reply from 'aldi customer services' re PE

Daisychain_9

I sent an e-mail complaint to Aldi customer services about a charge for a short overstay from parking eye, and have received a reply a week later from someone at weber shandwick (looked it up, its a PR firm) asking for all my contact details so the complaint can be passed on to the right department. Any advice, should I give any contact details?

Coupon-mad

I would reply and say that an email reply is all you require to confirm that the fake PCN is cancelled or you will be voting with your feet and telling your family to do the same because Aldi's association with this firm is a scandal. Point out that you are entitled to make a complaint by email and expect a professional major Supermarket chain to be able to deal with it.

Give your full name (do not say who was driving) and the fake PCN number and the store name, to enable them to cancel it and say so far you are wholly unimpressed by Aldi in this regard, especially as they cannot even pay you the courtesy of a direct response from Aldi themselves.

HappyMJ

Daisychain_9 wrote: »

I sent an e-mail complaint to Aldi customer services about a charge for a short overstay from parking eye, and have received a reply a week later from someone at weber shandwick (looked it up, its a PR firm) asking for all my contact details so the complaint can be passed on to the right department. Any advice, should I give any contact details?

Only give them what they already should know. Your email address and they should also know your street address so I'd give them that too. I also give them my voice mail number if they must have a phone number they can call that.

It's up to you though.

Umkomaas

Daisychain_9 wrote: »

I sent an e-mail complaint to Aldi customer services about a charge for a short overstay from parking eye, and have received a reply a week later from someone at weber shandwick (looked it up, its a PR firm) asking for all my contact details so the complaint can be passed on to the right department. Any advice, should I give any contact details?

Just give them a mobile phone number. The Aldi 'Parking Department' (Laura or Rachel) will contact you. If you've got receipts for the day in question it will help, if not and you are a regular customer and have recent bank/credit card statements showing Aldi purchases have those ready to quote from.

This is probably your easiest way to kill this off. But, if you have no luck in this direction come back to us for more help.

I presume you've complained on the Aldi FaceBook page?

Daisychain_9

No I didn't do the Facebook just e-mailed Aldi customer services direct. I wondered whether to give a phone number in case they wanted to speak to me. I have sent attachments of my last 2 months of purchases from Aldi on my bank statements, but paid cash on the day in question so don't have my receipt. I have just drafted a short letter to PE saying I am in contact with Aldi customer services regarding being a genuine customer, and asking for a POPLA reference if they do not cancel the charge. I am just conscious that I only have 6 days left for the 28 days and if it took 1 week for Aldi to reply to my first e-mail they might drag it out to go past the date.
Thanks

Coupon-mad

Right then, send an online appeal to Parking Eye to make sure you don't miss the boat. Say that you are a regular Aldi customer who paid cash on that day but were a genuine customer, and here's a bank statement to show regular patronage.

Say that clearly as you were a customer - and you have an ongoing complaint with Aldi already lodged - there was no loss and certainly not the amount PE are trying to charge and so with no 'genuine pre-estimate of loss' shown, it is a breach of the BPA Code of Practice and unenforceable. Also the signage at that car park is woeful and makes no mention of the genuine customer exemption, and so is an unfair hidden term because had you known, you could have shown Aldi your cash receipt on the day to get any overstay charge quashed at the outset. Say that this is your challenge to this fake PCN and that if they should reject it you require a POPLA code.

Umkomaas

Daisychain_9 wrote: »

No I didn't do the Facebook just e-mailed Aldi customer services direct. I wondered whether to give a phone number in case they wanted to speak to me. I have sent attachments of my last 2 months of purchases from Aldi on my bank statements, but paid cash on the day in question so don't have my receipt. I have just drafted a short letter to PE saying I am in contact with Aldi customer services regarding being a genuine customer, and asking for a POPLA reference if they do not cancel the charge. I am just conscious that I only have 6 days left for the 28 days and if it took 1 week for Aldi to reply to my first e-mail they might drag it out to go past the date.
Thanks

You're operating a two-pronged approach here which is good - appeal to Aldi, and an appeal (with request for a POPLA code) to PE.

The person I helped (off forum) did give a mobile number and Aldi got back quickly. Aldi contacted PE, redacted credit card statement was sent to PE by us, a few days later letter of cancellation received.

Send in your PE appeal now, don't wait for Aldi. You might want to send PE redacted statements to prove that you are a regular Aldi customer, but explain on the day you used cash and you don't retain receipts for perishables.

HTH

Daisychain_9

Thank you so much for your helpful replies, I have given them a phone number by e-mail, and am going to do the online appeal to PE now.
Thanks!

Umkomaas

Daisychain_9 wrote: »

Thank you so much for your helpful replies, I have given them a phone number by e-mail, and am going to do the online appeal to PE now.
Thanks!

Please do keep us informed of progress; it's the most effective way we get feedback on how our advice has worked. We get encouragement to continue from this, it also provides a lead for where advice might need tweaking to deal with any changes in the 'market place'.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Daisychain_9

Hi, still no response from either PE, Aldi or the PR company. I contacted PE last Thursday and used the Facebook Aldi customer services to complain again on Sat. It is 2 1/2 weeks since I e-mailed Aldi customer services direct. It is a week since I gave the PR company my phone number. What is likely to happen once the 28 days passes from the initial pcn? Are they just ignoring me so they can try to charge me for initiating court proceedings? Thanks

android26

I'm new around here too, but this might put your mind at rest!
Here is the full link to the BPA Code of (Mal)Practice
It's worth downloading and saving for future reference.

http://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/609_AOS_CoP_June_2013_update.pdf

22.6 When you receive a challenge about the issue of a
parking charge, you must stop work on processing the
charge immediately. You must not increase the charge
until you have replied to the challenge.

22.7 We consider it a reasonable timescale to allow 28 days
from the issue of the parking charge notice (in whatever
format you send it) to allow the driver, keeper or hirer to
challenge the enforcement action

22.8 You must acknowledge or reply to the challenge within
14 days of receiving it. If at first you only acknowledge
the challenge, or your reply does not fully resolve it,
normally we would expect you to seek the additional
information you require from the motorist and accept
or reject the challenge in writing not more than 35
days after the information required to resolve it has
been received from the motorist