Complain to the retailer!

bazster

I find this war against the PPC's strangely compelling and entertaining! I've never (yet) received a charge notice from these crooks, but some of the great stories on here make me feel like going out and getting one just to have some fun with the pond life!

However, what I find very odd is that although a lot of these extortion attempts arise in retailer car parks (whether retail parks or individual stores) there is very little mention on here of complaining to the retailer(s) concerned. I know it does come up occasionally, but for me that would be the very first thing to do. If everyone who got one of these fake tickets wrote to the CEO(s) of the retailer(s) concerned, telling them that they will never shop with them again anywhere until they get rid of the louse infestation in their car parks, the scammers would be out of business in no time.

byjimini

That's a very good point, but then Tesco don't seem to listen to customers so I wouldn't waste too much time on it.

Good point nonetheless.

bazster

byjimini wrote: »

That's a very good point, but then Tesco don't seem to listen to customers so I wouldn't waste too much time on it.

Good point nonetheless.

I never shop at Tesco anyway so I for one am unlikely to have cause to complain to them - but if I got a fake ticket in a car park that Tesco shared with some other retailer I would certainly write to Leahy as well as the CEO of the other retailer (omitting to mention, as I promise to take my custom elsewhere, that I never shop there anyway!).

pogofish

bazster wrote: »

However, what I find very odd is that although a lot of these extortion attempts arise in retailer car parks (whether retail parks or individual stores) there is very little mention on here of complaining to the retailer(s) concerned. I know it does come up occasionally, but for me that would be the very first thing to do.

This is because a lot of PPCs are engaged by site owners or factors/managing agents rather than the retailers themselves, so the retailers actually have very little say in who predates their car parks. This is very often the case in retail parks where even in a lead capacity, the retailer is merely another tenant

And then again, even where the site is retailer owned, quite a lot of them simply ain't interested.

bazster

pogofish wrote: »

This is because a lot of PPCs are engaged by site owners or factors/managing agents rather than the retailers themselves, so the retailers actually have very little say in who predates their car parks. This is very often the case in retail parks where even in a lead capacity, the retailer is merely another tenant

And then again, even where the site is retailer owned, quite a lot of them simply ain't interested.

If B&Q or some such got enough pressure put upon them by former paying customers promising to go elsewhere in future, they would pretty soon pass that pressure on to whomever they needed to.

I daresay their initial reaction to a complaining letter would be "not our problem", but if they got enough complaints they would sit up and take notice, and no managing agent is going to stand up for long against a giant national retailer (which they mostly are) telling them to sort out the thieves in their car park.

Anyway, if I wrote such a letter to a retailer's CEO and I got a reply telling me that "it's not our problem", I would write straight back telling the CEO that if my complaint is "not his problem" then clearly he doesn't value my custom, which is most certainly going elsewhere! Just a few people carrying on like this for a few weeks, engaging the CEO's complaints office in a lengthy correspondence, really would wake them up to the issue. In my experience rattling the cage of the CEO has a real effect in most circumstances (whereas Customer Services will merely fob you off forever if you let them).

HardWorker2010_2

Hypothetically, You could also apply local pressure.

A huge shopping trolley full of frozen/thawing food abandoned at the tills with an apologetic "Sorry I can't wait to pay for this or I will be getting an £80 fine and threats of being taken to court from YOUR parking company".

Repeated on mass every Saturday morning when the shops are at their most busy would certainly get senior managements attention.

Bobby_Tables_2

I have to agree.

When a member of my family got one of these extortion notes I wrote to every single shop in the site in question threatening them with the protection from harassment act. One of the shops seems to have had a word and the letters have stopped.

I've also written to my mp, and am going to visit him in person.

There have been hundred and hundreds of posts on this subject on these boards. If everyone took ten minutes extra to pass their thoughts onto the retailers and their democratic representatives these parasites would wither and die.

Edit: And citing the CEO is a very good idea. I work for an enormocorp and nothing brings an issue into the light faster.

Stephen_Leak

Any e-mails or letters like this must go to the top, ie. the CEO.

If it goes further down the chain of command, it will go to different people and no further.

Paperbird

HardWorker2010 wrote: »

Hypothetically, You could also apply local pressure.

A huge shopping trolley full of frozen/thawing food abandoned at the tills with an apologetic "Sorry I can't wait to pay for this or I will be getting an £80 fine and threats of being taken to court from YOUR parking company".

Repeated on mass every Saturday morning when the shops are at their most busy would certainly get senior managements attention.

I did once leave a trolly full at the complaints desk when only about 10% of the tills were staffed and had 8 or 10 people waiting at them all.

I think your idea would be better if you waited until it was all on the belt and half scanned before leaving.

Bobby_Tables_2

Unfortunately that only makes trouble for the people working in the shop. They have no clout whatsoever.

Write to the CEO. It properly sets a fire under a company.

Coupon-mad

Bobby_Tables wrote: »

Unfortunately that only makes trouble for the people working in the shop. They have no clout whatsoever.

Write to the CEO. It properly sets a fire under a company.

I agree. Certainly worked when I was employed in a large Finance company.

Send a letter to a CEO and the matter will not be ignored. You may get a reply from a minion but that minion will have been told to deal with it - and the CEO and the person's line manager usually want to keep tabs on it and have a copy of the letter exchange too. So it all gets seen by the right people along the way.