it comes to parking, but then there are people who make a genuine mistake.

[#5]

@Alex

Good point.

Glenridding car park use ANPR cameras and there have been a few complaints about people getting fines despite having a ticket.

Arrived at 8am paid £8 for a days parking and ticket shows expiry time as 9am the same day ?

True it does say pay on leaving rather than arrival but as far as I am concerned I paid for the day.....this is one ticket I will be keeping for several months.

[#6]

Yes I have had experience in parking - not just from parking itself, but working as a student job.

At a pub local to me, fairly recently, opposite the station into Central London.

They installed pay and display machines.

One person came in, concerned she couldn't get a ticket.

Staff said "Don't worry, we only have them to stop people parking all day to go to work. The enforcement company only take action unless we ask them to".

Very nice of them.

But the pub have obviously got the hump of people taking advantage of driving part of the way, leaving your car there for the day and saving lots of £'s from their ticket had they used the train where they lived.

[#7]

While I think of it @gleneagles

Ask for written proof of why you were issued with a ticket. CCTV images and times. Make sure it is written.
Don't tell them why.

Then don't let them fob you off with e-mails, etc. Companies like e-mails in these day and age as it is cheaper for them (although they all use the "Helps saves the planet" excuse).

There is a parking tribunal service in London. Don't know where you live.

But I would get their evidence they can provide and appeal on the basis of yours (the ticket).

Trouble is the parking companies have to deal with people taking advantage, and people like yourself who wasn't. They rely on people who aren't to just pay rather than having the hassle of contesting it.

[#8]

I got issued with a Parking Charge Notice recently and asked why, the response was I had not paid for the parking of my vehicle reg no *****cv. I did say I had paid for 1 hour but only stopped 32mins. They confirmed that I had paid but unbeknowing and inadvertantly I had transposed my reg no to *****vc. I am being charged £100 for this error. So beware.

[#9]

(assuming you are talking off-street on private property = civil courts): They will look VERY stupid in a court if they try and claim that you haven't paid, when they have just confirmed that you HAD paid, but there was simply "a minor administrative error".

If there was an admin error in the OTHER direction, they would be the first to complain.

Tell them to take you to court, make sure you have all the relevant WRITTEN evidence to back this up. 

[#10]

ANPR never worked on my old car which had a crack in the Plate.

[#11]

Think I will invent a digital number plate that displays random numbers at frequent intervals.....that will fool them !

:wink:

[#12]

I've often wondered if you have a passenger that gets out and walks in front of your number plate on the way in and out of a car park with ANPR what would happen?

[#13]

While you have to have a valid number plate showing your registration mark, front and back on your car, I've never seen any legislation which prevents you from having multiple plates with random letters/numbers on your car.

[#14]

Yes it was off street, I have appealed to POPLA which was unsuccessful, I do believe they are not interested in common sense, I have not paid the fine.

However showing my age I mention Eric Morecambe and think Andrew Preview (Morecambe & Wise) with the piano, all the details were in there but not necessarily in the correct order. Think it is pathetic that the company, after sending me a copy of the payment, still insists that I pay.

[#15]

Slightly off topic but is still on topic as it involves supermarket parking :smiley:

My local Morrisons has lowered the parking time from 3 hours to 2. Not that you'd need that long, especially with my sister where going through the supermarket is like an episode of Supermarket Sweep - and costs about the same.

Always worth checking if they have have lowered the limit though where you live.