Help..I may have overstayed the 2hrs at Tesco's!

little_princess

Hi all,

I have just spent a lovely morning with my friends at a playcentre. As the car park there isn't big enough everyone uses the Tesco Car Park next door which allows you to park there free for 2 hours.

The problem is we got into the playcentre at 20 past the hour, but I didn't manage to round up all the kids and my friend and get back to the car until 14 minutes past the hour, 2 hours later.

So it all hinges on how long it took us to park the car, get the kids out and walk over to the playcentre!!!

The car park sign said there is CCTV and a charge of £75 for anyone who overstays the 2 hours.

I feel sick at the thought of having to pay this money for the sake of a few minutes and feel really annoyed with myself for putting myself in this position...it has really ruined what was a lovely morning for me!

I have just read Martin's parking fine guide, but it all seems to point at the fine being unfair, but if it was my fault that I went over the time limit, is that still unfair!!!...I would rather have been able to pay for the time I parked there than spend the next few weeks worrying that a fine will land on my doorstep :mad:

Can anyone help and make me feel a bit better about myself on what should have been a lovely valentines day

LP

HappyMJ

Who cares if you did it's a private car park. They might send you a letter asking for £75. You can safely ignore that letter and the half dozen or so threatening letters that come after it.

Orford

I would rather have been able to pay for the time I parked there than spend the next few weeks worrying that a fine will land on my doorstep

Whilst you can't prevent the junk mail from arriving:

a) it's not a fine, it's an unenforceable invoice
b) treat it as you would any junk mail - ignore it
c) don't pay them a penny.

bondy_lad

you have not been,,fined,, you have not committed a crime, so do not worry or concern yourself,,,quick lesson,,read carefully,,,if you recieve a PENALTY charge notice=this is legit, issued by police/council/traffic warden,, still with me,,and yes,, you must pay,,,what you have recieved is a PARKING charge notice=not legit,,a scam,, nothing can/will be done to you,,its an unenforceable invoice,,full stop,,or in other words loo paper,, so now do with it what you would do with loo paper,,,relax,,chill,, nout to worry about,, full stop, the end.

AlexisV

If you haven't actually got a ticket, and there are no ANPR cameras at the entrance and exit, you're unlikely to get any junk mail.

CCTV is irrelevant.

£75 for 14 minutes works out at £321 an hour. A contract that imposes such terms falls foul of all sorts of consumer regs anyway.

FatAndy

My wife once had to spend a day working at a local Tesco and a couple of weeks later she got a letter warning her that she'd overstayed and not to do it again. I don't know if this is something all branches of Tesco do though. Of course if you get a letter (it's not a fine) then you don't have to pay it but some people will find a warning a bit less stressful to deal with than a demand for money.

temba

Funnily enough - this has just happened to me. I thought I'd go to town, do my shopping, take my laptop and do my work in the coffee shop and I got completely absorbed and got back to my car just over 2 hours later - I think - I can only go on what time I made a call, and I think it was more than two hours before i left. I was really annoyed at myself - I could just as easily come home and done my work at home, but I thought it'd make a nice change. So now I have to go through the horrible wait. How do you know if there is an ANPR camera there? I couldn't see any cameras, but there are signs everywhere saying there are.

Val day is crap enough when you are single :-(

pogofish

little_princess wrote: »

So it all hinges on how long it took us to park the car, get the kids out and walk over to the playcentre!!!

It dosen't hinge on anything - just ignore the scammers.

To reassure yourself, look them up in the letter chain sticky to see what to expect next.

Then keep ignoring them!

tescobabe69

little_princess wrote: »

Hi all,

I have just spent a lovely morning with my friends at a playcentre. As the car park there isn't big enough everyone uses the Tesco Car Park next door which allows you to park there free for 2 hours.

I think you might find that Tesco allows customers two hours of free parking, rather than random folk who like the idea of free parking.

Oopsadaisy

tescobabe69 wrote: »

I think you might find that Tesco allows customers two hours of free parking, rather than random folk who like the idea of free parking.

What a load of drivel.

I could go on, but in essence you're spouting tripe.

Tesco has no power to enforce any sort of parking penalty scheme, so ignore, ignore, ignore some more is the way to sort it out.

Trebor16

tescobabe69 wrote: »

I think you might find that Tesco allows customers two hours of free parking, rather than random folk who like the idea of free parking.

If you have shopped at Tescos previously then you are a customer.