Success - parking notice appeal to lidl & athena

Angelic1

Hi All this is my first time for posting on here but I just want to say a big thank you to those who have previously posted on this topic as you have helped me to beat the parking parasites that farm the Lidl Car parks. THANK YOU! :j

Short Story
I had a receipt and had used their ridiculous machine after my shop, scanning my receipt and entering in my car reg number. Unfortunately I must have made a tiny error (typo) so Athena decided to send me a £90 fine on behalf of Lidl!

My Appeals
My appeal to Lidl CEO and their Customer service Team

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Parking Charge Notice No: XXXXXX
Vehicle Registration: XXXXXX
Issue Date: XX January 2018
Entered Car Park: XX/01/18 @ XXXXhrs
Exited Car Park: XX/01/18 @ XXXXhrs

I am writing as the rather puzzled and annoyed registered keeper of the above vehicle in reference to your Notice to Keeper (ref:XXXXXX).

I do not feel that I am liable for this charge. There has been no financial loss incurred by the landowner as a result of a customer legitimately parking in the car park. The penalty you are trying to impose on me as the keeper of this car is totally unjustified and there is sufficient evidence (see attached) to show that the driver at that time was in fact a customer of Lidl and has a witness who is also willing to testify to this, should you choose to pursue this utter nonsense and further. The driver (your customer) did not overstay the parking time, neither did they park illegally, or cause a nuisance or obstruction by parking in the free car park whilst they shopped in your supermarket.

The receipt was scanned at the end of the shop as the driver (your customer) was prompted by the young lady on the check out. The car registration was entered into the machine, in front of a witness. If you check your machine you will see that the bar code on this receipt was in fact scanned. Please also check your CCTV.

This can only mean that either a) your machine is faulty b) that the driver of the car made a slight typo when entering in the number as they are dyslexic and could well have typed in XXXXXX in error (instead of XXXXXX) or c) Lidl and Athena have now resorted to these desperate and disgusting measures to extort money from loyal customers in the hopes that they will feel so threatened and confused that they will just pay up without question.

I do not appreciate this trumped up accusation and as a long term sufferer of severe depression and anxiety, this "Notice to Keeper" has caused me unnecessary stress that I can well do without. I would also like to point out that I too am a regular customer at Lidl and find this harassing and bullying tactic of the parking parasites that prey on innocent customers on your authority absolutely abhorrent. Sending threatening letters of this nature when there has been absolutely no wrong doing on my part or that of the driver of my car at that time is totally unacceptable.

I feel that under the circumstances, there is no viable reason for obtaining my address, as the registered keeper of the car from the DVLA, let alone pursue this nonsense and harass me. This must surely be unlawful and is totally unreasonable. I am the victim here and I will be writing to the DVLA. The shameful tactics of Lidl and Athena have made me feel even more vulnerable and anxious but I will not be rolling over to willingly hand over my hard earned money to pay this outrageous fine out of principal. It concerns me greatly that Lidl and Athena are persecuting vulnerable, innocent customers in this way. Farming car parks in this way for profit is a covert practice which to any reasonable person, might appear to be a business model akin to a protection racket on site. The entire business approach and unwarranted threats to empty the pockets of your customers whilst they park to shop in your stores, believing it to be a free car park is truly repugnant.

Please be advised that there is a Tesco and Asda just a two minute drive away from this Lidl store where they do not harass customers for parking to shop in their stores but up until now Lidl has been mine, my friends and family's preferred choice. What you are allowing to happen here to your loyal customers is very damaging to the brand name. This urgently needs to change before you alienate the very people that keep you in business.

Please address this matter promptly and cancel the parking notice/ticket forthwith and confirm this by return.

Alternatively, please send me a POPLA code so that I may submit an appeal to the independent appeals service.

Yours Truly
XXXXXX


****************************************************************
Dear XXXXXX
Re: Parking Charge Notice
Thanks for getting in touch.
Unfortunately, we are unable to make an appeal on your behalf. This is because all appeals need to be placed in writing directly to Athena ANPR by the appellant. Doing so allows you to retain your right to formally appeal any decisions made by Athena ANPR.
Details of the appeals procedure can be found on the reverse of the Parking Charge Notice or on the Athena ANPR website.
You can process an appeal via the following methods; online or via email or by post at the below address:
Athena ANPR Ltd
PO Box 4758
Ascot
SL5 5DJ
When raising your appeal please include the following information:
• Parking Charge Notice Number
• Vehicle Registration Number
To further support your appeal please attach / enclose any of the applicable following documents:
• Lidl store receipt or proof of shopping with us
• Disabled badge holder evidence
• Further documentation which may support your case
Athena will then conduct your appeal and communicate the outcome to you directly in writing.
We hope that your appeal is brought to a speedy conclusion.
Thank you for contacting us
Yours sincerely,
For and on behalf of Lidl UK GmbH


XXXXXX
Customer Service
****************************************************************

Dear Lidl Customer Service Team,

This response is not good enough!
I was advised by a member of your staff to contact Lidl directly as it was clear that there was sufficient evidence to support the fact that the driver of the car in question was in fact a paying customer of Lidl at that time. This is clearly an error and you most certainly have the authority and power to cancel this notice to keeper with immediate effect. Athena are employed by you!

