Confused by Athena Parking fine at Lidl.

missmonster

Hi all.
I have read the stickies and previous posts regarding the mysterious workings of Athena parking wardens at Lidl.
To be honest i am more confused than ever about it, but i tried.
I have a fine for an over stay of 15 mins.
I did not receive all the paperwork that they state i have and are refusing to answer any of my subsequent questions. Until now when they have emailed me info that they claim to have previously sent to me by post.
I have requested this evidence from Athena regarding the alleged incident and i have also complained to lidl customer services regarding the way i feel i am being treated.
Both have rejected me, stating that i just pay the £90 fine.
I do not know what to do. i really dont have that kind of money spare.
I am upset that i did not receive the paperwork that they say i have. I am also confused because i cannot follow the suggested route in the stickies here because they tell me that my 28 days or 35 days are already up.. I dont actually know what these mean because they are not forthcoming with the info.
So MSE forum, i throw myself at your mercy and ask for help.
What on earth do i do?
I am very shaken and upset by this.

Dee140157

Ok

First try sending in the appeal to Athena as written in the Newbie thread at top of forum. They can accept late appeals and since you have been corresponding with them, they might send you a POPLA code.
If they do, great because they will then be easy to beat at POPLA. Do this as soon as you can.

However unfortunately because you are outside the appeal time frame they can and probably will refuse. You will then start getting a chain of debt recovery letters as described in post 4 of the newbie thread. These are toothless and despite what they will say the debt companies cannot take you to court. The only one that can do that is Athena and they never do court.

If you get a debt letter the most important piece of advice is to ignore, closely followed by do not get worried or upset by them.

Redx

also complain to the lidl CEO too

missmonster

Can i still make use of point 5 though..
"5. The means to make an appeal to POPLA or the IAS. This must not be withheld or delayed, which would be a breach of the Code of Practice."

Because they are telling me that my appeal window is over, and they have now sent me on PDF a copy of the PCN with pictures (not particularly good ones though).
Should i include it anyway, because this PDF is the first time i have seen them.
Thanks x

ColliesCarer

Hi missmonster,

I would suggest you change the opening paragraph of the 1st appeal template from this

Dear {put here the company name of this member of ''PPC World''},

PCN number xxxxxxx
I have received your parking 'invoice' impersonating a parking ticket. I decline your invitation to pay or name the driver, neither of which are required of me as the keeper of the vehicle. This is my appeal and all liability to your company is denied on the following basis:

To something like this

Dear {put here the company name of this member of ''PPC World''},

PCN number xxxxxxx

I refute entirely your assertion that I have previously received the correspondence which you claim to have sent to me regarding the above Parking Charge Notice, which of course, as the keeper of the vehicle, I decline your invitation to pay.

I contend that the first time the particulars of the alleged parking event were brought to my attention was via the alleged copy of a Parking Charge Notice contained in the pdf file, you recently forwarded to me by email, and which (in order not to be denied my right to appeal this charge) I now demand must be classed as the first issue of Parking Charge Notice number xxxxxxxxx. I therefore contend I am within a 28 day appeal window which began the day I received the aforementioned email from you i.e. xx/xx/xx.

This is my appeal and all liability to your company is denied on the following basis:

Then include the rest of the 1st appeal template as it stands.

hope that helps - CC

grant_uk

If you have either receipts from your shopping at Lidl from that day or can produce evidence of them on a bank statement, you should present them to Athena.

They cancelled a charge against my wife for an overstay when I sent in the template appeal along with receipts from the visit. They may not always do it, but it's definitely worth a try.

Coupon-mad

By the way this is ONLY Athena - not litigious - so no big deal even if you don't get a POPLA code. We've ignored these letters for a decade, which is what people did before POPLA, and we didn't get all upset, we laughed about the debt collector letters! Athena can't affect your credit record or anything, it's NOT a fine. You could try an email complaint to the BPA as well though, about the lack of Notice and appeal and POPLA (email addy in post#6 of the NEWBIES thread).

Finally, if you email the CEO of Lidl (Ronny Gotslich or summat) as he normally cancels them. His direct email address is in the 'Successful complaints' sticky thread, post #3 of that sticky thread (collated by Crabman near the top of the forum).

missmonster

I'd love to say thank you for the advice. *Thank you all*
I am still getting the demands.. They are just re-sending me the same stock letter in PDF form.
I am asking that they actually respond to me, answering my questions, rather than treating me as a cash cow.
I have complained to Lidl customer services (by email) and they also fobbed me off.
So next should I find out who the new CEO of Lidl is.. and send a complaint to him?
Thanks x

Dee140157

CEO lidl uk Ronny.Gottschlich@lidl.co.uk

Otherwise just put letters in a pile and don't worry about them!

missmonster

Thank you.. I'll keep you posted.:beer:

Coupon-mad

missmonster wrote: »

So next should I find out who the new CEO of Lidl is.. and send a complaint to him?

But I told you his name and exactly where to find his email address; you didn't need to ask for an email link! I had said already:

''Finally, if you email the CEO of Lidl (Ronny Gotslich or summat) as he normally cancels them. His direct email address is in the 'Successful complaints' sticky thread, post #3 of that sticky thread (collated by Crabman near the top of the forum).''

If you'd gone there you could have also read the other cases where people have succeeded, that's why I told you where to look and to read that thread. Don't just stay on your own thread and wait for links to be given, you miss soooo much info on the forum if you don't explore the sticky threads. 'Successful Complaints about PPCs' was (still is) a must for you to head to and read - especially when I told you where it's located. I never provide links if I can help it as that's spoon-feeding and doesn't help newbies use the forum; you'll get so much more from any forum once you can hop around, use the search facility and find things. Have a look now.