Outstay Xmas welcome by 32 secs at Asda

atilla

trisontana wrote: »

I wonder if ASDA's staff induction includes a section where they are instructed to tell customers that the company does not own any car-parks, and that PPCs have nothing to do with them?

Nah.

Very few within the stores have anything to do with the parking.
There is the odd few who have direct access to the 'not so smart' system in that they can add legit users to the database.
In general though, most colleagues are genuinely unaware of the overall issue. Enough of them get tickets themselves.

Dublindel

So what is a reasonable period? It's not advertised so can change with every claim by the PPC. A grace time period should be advertised

nigelbb

Dublindel wrote: »

So what is a reasonable period? It's not advertised so can change with every claim by the PPC. A grace time period should be advertised

The BPA CoP says a "reasonable time" & however they define "reasonable" it's definitely more than 32 seconds.

Kite2010

Christmas time so the store would be busier than normal, if they are stupid enough to try court, they would be laughed out.

Franhazel88

Turns out I was wrong about the 32 seconds over. When I checked the sign, we are apparently entitled to 2 1/2 hours free parking rather than the 3 hours I previously thought. So my post should have been titled "Outstay Xmas Welcome by 30 mins and 32 secs!"

However I still consider £120 an unfeasibly large renumeration for half an hour extra time in the free carpark and I don't think even Smart Parking would have rated their chances of justifying it to POPLA.

The manager gave me the impression that I had been steaming unnecessarily and all I needed to have done was to pop into store last Dec and they would have made it all right but then when I consider the attitude of CS, if I hadn't gone in determined and prepared by advice from this forum to speak to the main manager (and black jacketed- thanks Coupon-mad!), I'm fairly sure I would have never even have been directed to one of the chosen few who could sort this out.

In our small town, there is fierce competition between supermarkets as well as a growing public awareness that smaller shops are being threatened by them and Asda really wouldn't want bad publicity. They would want to keep the local population sweet and probably few enough people would complain directly to them so they can easily allow those to slip through Smart's net. When I asked around, several people told me they would feel so shocked and frightened if they got a letter like this, they would pay it asap. No questions asked!

It's scandalous!

Thank goodness for the internet! Now I'm considering how to make make it locally known what course of action to take if it happens to you. Sure Asda and Smarmie Parking would love a few posters to brighten up their carpark!:rotfl:

nigelbb

Coupon-mad wrote: »

I am glad I pre-warned you about Asda's well-known 'we don't own the car park' response which is a LIE and we have seen it used by the CS staff in several Asda stores. Can't be a coincidence surely?

I suspect that the contract with the PPC either gives Asda a backhander for each ticket issued or Asda have to pay a charge every time that a ticket is cancelled to recompense the PPC for their loss of earnings. Either way Asda lose money. There is also the possibility is that there is another clause that says no customer is ever to be taken to court because this would be such bad publicity for Asda. Once this was known for a fact & publicised the PPC protection racket would collapse in all Asda car parks.

Kite2010

Franhazel88 wrote: »

Turns out I was wrong about the 32 seconds over. When I checked the sign, we are apparently entitled to 2 1/2 hours free parking rather than the 3 hours I previously thought. So my post should have been titled "Outstay Xmas Welcome by 30 mins and 32 secs!"

However I still consider £120 an unfeasibly large renumeration for half an hour extra time in the free carpark and I don't think even Smart Parking would have rated their chances of justifying it to POPLA.

The manager gave me the impression that I had been steaming unnecessarily and all I needed to have done was to pop into store last Dec and they would have made it all right but then when I consider the attitude of CS, if I hadn't gone in determined and prepared by advice from this forum to speak to the main manager (and black jacketed- thanks Coupon-mad!), I'm fairly sure I would have never even have been directed to one of the chosen few who could sort this out.

In our small town, there is fierce competition between supermarkets as well as a growing public awareness that smaller shops are being threatened by them and Asda really wouldn't want bad publicity. They would want to keep the local population sweet and probably few enough people would complain directly to them so they can easily allow those to slip through Smart's net. When I asked around, several people told me they would feel so shocked and frightened if they got a letter like this, they would pay it asap. No questions asked!

It's scandalous!

Thank goodness for the internet! Now I'm considering how to make make it locally known what course of action to take if it happens to you. Sure Asda and Smarmie Parking would love a few posters to brighten up their carpark!:rotfl:

Send a letter to the local paper.
"Asda try to charge £120 for shopping at Christmas"

Or pretend to be Crimestoppers and get a poster put up saying "beware scammers operate in this car-park" after a couple reports of "I need money to pay for fuel/tow-truck as my car is broken, I will give you my jewelly in return" scams

Puff67

Exactly the same scenario for me - now on my 2nd DR+ letter but have not contacted anyone. Charge now at £135 with notice of intended litigation. I "overstayed" by 1 hour in a previously totally free and unfettered retail car park. Never saw any signs and why should i have been looking for them. I have timed receipts from all stores, including Asda, and I had spent some £200 between them all! Today I have copied all this threatening correspondence and receipts and addressed a letter to each of the stores concerned with the intention of hand delivering ASAP. Tho it grieves me I have to spend time and petrol money to do this, but this Senior Citizen is so fed up with the haranguing letters. I'm debating with myself whether to also send this diatribe to the landowner! Suggestions - yes or no? Thanks.

Coupon-mad

Yes! A serious complaint or even a threat of Court to the landowner works wonders!

See this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4244645

In that case the fake PCN was for not showing a Blue Badge (the scheme doesn't even have any legal status on private land and to harass disabled people is illegal anyway, mso it's a made-up 'charge'). So when the scammers tried to carry on pursuing it and refused an 'appeal' the OP went on the offensive with a 'Letter before Action' threatening to sue the Landowners and Retail Park Management firm.

Hey presto, the fake PCN was cancelled within the week!

The Equality Act 2010 covers anyone with a long-term medical condition, can I ask if you or your passenger fit that bracket (even arthritis, diabetes, anything age-related that affects daily life, if you don't mind me asking)? If so then the Equality Act breach is much easier to argue when you can cite the disability protection side of it. To be clear, I am not ONLY asking about mobility issues and am not asking if you have a Blue Badge - as that's simply not relevant to your possible protection under the law.

If no medical condition to cite, then just quote the ageism part of the Equality Act (it's a less full section than the disability protection but basically elderly people are protected to an extent by the same Act). You can include copies of your receipts and just COMPLAIN and point out that harassment by their parking agent and debt collectors is a criminal offence (Ferguson -v- British Gas).

At the end of any complaint letter, summarise what you want them to do about it. A recent poster on a forum who I helped, got compensation of over £200 paid by a retail park because he insisted that he was prepared to take them to Court over the harassment and sent several emails, never letting the issue lie. Again in his case there was a disability discrimination issue which always makes them jumpy when the Equality Act is correctly cited. And why not?!

HTH, get angry and get even, but IGNORE the DRP and Zenith letters, do not respond directly to them or the PPC at all.