I have already written to Athena to appeal this but was rather hoping that you would do the correct and honourable deed by exercising your right to rectify this matter for your customer as any good customer service team would do.

I am disgusted by your response!

Regards
XXXXXX



****************************************************************

Automated Response


Dear Lidl Customer
Thank you for contacting us.
Our team is looking into this for you and we will be back in touch shortly.
Thank you for your patience.
Yours sincerely,
Lidl UK GmbH



ORS Administrator
Customer Service

****************************************************************

Dear Lidl,
Thank you for your automated response however, there will be no need for you to look into this further on my account now as Athena have agreed to do the right thing and cancel the parking charge with immediate effect, which is something that you should have done!

Your customer service is shocking and your staff should certainly be empowered to assist your customers on such an obvious error!

Perhaps you should invest some time looking into this as well as how you manage your car parks which is appalling and unnecessary.

Regards
XXXXXX

****************************************************************

My appeal to Athena

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Parking Charge Notice No: XXXXXX
Vehicle Registration: XXXXXX
Issue Date: XX January 2018
Entered Car Park: XX/01/18 @ XXXXhrs
Exited Car Park: XX/01/18 @ XXXXhrs

I am writing as the rather puzzled and annoyed keeper of the above vehicle after receiving your parking invoice, impersonating a parking ticket (Notice to Keeper - ref:xxxxxx). Please note that I refuse to pay your demands and decline your invitation to name the driver, neither of which are required of me as the keeper of the vehicle. All liability to your company is profusely denied. The amount you have demanded is not a genuine tariff/fee for parking nor is it based upon any genuine pre-estimate of loss to your company or the land owner. You are not the land owner and do not have the standing to offer contracts to drivers nor to bring a claim in your own right. Therefore I do not feel that I am liable for this charge on these grounds alone and those that follow.

The penalty you are trying to impose on me as the keeper of this car is totally unjustified and there is sufficient evidence (see attached till receipt) to show that the driver at that time was in fact a customer of Lidl and has a witness who is also willing to testify to this. The driver (Lidl customer) did not overstay the parking time, neither did they park illegally, or cause a nuisance or obstruction by parking in the free car park whilst they shopped in Lidl supermarket.

The receipt was scanned at the end of the shop as the driver (Lidl customer) was also prompted to do so by the young lady on the check out. The car registration was entered into the machine, in front of a witness. If you check the machine you will see that the bar code on this receipt was in fact scanned. Please also check the CCTV.

This can only mean that either a) the machine is faulty b) that the driver of the car made a slight typo when entering in the number as they are dyslexic and could well have typed in XXXXX in error (instead of XXXXX) or c) Lidl and Athena have now resorted to these desperate and disgusting measures to extort money from loyal customers in the hopes that they will feel so threatened and confused that they will just pay up without question.

I do not appreciate this trumped up accusation and as a long term sufferer of severe depression and anxiety, this "Notice to Keeper" has caused me unnecessary stress that I can well do without. I would also like to point out that I too am a regular customer at Lidl and find this harassing and bullying tactic of parking parasites that prey on innocent customers absolutely abhorrent. Sending threatening letters of this nature when there has been absolutely no wrong doing on my part or that of the driver of my car at that time is totally unacceptable.

I feel that under the circumstances, there is no viable reason for obtaining my address, as the keeper of the car from the DVLA, let alone to pursue this nonsense and harass me making demands of payment from me. This must surely be unlawful and a violation of my rights in accordance with the Data Protection Act. It is totally unreasonable. I will certainly be looking into this further. I am the victim here and I will be writing to the DVLA and BPA on this matter. You do not have the right to harass law abiding motorists in this way.

These shameful tactics of Lidl and Athena have made me feel even more vulnerable and anxious but I am so incensed at the injustice here that I will not be rolling over to willingly hand over my hard earned money to pay this outrageous demand out of principal. It concerns me greatly that Lidl and Athena are persecuting vulnerable, innocent customers in this way. Farming car parks in this way for profit is a covert practice which to any reasonable person, might appear to be a business model akin to a protection racket on site. The entire business approach and unwarranted threats to empty the pockets of loyal customers whilst they park to shop in Lidl stores, believing it to be a free car park is truly repugnant.

Please be advised that there is a Tesco and Asda just a two minute drive away from this Lidl store where they do not harass customers for parking to shop in their stores but up until now Lidl has been mine, my friends and family's preferred choice. What you are doing here to loyal Lidl customers is very damaging to the brand name. This urgently needs to change before you alienate the very people that keep Lidl in business. I have written to the CEO of Lidl with my complaint of this. I will also be contacting the local council as I'm pretty sure this treatment of local people would not have been part of the agreement when contracts were drawn up and permissions were sought by Lidl and Athena. To add to this I will be writing in to Watch Dog to get your business practices looked into. I will certainly not be taking this day light robbery lying down. I may only be one person but I will not be bullied by big corporate companies that think they have the right to do whatever they like.

