Help with Parking Eye Appeal please

tobys_mummy_2

I regularly visit the Stourbridge branch of Aldi on a Friday evening.

I park on Aldi, go in and buy my son a drink and a snack, take him to a sports club and then come back to complete my weekly shop.

2 hours is usually more than enough.

However on the 5th July my son who has Autism decided to have a meltdown in the shop and the shop took longer than expected. I went over by 30 mins. I didn't worry too much as have been over before and never received anything from Parking Eye.

There is not a sign at the entrance of the car park but there are many signs around the car park and by the shop entrance. There is also a machine where you have to type in your registration number on the way out.

I don't have my till receipt but I do have a bank statement. However as I shopped on a Friday evening the date on my bank statement for the Aldi transaction is Monday 8th July.

The Parking Charge Notice says it was issued on the 10th July, however I didn't receive it until the 18th July giving only 6 days until 24th July to pay the discounted charge as opposed to 14 days.

Stroma

Forget about the discount as you won't be paying anything, first stop is always going to be Aldi , I suggest going back there and ask to them to cancel this unlawful penalty, take your statement with you, don't worry about the date on that, just calmly explain and get this cancelled.

Also tell them that they are in breach of the Equality Act 2010 as your son is protected under the Act and they must make a reasonable adjustment by law.

Also Aldi are having a public relations disaster on this issue on Facebook, why not add your story there as well, they should cancel this for you.

https://www.facebook.com/AldiUK?fref=ts&filter=2

Coupon-mad

Totally agree with Stroma, Equality Act 2010 breach. Aldi must act to stop this right now. You won't even need to appeal to the scammers, Aldi are your port of call to COMPLAIN. Goodness knows why people don't do this automatically when they were in a Supermarket and some random moneymaking scammer sends out an invoice for some jumped-up drivel of a 'contravention'. Whatever next, a fake 'fine' if you drop your receipt or tread on the cracks in the pavement?! Why on earth would you be looking at the 'payment' details for this scam?!

Someone did so (COMPLAINED TO ALDI, ON OUR ADVICE) just this morning and it was cancelled on the spot:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4719679

However do not beg them and certainly do NOT be 'grateful' when they cancel it. This isn't a 'please cancel it/oooo thankyou so much!' situation. You need to show that you are angry; they've broken the law (Aldi and their agent) and the very LEAST you can expect is a grovelling apology and the stupid fake PCN cancelled on the spot. :mad:

Guys_Dad

There is a thread that was running earlier this week very similar to your situation, except that the lady's son had problems in ASDA.

She was advised to go into the store, where they had helped him at the time. They remembered him and the manager had no problem in overturning the ticket.

Try that first.

tobys_mummy_2

I have just emailed customer services and also posted on their FB page the following:

I have been waiting since Monday for a member of the regional team responsible for the Stourbridge store to ring me about my parking charge.

My son who is Autistic had a meltdown whilst in the store on the 5th July so shopping took a lot longer than expected. I actually didn't even realise we had gone over the time limit on the day. Obviously I was more interested in keeping an eye on my son's safety than the time so was very surprised when I received the parking charge in the post on 18th July.

By giving me a parking charge you are in breach of the Equality Act 2010. My autistic son is protected by the Act and you must make a reasonable adjustment by law.

A reasonable adjustment would be allowing us extra time to park at your store.

tobys_mummy_2

Please comment and share. I am hoping if Aldi get worried enough about bad publicity and a county court claim against themselves they will cancel it themselves. A link to my post is https://www.facebook.com/AldiUK/posts/562487487145391

Guys_Dad

Not knowing where you live or how far the Aldi is, I would have thought that a direct approach on an initially friendly basis to the shop manager would have been the most sensible route first of all.

Instead, you have taken an attacking stance which may not prove to be as productive , but your choice.

tobys_mummy_2

I don't have access to a car at the minute so to make a special trip to the store would be quite difficult. I sent them a fairly neutral email on Monday and was told someone would be contacting me about it.

Understandably after waiting 5 days I'm now getting to the end of my tether. We go on holiday a week tomorrow so I need it to be sorted out before then.

Guys_Dad

OK, try this appeal to the PPC .

Dear PPC,

ref your invoice xxxxxx dated xx/xx/xxxx

I understand that you would like me to pay £xx for overstaying at an Aldi car park.

Don't know if you shop there yourself, but it's not a place that one would want to stay a minute longer than necessary. Unfortunately on the day in question, my young autistic son had a medical emergency and, as you may know, one has to calm autistic children down before putting them in a vehicle where their condition can be a real danger to the driver and other road users.

That is why I remained in Aldi for some 30 minutes longer than the time limit.

I would be grateful if you would cancel the parking ticket.

If, however, you are a parking company who is blind and deaf to any form of mitigation, then you will understand that, before paying any money, I would need to be completely sure that the recipient is bona fide and properly authorised to demand money from me. (I would hate to appear as a mug on Watchdog as Anne Robinson scares me more than you do.)

So, looking at the BPA guidelines, it seems that I need to double check your authority as a first step. They state

"If you (the PPC) do not own the land on which you are carrying out parking management, you must have the written authorisation of the landowner (or their appointed agent) before you can start operating on the land in question. The authorisation must give you the authority to carry out all the aspects of the management and enforcement of the site that you are responsible for. In particular, it must say that the landowner requires you to keep to the Code of Practice, and that you have the authority to pursue outstanding parking charges through the courts if necessary.

"

Now a friend has drawn my attention to a court case that you won against Somerfield. It would appear that the contract that you had with them didn't give you the full authority to pursue motorists up to court stage for parking contraventions.

Under the circumstances, you will understand that it is reasonable enough for me to ask to see the relevant parts of the contract you have with Aldi that actually give you the authority that your charge implies and that you are not limited as you were in the Somerfield contract.

If you are unwilling to provide me with this, or if you don't think my circumstances surrounding my son warrant you withdrawing your charge, then would you please send me the relevant code so that I can appeal to POPLA.

tobys_mummy_2

I have also found an email address for the CEOs of Aldi so will be emailing this to them. Perhaps if everyone who gets a ticket refuses to pay and writes to the CEO, then maybe something will be done about it? They are penalising people who want to take their time, browse and spend their money in Aldi’s stores.

"I contacted customer services on 22nd July about a parking eye charge I received at Aldi. I was told on the same day a member of the regional team responsible for the Stourbridge store would be contacting me about it. I am yet to see or hear anything from them.

My son who is Autistic had a meltdown whilst in the Stourbridge store on the 5th July so shopping took a lot longer than expected. I actually didn't even realise we had gone over the time limit on the day. Obviously I was more interested in keeping an eye on my son's safety than the time so was very surprised when I received the parking charge in the post on 18th July.

By giving me a parking charge you are in breach of the Equality Act 2010. My autistic son is protected by the Act and both Aldi and Parking Eye must make a reasonable adjustment by law, else both parties can be sued for being in breach of the act.

A reasonable adjustment would be allowing us extra time to park at your store.

Regards,

XXXX XXXXX"

Guys_Dad

You miss the point.

In order to get a POPLA Appeal you need a POPLA code. So you need to formally appeal as I suggested asking for a code. Letters and emails to chief exec don't do it.

By all means do that as well but get in your formal appeal. If they turn you down you have POPLA but no code and the next step if they take it further is court.