Tesco 'parking helpline' (moronic oxymoron)

trisontana

Well I did ring that number and spoke to somebody who works for Tesco. I asked him if Tesco actually administer these car parking charges and he said no. All the administration is carried out by an outside company. I asked who that company was and he said it varies, and that actual company looking after a particular car-park is shown on the paperwork you receive. So it does look as though (as we suspected) Tesco do not actually "police" their own car parks and that it's all outsourced.

ripped_off_driver

Faced with the clear evidence of the fraudulent wording on the Tesco sign, the fraudulent assertions on Tesco correspondence, indications of an unlawful penalty on the chasing paperwork from the PPC, and that the whole operation is outsourced to various PPCs, what do we have in return from the apologists? The helpline number belongs to Tesco. As if that matters a jot. The helpline is obviously only there to give an air of respectability to what is simply a mail scam. But when you have no other argument I guess it helps if you try to cling to something, anything that shows you are not dead wrong.

spirit

trisontana wrote: »

Well I did ring that number and spoke to somebody who works for Tesco. I asked him if Tesco actually administer these car parking charges and he said no. All the administration is carried out by an outside company. I asked who that company was and he said it varies, and that actual company looking after a particular car-park is shown on the paperwork you receive. So it does look as though (as we suspected) Tesco do not actually "police" their own car parks and that it's all outsourced.

so I wonder what Tesco's charity 'partner' makes of it.

peter_the_piper

I notice that Premier has quoted me above. My post was about the inability of anyone to stop PPC's telling porkies and he says its all to do with the forum not being moderated. What on earth has a moderator got to do with PPC's lying? He's lost the plot.

biscuitdunker

spirit wrote: »

so I wonder what Tesco's charity 'partner' makes of it.

Still waiting to hear back from them!

Premier_2

peter_the_piper wrote: »

I notice that Premier has quoted me above. My post was about the inability of anyone to stop PPC's telling porkies and he says its all to do with the forum not being moderated. What on earth has a moderator got to do with PPC's lying? He's lost the plot.

Whoosh! :rolleyes:

ozvaldinho

AlexisV wrote: »

It's Euro Car Park's telephone.

How that even be an attempt at a contract if they don't state who the contract is with?

I can assure you that this is completely untrue. I phoned, and got through to a nice chap at Tescos call centre in Cardiff. I double checked by asking him to transfer me through to Customer Services at the end of the conversation, which he duly did.

so I wonder what Tesco's charity 'partner' makes of it

Tescos Charity of the Year is Muscular Distrophy Campaign, website is here:
http://www.muscular-dystrophy.org/news/855_tesco_charity_of_the_year_partnership_2009_announced_today

Well I did ring that number and spoke to somebody who works for Tesco. I asked him if Tesco actually administer these car parking charges and he said no. All the administration is carried out by an outside company. I asked who that company was and he said it varies, and that actual company looking after a particular car-park is shown on the paperwork you receive. So it does look as though (as we suspected) Tesco do not actually "police" their own car parks and that it's all outsourced.

I asked a few more questions to get a clearer understanding of how this works. To summarise:
Tescos give out contracts to various PPCs to manage their car parks. They pay these PPCs a FIXED ANNUAL FEE to manage the parking there.
The money collected goes 100% to the charity, ie Tescos collect £70, give £70 to charity.
The PPCs don't get a comission on money from these tickets.

I'm in no way condonong the way Tescos are doing this, or the PPCs, but at least they are 1) Not making a profit from it and
2) Not misleading anyone about their claims to be giving their profits from this to charity.

Incidentally, the nice chap on the helpline was proud of the money that his call centre and the one in Dundee had made for the Charity. Tescos raised £5.6 million for Marie Curie during 2008.

biscuitdunker

Sorry ozvald, I don't believe any of that. If the PPCs are getting a fixed annual fee, that money has to come from somewhere and Tesco have not told us where it comes from. I do not for one second believe that the charity gets the full £70.

ozvaldinho

biscuitdunker wrote: »

Sorry ozvald, I don't believe any of that. If the PPCs are getting a fixed annual fee, that money has to come from somewhere and Tesco have not told us where it comes from. I do not for one second believe that the charity gets the full £70.

I'm as cynical as the next person and certainly not a Tescos apologist. Tescos have put PPC into places that have a clear need for them, ie in town centres, near stations etc. My closest Tescos has no PPC in it, but is in a residential area. The one in the town centre used to have real problems with the car park filling up with office workers. I think Tescos have chosen this option as the cheapest option, no doubt cheaper than employing some old duffer in a cabin.
They make a profit by having spaces available for genuine shoppers.

I am sure Tescos would be able to prove how much they've donated to charity from these schemes. I did ask when I called, but the chap didn't know. He did try to find out though, but could only tell me the amounts Tescos have raised so far this year overall: £3.2 million so far.

Tescos lying about this would be a very serious matter for the Charity comission, the charity themselves, Watchdog, Sir Terry et al. I don't think for a second they would risk such a shytstorm of negative PR for this small amount.

biscuitdunker

Well, I'm afraid I continue to be sceptical about the whole thing. I guess it's because they employ a bunch of underhand thugs to administer their car parks. I just think there's more to it than meets the eye, especially as their signage gives no indication that a PPC is involved in all this.

Also, I have two Tescos quite nearby me, one of them is in town, by a tube station and several offices and has quite a small car park, but has no PPC involvement. The other one is on a duel carriage way, no offices or residential areas nearby, has a massive car park which is never full, and yet has loads of £70 fine signs all over it. It's baffling.