Parking Eye Letter ALDI

CheekyLittleMonkey

Hi there,

I've been reading through some old posts on MSE and the Newbies thread so garner some idea. I'm after some advice/help with the initial steps to take regarding the letter (invoice) I had received in the post yesterday.

Am I within my rights to ignore this completely? I am unsure what to do as a lot of folk are saying at best, do not ignore, do not admit who the driver was etc therefore I'm in a bit of a quandary.

23rd Dec I went to my local Aldi to do my Christmas Shop, it was bedlam. Cars queuing to get in and out. Took me ages driving round the car park in circles before a space became free and I could park. Then did my shop, I browsed for a while looking at all the Christmas goodies and special buys for Christmas. Then joined a very long queue. To be fair, each till had a very long queue. Then the usual, paid, moved over to pack a full trolley (spent almost £100, took ages was a lot of shopping). Then to the car, load the car, bring trolley back and faff around until some kind soul would let me out of my parking space to join the queue trying to get OUT of the car park! There are signs up saying maximum stay 2 hours, I know this as I am a regular customer. This time of day though its pretty dark and if you are not a regular, you'd possibly miss the signs.

The timestamp on my receipt is 16:49 so that was when I paid. (NOT packed yet)

Time in Car Park: 2hrs 15 mins
Arrival Time: 23/12/2016 15:10:53
Departure Time: 23/12/2016 17:26:52

So I paid at 16:49 moved over to put things in bags, to the car, pack the car etc and get out of there by 17:26. The maximum free stay authorised is 2 hours they state. So effectively I'm 15 minutes over stay. On one of the busiest shopping days of the year, in total gridlock.

I've just sent a PM to them on Facebook attaching my receipt with the timestamp and a pic of the letter from Parking Eye. I think its a standard run of the mill reply I've got (sent to hundreds no doubt) write in to our head office and appeal. Is this the best course of action before anything else (rather than ignoring it completely)?
Thanks

Quentin

Read the newbies faq thread near the top of the forum for advice.


Don't ignore this.


Complain to Aldi as well as following the appeal advice in the newbies thread

pappa_golf

and remember the cameras are at the entry/exit , NOT watching you park , the BPA have a "grace period" that allows time to park , read signage etc , plus another grace period for time to vacate the PARKING spot

your first job would be to go back to aldi , copy your recept , and copy the letter from PE , write your name and email on the PE ticket and confront the manager , a threat of return of all non perishable goods might work , you want it cancelled and an email to this effect

CheekyLittleMonkey

Thanks guys for the quick replies. I appreciate that they give us 'grace periods' for entry/exit to their carparks but there seems to be no thought process behind flexibility over the busier times of year. This carpark is also shared with a Home Bargains store. How does that work out then? If someone wanted to go there first, purchase, return to car, then onto Aldi (which I have done many times before, just not this time). 2 hours to do all of that seems pretty limiting.

Off to read the appeals advice & newbies FAQ again and I'll pop to Aldi later today with copies. TYVM will take it from here and update you guys further down the line.

Quentin

When you read up on this you will realise you need to move on from using the "2 hours limit is unreasonable" when dealing with PE!


(But do put this forcefully to Aldi in your complaint to them)

Coupon-mad

CheekyLittleMonkey wrote: »

Thanks guys for the quick replies. I appreciate that they give us 'grace periods' for entry/exit to their carparks but there seems to be no thought process behind flexibility over the busier times of year. This carpark is also shared with a Home Bargains store. How does that work out then? If someone wanted to go there first, purchase, return to car, then onto Aldi (which I have done many times before, just not this time). 2 hours to do all of that seems pretty limiting.

Off to read the appeals advice & newbies FAQ again and I'll pop to Aldi later today with copies. TYVM will take it from here and update you guys further down the line.

I posted this special 'grace periods not given at Christmas' appeal wording only yesterday:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71868396#Comment_71868396

Adapt that one (instead of the template in the NEWBIES thread) and also attach any receipts from shopping, on PE's appeal page.

CheekyLittleMonkey

Thanks Coupon-Mad! Long time no see. Glad to see you are still here. I had a long time out.

Coupon-mad

I remember you! Welcome back!!

The_Deep

I very much doubt, were this ever to get to court, that a judge would give the claim the time of day, They would be mad to take this to court.


Queue to get in, queue to buy mince pies, queue to pay, queue to get out. Have you complained to the store and on their Facebook page?

CheekyLittleMonkey

I complained via private message on their Facebook page basically informing them of what I have said here. I also attached a copy of my till receipt and a copy of the Parking Eye letter/fine.

I had a read of the newbies FAQ (thanks Quentin) and I bit the bullet as per Pappa Golf's advice here (first job would be to go back to Aldi , copy your receipt , and copy the letter from PE , write your name and email on the PE ticket and confront the manager) . So I have a an update!

The Aldi Manager was super nice, very aware of the car park situation, apologised that they know how bad the car park is & can be at Christmas time. Took the copies off me and promised me this would all be cleared up and cancelled and told me not to worry. I informed her that my email address was printed on the top and that I'd like an email for clarification and some kind of audit trail should PE come knocking on my door (sotospeak) further down the line. I was told to leave it with her.

So all in all a fine result. Thank you for all your helpful advice. Hopefully this was the first and final time I ever have dealings with them! Happy New Year x

pappa_golf

nice one ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,