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Parking Ticket at Asda - Advice please.

Dear Lifers,
My son parked his car at ASDA Swanley popped in and bought something at 9.48 am. He then went home, he had to pick his brother up in Swanley at 8pm the same day. So he drove back, parked up , went in and bought some milk, met is brother in the car park and came home.

We have received a penalty notice saying that he over stayed his parking allowance (3 hours). The parking charge notice shows 2 pictures, one has he entered at 9.48am and one when after he had been back to pick his brother up at 8.12pm. Obviously there was some sort of fault with the camera, because he simply was not at bloody ASDA of nearly 12 hours on a Friday!!!

We are going to appeal, so if anyone has any advice it will be grateful received.

Thanks in advance
Greenie.
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Comments

  • Give them your receipts
  • Was he in two different parking spots? Or does the CCTV not show that?
  • No personal experience of this.....but are you able to tell that they are (presumably) taken in 2 different parking bays?

  • cafc999 said:

    Give them your receipts

    If only he had them... but its not about shopping there, its about the length of time he was parked there, which he wasn't!!
  • Was he in two different parking spots? Or does the CCTV not show that?

    The pix are taken by exit cameras, I was thinking about asking for CCTV showing him parked in the same spot all day, if they can find the footage (they won't) then I will pay. Remember he was in the car park twice so parked in two different spots. But they say he was there all day. Idiots.
  • Probably an attempted scam by the Company that manages the parking for ASDA.

    Explain the position in writing and tell them that there should be photographic evidence of him leaving the car park in the morning and entering in the evening and give them the relevant time frames. Explain that as they can locate the two photographs that they have then they should be able to locate the other two as well.

    It is a shame he doesn't have his receipts as additional evidence of two separate purchases which would reasonably be interpreted as two separate trips.
  • Therefore just seems that they have missed the initial exit on the camera. If you can give them an estimate of the first exit time I would have thought that this should be quickly resolved.

  • It seems like he has been pictured entering the car park at one time (09:48) and leaving the car park at 20:00 the same day? My advice is based on this - so if I have got it wrong, please accept my apology.

    I can't remember if you have to have a ticket to park there. But, assuming you do, did he buy one each time? Or, do you simply get three hours free?

    Asda are saying it is against their rules to park for a period in excess of three hours. Your son did not do this, so he should have no reason to pay a fine. Their "proof" that he parked for over ten hours is, in fact nothing of the sort. It is only proof that he entered the car park at one time and left it at another time - both of which facts you are not disputing. You can also add another couple of facts, ie that he left some time around 10:00 and re-entered some time (a few minutes, perhaps) before 20:00. None of Asda's facts are in dispute. But their conclusion (that he stayed there for over ten hours) is, of course, nonsense.

    1. Can your son prove his car was anywhere else during this ten hour gap? Does he have receipts of stuff he bought during the day? Did he get fuel somewhere?
    2. Does he have the receipts for the purchases he made at Asda on the two (morning and evening) times he was there?

    These would provide evidence to explain the facts around your son's situation.

    I would think that, if you spelled out the whole set of facts, using any corroborating evidence (as above), they would not have a leg to stand on.
  • edited May 2015
    Go to the store in question and ask to speak to the customer service manager.

    If you frame this as a complaint, you will probably be given a voucher or some other token of goodwill to keep you happy.

    These car parks and the fines are usually managed by a third party so the store will likely be unaware that a ticket has been issued so the customer service manager will likely sympathise with your situation since they are unlikely to benefit from the fine and will probably take the opportunity to turn a complaint into a happy customer, if they're actually any good at their job.

    At the very least, if the customer service manager is unusually difficult, demand they use the in-store CCTV to corroborate your story.

    Also, private parking fines are actually fairly hard to enforce. If you haven't reached a resolution in store, ensure you reply to the fine with your appeal and reasons and any evidence you could have, including demanding they provide hard evidence that the car had not left the car park during that time (it is very easy for the camera to miss plates if you're blocked by a high-sided vehicle or the car in front/behind is very close to you). It is unlikely they will pursue it in a court because 90% of fine collection is intimidation and a legal exercise will be pointless, especially if you threaten to go to the press and give the store bad publicity.

