Act of kindness equals Asda Parking fine. HELP!

helzsher

I had nipped into an Asda store I usually dont shop in and had arrived on a particularly windy and stormy day, the sky was growing increasingly dark and the wind was so bad that my car was being pushed from side to side and I could see pedestrians fighting against the wind.

I arrived and found a parking spot, wrapped myself up and bolted from the car. I had intended to be there for a very short period of time as on a day like that no one wants to be outside.

I usually shop in my local Asda which at the time did not have any restrictions or fees on parking, so it never occured to me to look for any kind of parking notifications as I am in Asda literally every week and have never had to pay for parking.

On this particular trip, I realised I had a letter to post so fought my way onto the high street to post the letter where I came across an elderly woman who was struggling to breath. I almost walked past her, but took a second look and stopped. She told me that she had a chest infection, and hadnt eaten since 9am. I stood with her until she felt well enough to move and then took her to a cafe to get her some food. I stayed with her until she continued to improve and found out she had no one in the world to call and was having to get a bus back home.

Again I must stress what a horrible day it was and I couldnt just let her leave like that in case something happened to her. So I offered her a lift home, which she declined but eventually agreed to. I made her promise to stay where she was and ran back to my car to find a parking ticket for 45 pounds, going up to 70 pounds if I dont appeal within two weeks, stuck on my window. I was completely shocked.

I did indeed get that lady home safely that day and rang her the next day to check in, and she was fine.

The following day I immediately contacted this company to appeal this fine and they have never gotten back to me.

As a very loyal Asda customer, I am pretty disgusted that they employ agents, that on a day where the weather is so bad that visibility is nil, they dont have the intelligence to realise that even if there are signs up - which I still dont know if there actually are or not- people who are not used to this particular store, may not see them. Its common sense.

If they are adament about making sure the parking charge is paid, then invest in a barrier which will ensure that if there is a parking fee it is obvious.

I am someone who does not like loose ends so I wish to have this matter settled as the company in question just refuse to respond to me.

Can anyone tell me what I should do about this? How long can the company go without responding to me before the fine is void? If they do reply declining my appeal what should I do nect? Should I complain to Asda directly? Any help AT ALL would be greatly appreciated.

da_rule

Hi, first things first, my understanding is that you have already sent an appeal to the parking company? When was this?

Also, was the ticket one that was stuck to your windscreen? And where was this (England/Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland etc)?

Also, have you been in to Asda to complain? They can often get these cancelled.

Hot_Bring

Wow - seriously - it's difficult enough keeping up with all the new queries without having to read War and Peace ( most of which had no baring on the situation at hand ).

Please read the Newbies sticky. In brief you need to :

1. Await the notice to keeper and at the same time demand that Asda cancel the charge.
2. Appeal to the private parking company
3. Appeal to POPLA if point 2 fails

helzsher

Oh god sorry for the essay, I honestly didnt know it was that long!!! Apologies! It was in Northern Ireland and was stuck to my window. I didnt complain to Asda just to the parking people. So I take it that should be my next step? Should I await a letter or go straight to Asda? It happened in December.

da_rule

The advice for Northern Ireland is to ignore as they can only come after the driver, but you admitted you were the driver. If you appealed in December and have heard nothing since then I wouldn't rock the boat.

Yes, go into Asda and ask them about it, at least if they can cancel it the matter will definitely be resolved.

Hot_Bring

helzsher wrote: »

Oh god sorry for the essay, I honestly didnt know it was that long!!! Apologies! It was in Northern Ireland and was stuck to my window. I didnt complain to Asda just to the parking people. So I take it that should be my next step? Should I await a letter or go straight to Asda? It happened in December.

No problem

Complain to Asda but DO NOT say who was driving. Why ? Because in NI ONLY the driver is liable for the charge. If the PPC can't identify the driver they can do nothing but send snotty letters.

IGNORE anything from the PPC.

*** NEWBIES - the above advice of ignore is ONLY because the OP is in NI ***

helzsher

Sorry to be a dimwit but who are the PPC, and if I dont say who the driver was and there are two named drivers on the car wont they still catch up with us?

da_rule

PPC = Private Parking Company, so what ever company it was that issued you with the notice.

These companies don't have access to the insurance database. As you responded to a notice on the windscreen (known as a notice to driver), you may have, inadvertently, identified yourself as the driver.

helzsher

Oh no! Ok, I will try contacting Asda. Thank you both very much for your help!

SevenTowers

Helzsher,
Well done for your good deed, if it had been my mother in need of help I would like to hope that a kind stranger like yourself would stumble upon her.

It is unfortunate that you contacted the PPC and outed yourself as driver, but still don't worry about the ticket.

As advised above, contact Asda and complain vociferously.

Do NOT have any further contact with the PPC, ignore all correspondence from them and from Debt Recovery + and Zenith Collections. Many of us have been through the same attempts to scam money out of us, and ignored with impunity.

Whereabouts in NI was this? I'm from NI too.

helzsher

Oh thanks for that! It was the Asda in Bangor. I usually go to the one in Dundonald which is my local one and now has a two hour limit on it, but had nothing for the past few years so I never suspected the one in Bangor would be any different! Have you had any experiences with that one?