parking charge free asda car park?

senish_sgwndra

Hi there,
I went to a gig last night, and i parked my car in my local asda (as it is a free car park, and everyone does it), as i wasn't going to drink, i was gonna pick it up on the way home. Of course i did end up drinking (because i am a fool), and seeing as i wasn't gonna drive it home, i decided to leave it there, and pick it up in the morning. When i went to pick it up, i had a 'Parking Charge Notice' from 'Smart Parking' on the windscreen. At first I just thought sod it, i'll just bite the bullet and pay the 'fine'. However when i typed smart parking into Google i noticed all these threads on Money Saving Expert about these 'scumbags' and 'fake parking fines', so I was wondering what my options were. Do I ignore it, or do I appeal it?

Also does it help that I actually work at the Asda in question?

And the charge is at 6:54 am, when actually the store opens at 7, so how did they know that I wasn't gonna shop there?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you!

baza52

as you work there, ask the store manager

Hot_Bring

Everything you've mentioned so far would be considered mitigating circumstances which don't work.

Read the Newbies thread and AFTER you get the Notice to Keeper appeal using the template in the thread.

Stroma

Hi

Are you the registered keeper ? Is this England or Wales ?

Thanks

The_Deep

It is the people who actually shop in Asda whom I feel sorry for.

Please form a queue to help this poor hard done by chap.

Guys_Dad

The_Deep wrote: »

It is the people who actually shop in Asda whom I feel sorry for.

Please form a queue to help this poor hard done by chap.

It is not about the "crime" or otherwise, it is about the swigeing penalising out of proportion charge.

That is why we help.

Guys_Dad

The_Deep wrote: »

Would you still be as magnanimous if he parked on YOUR land overnight?

I am afraid that some people deserve to be punished.

Of course not. But if I tried to charge them £100 it would not represent my loss unless I had to park elsewhere and suffered a consequential loss.

Now, in turn,to refer you to an earlier post of yours, would you get away with keying their car as a penalty? Same principle. Punishment exceeds crime.

Stroma

Except that it's unlawful to 'punish' people because of parking on private land! And the OP has said he was stupid for drinking, but would have been criminally stupid if he drunk and driven. This situation is no different to any other time someone has parked on private land, he even works there so it's hardly abuse is it?

OurKev

I had a similar issue and (following advice from here) went and spoke to the Security manager at ADSA.

I didn't give excuses, but explained I was a good customer, hadn't realised there was a time limit and wouldn't do it again and he asked me to give him a letter and back it up with receipts.

I also let the parking company know that I had spoken to ASDa and asked for the charge to be cancelled.

The ticket was subsequently cancelled.

So, as an employee, you should be in a stronger position to ask your Security Manager to get the ticket cancelled.

Good luck,

Kev

senish_sgwndra

The_Deep wrote: »

It is the people who actually shop in Asda whom I feel sorry for.

Please form a queue to help this poor hard done by chap.

With all due respect, if you had to work 10 hours a day on a Saturday, serving people who don't even acknowledge your existence, pushing trolleys about in the rain, standing around on the self-service tills for hours, stacking shelves, and still shop there on your days off, you would think twice before contributing such words of wisdom. I didn't come here to be abused and condescended, I came here for advice.

My parents are the registered owners of the vehicle, and this particular scenario is in Wales. I'm gonna talk to my manager next time I'm working. Thanks

da_rule

If for what ever reason they decide not to cancel the PCN for you, then you should receive a notice through the post (29-56 days after the date of the notice on your windscreen). This will be addressed to the registered keeper (one of your parents). You would then have to appeal in their name, using the templates in the Newbies sticky thread. If your parents don't want to be involved then you may have to appeal to the parking company now, even though this is not the usual recommendation.