Parking eye, free Aldi with reg entry in store

Tobster86

Hi all, dealing with this one for a relative.

I consider myself well read and experienced (3 cases) in private parking matters, but would like to get some opinions on how to proceed with what I've identified as a bit of a quirk.

The driver of the relative's vehicle failed to enter their registration into the in store terminal, but did shop and did not exceed the maximum stay time.

PE's appeal notes state that a receipt or bank statement must be supplied with any appeal if it relates to forgetting to enter the registration.

Call me synical, but would making a statement confirming that legitimate shopping happened but the registration was not entered, not effectively be siezed upon by PE as admission that the contract was breached?

Is it unreasonable to expect a company like ParkingEye to try to bait this response from people and ultimately reject their appeal on the grounds that the terms and conditions (entering one's registration) were still broken?


My 'plan' as it stands isn't to go down the innocent "Yes I'm sorry and here's the bank statement (no receipt available)" route; but state merely that shopping occurred, the driver does not recall whether the registration was entered or not, and provide the bank statement as proof; concluding with trusting the matter is closed, stating what would otherwise happen next in terms of POPLA at cost to ParkingEye, their inevitable loss due to GPEOL, and failing all of that just getting it cancelled by Aldi anyway.

Fruitcake

It is believed that Aldi have a hidden clause stating that they will cancel parking tickets if a shopper spends more than £15. Whatever you put in the first appeal will be rejected so it doesn't matter whether you state you were a legitimate shopper or not.

Personally I would go down the soft appeal, get rejected, win at PoPLA route whilst complaining long and loud in the store about the way genuine shoppers are treated by a company that targets the elderly and disabled amongst its other loveable traits, then shop elsewhere. There is a whole fakebook page decicated to parking lie and aldi. You might want to contribute your experience there.

I wouldn't give such a nasty company as parking lie the chance to save money by not having to pay PoPLA £27 +VAT.

Coupon-mad

My 'plan' as it stands isn't to go down the innocent "Yes I'm sorry and here's the bank statement (no receipt available)" route; but state merely that shopping occurred, the driver does not recall whether the registration was entered or not, and provide the bank statement as proof; concluding with trusting the matter is closed, stating what would otherwise happen next in terms of POPLA at cost to ParkingEye, their inevitable loss due to GPEOL, and failing all of that just getting it cancelled by Aldi anyway.

Sounds like a plan!

Umkomaas

I've personally been involved off forum in a PE/Aldi case where a submitted (heavily) redacted cc statement proved shopping on site and brought about three things:

1. A cancellation of the charge against one of mine
2. Fired my interest in fighting this scourge on society
3. And with over 4,500 private parking related posts, PPC world might just regret in some way PE ever sending out that PCN two years ago!

Tobster86

Success. They have fallen at the first hurdle.

Our appeal:
Dear Parking Eye,
I would like to appeal against the parking change with the above reference numbers, dated<DATE>, in relation to the vehicle with registration<REG>of which I am the registered keeper.
Firstly, allow me to stress in no uncertain terms that I wholly deny any debt to your company, and will not make a payment under any circumstance.
I can confirm that the vehicle was used for the purpose of shopping at the Aldi supermarket in question, and have appropriate documentary evidence of this.
From the information derived from your invoice, I assume that you are accusing the driver of the vehicle of failing to enter the vehicle's registration into the in store terminal. The driver does not recall whether or not this was the case, although due to the numerous and arbitrary factors involved in this procedure, I feel that it is largely irrelevant. Whether this requirement was complied with or not, your charge is quite clearly not a genuine pre-estimate of loss, and is therefore a penalty which is not legally enforceable under English civil law.
I therefore require that you withdraw the charge immediately.
If you choose not to do so, I understand that you will have to refer the matter to the independent adjudicator (POPLA) at a cost to yourselves of £27+VAT. I also understand that it is highly likely that you will fail to have the appeal overturned since you are completely unable to effectively prove that your charge is a genuine pre-estimate of loss, as countless past POPLA decisions prove.
Regardless of any outcome from POPLA (and the £27+VAT that this will cost you), I also reserve the ability to simply request that Aldi have the charge cancelled as I am able to prove to them that the car park was used by a genuine customer.
Do not contact me again unless your correspondence includes one of the following:
-A full apology.
-A valid POPLA code.
Yours sincerely,
<Name>

Their reply (interestingly sent late on Saturday night):
Dear Sir / Madam,
We refer to the Parking Charge incurred on <Date> at <Time>, at ALDI Worcester car park.
After investigating your appeal it appears that the incorrect vehicle registration was input and this has therefore resulted in the issue of the Parking Charge.
On this occasion as a gesture of goodwill we will be cancelling this Parking Charge. To prevent this situation arising in the future, please ensure the correct vehicle registration details are input.
Kind Regards,
ParkingEye Team