    Oh, and good luck mate :smile:
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  • The advice stays the same as it was last time we discussed this except that the guy from Chelmsford with his case against Parking Eye lost his appeal and is now taking the matter to the Supreme Court. So there is no definitive answer until they rule on the matter.

    BUT things to do: complain direct to Asda, they might lean on the parking contractor; and tell the parking contractor that you are appealing and if they decline your appeal make sure that you get a POPLA code number should you wish to appeal to them. (It may be worthwhile letting them know beforehand that you'll be demanding one.)
    Read this parking-prankster.com/popla-referrals.html and this popla.org.uk/default.htm and, maybe, this http://www.pepipoo.com/
  • edited May 2015
    I had a problem with ASDA when parking there at Barnsley the season before last. I wrote to ASDA stating that I would make it my duty to make as sure as possible that I and all of my family and as many friends as possible never spent another penny (lol) in ASDA ever again .. I also wrote to the company who actually run the car park for ASDA, this varies from store to store.
    With my letter, I enclosed that till receipt from the day in question (I has spent about a tenner in the Barnsley store) and a few more from around the same time albeit from ASDA stores in Grimsby and Lincoln, not Barnsley .. the ticket was waived .. so good luck

    EDIT: A tip .. Keep any letters and phone calls as 'friendly' and business like as possible, don't make it personal. After all, as 'the mafia' always say: 'It's only business'
  • Thank you one and all for the advice. As usual the CL family delivers.
    Its not really the money its just the principal.

    Cheers
  • Unless they have a rule about no return for x hours I'm sure they will be able to confirm when he left and returned and will accept their error on appeal. You might like to check that the total time parked there is less than the three hours as they might limit to 3 hours in any 24 hour period.

    You need to remember that the reason supermarkets provide free parking, in areas where parking can be expensive, is so that customers buying a lot of groceries are able to so conveniently with the benefit of being able to drive in, load their car up, and drive out. In areas where people use the car park for an unnecessary period of time (unnecessary for a supermarket shop) customers that will spend a lot of money might drive in, fail to find a space, and drive out again and go to the next supermarket down the road. For this reason there is significant motivation to 'punish' those that use those free parking spaces for something else.

    I wouldn't be surprised to discover that it is their standard process to check the CCTV footage for a couple of hours in the morning and another couple of hours in the evening. It would be cheaper for them to send out tickets to all those that come in early and go out late and wait for appeals than it would be to check twelve hours of footage to check that someone didn't come in, go out then come in again before going out, again. The other benefit of this type of process is that it will get around that they do send out tickets and that would discourage others from parking there all day. I suspect that having free spaces for shoppers is much more, financially, beneficial than charging £50 a day for parking.
  • I had exactly the same issue with a Car Park in Eltham a couple of years ago. They initially refused the appeal and put the fine up!

    Write to the company explaining what has happened and request a copy of the CCTV for the day as you will then be able to prove your point. As soon as I requested the CCTV they dropped the case without further question. The Newshopper offered to take it up for me if I didn't get anywhere, if you have issues might be worth contacting your local paper as well.
  • Greenie said:

    Thank you one and all for the advice. As usual the CL family delivers.
    Its not really the money its just the principal.

    Cheers

    In that case, my invoice is in the post...
  • I hate supermarket car parks, I hate the car park at the Glades in Bromley. Bluewater is OK, as is Lidl in Lee High Road. The width of the spaces are so small you do your back getting in and out, and adjacent parkers dent your paintwork.
    I also don't understand why drivers don't back in to the parking spaces rather than backing out of them.
    Avoid avoid avoid I say, walk, bus or bike it to the shops if possible. Supermarkets really are horrible places, even the Waitrose at Beckenham Junction and the Savacentre at Sydenham.
    As for the parking ticket, charge them for the admin you have to do, or mock up a form they have to fill in and return to you before you act, including a demand to know the serial number of each individual piece of equipment they use in the whole malarkey, say that without getting that information within seven days you cant proceed.
  • Ignore it. Unless you tell them who was parking the car, they can't go after anyone.

    They'll send a few letters and then go away. I've had this a few times. It's a different matter if it's a council ticket, these third party companies have no power.
  • Thanks again Lifers.
    An appeal has been lodged drawing on much of the info given here.
    Watch this space.

    Its great how we all get on when politics are not involved..........!

