Morrison's Car Park in Barrow - Scam?

stugib

oldone wrote: »

downmarket supermarkets such as Morrisons,Aldi and Lidl

Eh? I'd class Asda and even Tesco as more 'downmarket' than Morrisons, whatever 'downmarket' means anyway.

Crazy_Jamie

max2009 wrote: »

It is their land and they should be able fine people what they wish as a deterrent.It is down to selfish people who park at these stores and never use them.

Too right! And this should apply to everyone who owns land as well! After all, everyone who owns a house owns private land, so for consistency this should apply to everyone. Next time anyone comes to my door I don't want to see again I should just fine them what I want as a deterrent. A couple of grand should do. I'll send letters showing liberal use of the 'bold' and 'underline' functions on Word with choice phrases such as 'pay within 7 days or I will start legal proceedings' and 'you will be liable for further costs if you don't pay' and then send it off to them. Or pin it to the back of their jacket as they walk off. I'll no doubt rope in a couple of daft sods who have no idea about the civil justice system who will pay anyway because I'm being aggressive through a letter that shows no grasp of the law whatsoever.

Everyone will benefit from your incredible insight, max! I'm sure it won't become a farce at all.

tbw

I totally agree that its a pain in the posterior when people park in supermarket car parks and then shoot off into town On Saturdays I can NEVER get a space in my local Tesco if I go in after 9.30 am - the car park is heaving by then but the store is only moderately busy.

To me, the answer is simple - cut down the free parking time to 1.5 hours hour instead of 2 hours. Thats enough time to do a big shop but not enough to go into town. So long as there is an allowance of 2 hours, you can hardly blame people if they go elsewhere as well as into the supermarket and use the full 2 hours. I've not heard of any rule that says you can't leave the premises and its hardly fair to shove an extra condition on afterwards (especially when the customer has no way of knowing about it until its too late).

DON79

FatAndy wrote: »

The last time I went to Morrisons in Rhyl they had a pay and display machine and you had to pay £1 to park there. The ticket had two parts, one to stick in window and a second piece which you hand over at the till when you're paying for your goods and which knocks £1 off your balance. i.e. if you shop there you get your quid back. I'm not sure why more supermarkets don't use this sort of system.

my local morrisons operates this scheme too - however last time I was there, I didn't realise it was a pay and display scheme until I was at the checkout and the operator asked if I had used the car park and paid. I obviously knew nothing about this so on the way out I looked for pay and display signs, there were none and the one at the entrance to the car park had been knocked down and was not displayed. Thankfully I didn't get a ticket! But this scheme does work when the supermarket is close to the town centre.

oldone_2

stugib wrote: »

Eh? I'd class Asda and even Tesco as more 'downmarket' than Morrisons, whatever 'downmarket' means anyway.

Surveys show that more people in socio-economic analytical class 5 and lower shop at Morrisons.

MrsE_2

oldone wrote: »

Surveys show that more people in socio-economic analytical class 5 and lower shop at Morrisons.

Reigate in Surrey would be classed as affuluent.

Its supermarkets are M&S simply food & Morrisons;)

Can you supply a link?

jaygrunt

NickMidgley wrote: »

I made the mistake of parking my car in the Barrow In Furness branch of Morrison's yesterday.

I parked at about 11:20am, having read the sign that customers can park free for two hours. I went into town to use the cashpoint, came back went into Morrison's and bought some lunch and a few other bits.

I got back to my car at around 12:25pm to find that it had been ticketed, and the time of ticket issue was 11:28am! I am being asked to pay a £50 fine.

I went into Morrison's to complain and eventually spoke to the deputy manager, John, (who wasn't overly helpful, and looked like he'd spent the last couple of nights sleeping rough), who said he'd check with the car park attendant and call me back, although the car park is actually operated by Euro Car Parks, not Morrison's.

He called back later and explained that because the attendant had seen me walking into town, he'd assumed that I wasn't a customer and issued the ticket. They have a rule (apparently) that states that leaving the supermarket's premises forfeits your right to free parking, and therefore my ticket stands. This isn't mentioned anywhere on any of the car park's signage (I took a couple of pictures on my phone for backup).

I've appealed to Euro Car Parks and sent a letter of complaint to Morrison's, including a photograph of the parking sign and copies of my till receipts.

Has anyone else come across anything like this? I am really hacked off about it!

I would appeal because how does the attendant know whether or not you were gonna come back an go into Morrisons (which you were obviously ).
Sounds like a load of carp to me.The attendant is there to issue a ticket if you have been parked there for over 2 hours.
Also I bet it didnt say that you have to be a customer on the day you park there,you just have to be a customer

taxiphil

jaygrunt wrote: »

I would appeal because how does the attendant know whether or not you were gonna come back an go into Morrisons (which you were obviously ).
Sounds like a load of carp to me.The attendant is there to issue a ticket if you have been parked there for over 2 hours.
Also I bet it didnt say that you have to be a customer on the day you park there,you just have to be a customer

There's no such thing as an appeal with private parking companies. They might pretend they have an "appeal procedure", but this is to fool people into thinking they're some kind of official body. In other words they are playing on peoples' ignorance of the difference between criminal and civil law.

Private parking companies have no authority or power, they're just a few people in an office who want to make as much money as they possibly can by sending scary letters to people, pretending they're going to sue them.

Once you start "appealing" you're taking their bait, and letting them know that:
a) You're scared of them, and
b) You believe they have some kind of official power.

As others have rightly said, this is an unenforceable penalty clause. The civil law only awards damages for actual losses, which in this case are almost certainly zero (or a couple of quid at best, if they can prove to a court they've suffered some loss of business).

Just ignore their letters. They won't sue.

isplumm

Hi,

I live near Eastleigh in Hampshire - the local Sainsbugs has minimum £5 spending for the car parking - but that gets you 2 hours ... I often will park there, go into town & then spend my £5 when I come back - no probs ...

If you park less than 15 mins, then it is free .... just need to get your ticket validated.

Mark

Sput2001

Update:

I just got a letter from Morrison's saying that they've instructed Euro Car Parks to cancel the ticket!

:EasterBun