Please address this matter immediately and cancel the parking notice/ticket forthwith and confirm this by return.

Alternatively, please send me a POPLA code within the given time so that I may submit an appeal to the independent appeals service.

As per GDPR I exercise my rights to see all data you have on me. After which I will then request that this is all destroyed.

Yours Truly
XXXXXX

****************************************************************

Dear XXXXXX
Thank you for your email in regards to the above parking charge.
We can confirm the above parking charge has been cancelled and the outstanding balance has now been cleared.
No further action is required by you.
To receive the free parking available at the store, you need to enter your vehicle registration correctly and in full, each time you visit into one of the terminals in store.
To do this you need to:
•Park and note your vehicle registration
•Complete your shopping
•Scan your till receipt at the terminal in the store
•Enter your vehicle registration correctly and in full
•Do not exceed the allowed duration stated on the signposted terms and conditions.
Kind regards
Customer Service Team
For and on behalf of Athena ANPR LTD

****************************************************************

Dear Customer Service Team for Athena,

Thank you for your response and for cancelling this parking charge.

I have just read an email from a Lidl customer service team member before reading this email, who refused to cancel this parking charge.
Needless to say I am disgusted with their response as this is not good customer service at all and it was very clear that there was suffice evidence to show that the driver of the car in question at that time was in fact a paying customer at their store. I am somewhat dismayed by their response, but thank you for yours!

Kind regards
XXXXXX


****************************************************************

Coupon-mad

I'd be 99% sure that Athena only cancelled because Lidl actually did contact them. Athena would never have cancelled without Lidl forcing them to, so I think you are blaming the company that actually did it.

Having said that, Lidl are not to be thanked because they allow this protection racket against customers.

And well done in being tenacious, whoever directed the cancellation, a win is a WIN!

beamerguy

Well done, you made Lidl look stupid

What people fail to see, is that whilst Lidl
is a cheapie supermarket, if you get involved
in the LIDL PARKING SCAM, your shopping bag
becomes the most expensive in the UK

Avoid the LIDL scam car parks, go somewhere else

Fruitcake

That was a very well written appeal. Good on you for beating the scammers.

Personally I would now shop elsewhere and then tell the store manager and the CEO what you have done, including copies of receipts from as many family members as you can to show how much their behaviour is costing on a weekly/monthly basis.

Umkomaas

Personally I would now shop elsewhere and then tell the store manager and the CEO what you have done, including copies of receipts from as many family members as you can to show how much their behaviour is costing on a weekly/monthly basis.

Excellent idea Fruity. I’d love to be shovelling loads of receipts into an envelope and shooting them off to Christian Haertnagel.

No need to ask your family/friends for them, there’s hundreds of receipts floating across the car parks of Asda and Tesco!

Angelic1

Thank you for the invaluable advice and support given on here. :beer:
It's extremely satisfying to win an appeal, especially when the trumped up charge is unjust!
My local Asda has become my go to supermarket now.

System

Hi all,

Need quick advice got parking fine when I parked in Tooting lidil. The product I went for was out of stock, so I just bought packet of crisp for 0.99p. Paid and scanned in the receipt. I put the crisp in my car and left to go high street to buy few vegetables. When I returned it was over by 14min. Should I pay for the fine ?

Umkomaas

Should I pay for the fine ?

Why are you asking a forum committed to fighting such charges such a question? You need to ask yourself the question, not a complete bunch of strangers hanging about in the ether!

Complain to the CEO of Lidl to get this cancelled. Do a forum search on 'Christian Haertnagel' to find any number of threads telling you how to deal with this.

HOW TO USE THE FORUM SEARCH FUNCTION:

Hit your 'Back' button to get back to the forum thread list. On the bar just above the threads you'll see the 'Search' function. Click on the 'Advanced Search' button and on the following page place your keyword(s) in the 'Search By Keyword(s)' and make sure the 'Show Results As' button (at the foot of the window) is changed from 'Threads' to 'Posts'.

System

For your kind information I have already contacted the manager I was advised to contact Athena directly and there’s a likely chance they may not cancel it because I didn’t really “shop”. From other forums I was told not to pay it and it’s a scam so wanted a wider opinion from people who have been through it. However if you are not able to advise in a civil manner you are not obligated to respond to my posts. Thanks for your comment anyway.

Fruitcake

You have hijacked someone else's thread instead of starting your own, then complained about the reply you got. That's not the best way of going about getting help.

It is not a fine.

If you want help, please read the NEWBIES thread then start your own.

Nobody here will suggest that you pay scammers.

Guys_Dad

Falz wrote: »

Hi all,

Need quick advice got parking fine when I parked in Tooting lidil. The product I went for was out of stock, so I just bought packet of crisp for 0.99p. Paid and scanned in the receipt. I put the crisp in my car and left to go high street to buy few vegetables. When I returned it was over by 14min. Should I pay for the fine ?

Why don't you read the posts previous to yours and follow Angelic 1's example? Seems clear to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!