    Much love x
  • seth plum said:

    I hate supermarket car parks, I hate the car park at the Glades in Bromley. Bluewater is OK, as is Lidl in Lee High Road. The width of the spaces are so small you do your back getting in and out, and adjacent parkers dent your paintwork.
    I also don't understand why drivers don't back in to the parking spaces rather than backing out of them.
    Avoid avoid avoid I say, walk, bus or bike it to the shops if possible. Supermarkets really are horrible places, even the Waitrose at Beckenham Junction and the Savacentre at Sydenham.
    As for the parking ticket, charge them for the admin you have to do, or mock up a form they have to fill in and return to you before you act, including a demand to know the serial number of each individual piece of equipment they use in the whole malarkey, say that without getting that information within seven days you cant proceed.

    When the spaces are as small as you say it is easier to load your boot if it sticking out of the space, opposed to carrying all your shopping between two cars parked close together.
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  • No problem dude. I'd also repeat my recommendation of having a word with the customer service manager. No doubt if you or your son are regular shoppers there, you will at least be able to show a card statement with all your Asda purchases on it showing you're a regular customer and they will probably make a gesture of goodwill.
  • Contact Watchdog. They love this sort of thing.
  • Fiiish said:

    No problem dude. I'd also repeat my recommendation of having a word with the customer service manager. No doubt if you or your son are regular shoppers there, you will at least be able to show a card statement with all your Asda purchases on it showing you're a regular customer and they will probably make a gesture of goodwill.

    Will do, my son used the cash point as well so if they decline our appeal we can show them his statement. But with the fact that the pix just show him entering and leaving the car park and that they don't actually prove he parked there it is a nonsense,
  • all you need to know is here mate. Do not pay it

    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets
  • Ledge said:

    all you need to know is here mate. Do not pay it

    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets

    Brilliant thanks Ledge.
  • Greenie said:

    Fiiish said:

    No problem dude. I'd also repeat my recommendation of having a word with the customer service manager. No doubt if you or your son are regular shoppers there, you will at least be able to show a card statement with all your Asda purchases on it showing you're a regular customer and they will probably make a gesture of goodwill.

    Will do, my son used the cash point as well so if they decline our appeal we can show them his statement. But with the fact that the pix just show him entering and leaving the car park and that they don't actually prove he parked there it is a nonsense,
    For all they know your son could have had an Alan Partridge-esque episode and just driven laps around the car park whilst force feeding himself Toblerones without actually parking :wink:
  • Let's be clear. It's not a fine. They're private premises and they issue a charge to you for breach of contract. Plenty of people have ignored, or offered a more reasonable payment instead - the latter is usually accepted because they're not guaranteed anything in court. In fact, somewhere out there is the judgement of a famous victory for a driver where the judge basically tore a strip off the private company and their lawyers.

    Just spotted Ledge's link - that's what you need.
  • ASDA's parking agents at Swanley are persistent - I have the letters to prove it. I have told them repeatedly by email they are wasting their time and they'll get nothing. I have even told them I have letters from ASDA head office and to check with their client. They are gonna look pretty stupid if they do take me to court (which they won't).
  • From the website linked above:

    'This step-by-step guide shows how to fight unfair private parking tickets at supermarkets, hospitals, retail parks and elsewhere, including using the private parking appeals systems. Out of 23,500 people who appealed via one of these systems in the year to March 2014, 45% were successful.'

    So 45% were successful? So 55% were unsuccessful and presumably paid a larger parking ticket as most of them offer you a discount for paying within 14 days.

    I'm not suggesting that one should just pay, but bragging that their system works less than half the time seems a little strange to me.
  • From the website linked above:

    'This step-by-step guide shows how to fight unfair private parking tickets at supermarkets, hospitals, retail parks and elsewhere, including using the private parking appeals systems. Out of 23,500 people who appealed via one of these systems in the year to March 2014, 45% were successful.'

    So 45% were successful? So 55% were unsuccessful and presumably paid a larger parking ticket as most of them offer you a discount for paying within 14 days.

    I'm not suggesting that one should just pay, but bragging that their system works less than half the time seems a little strange to me.

    It may be 100% successful, with 45% of claimants proving they were wrongly charged and 55% being just chancers.
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