Tesco staff taking photos on behalf of parking company

friendlyguy

I have received a PCN through the post for apparently parking out of a marked bay at my local Tesco Express. I have visited the store and had a word with the manager and there is apparently nothing he can do. He did mention that the pictures of incorrectly parked cars are taken by the staff and sent to the parking company who then send the PCN. I found this quite strange - is this normal practice?

nosferatu1001

Yes. Scummy of them
Is it a sole car park for the tesco express? Yes or no. if YES then *his store hired them* and *he just lied to you*

Redx

Old news, was reported a couple of years ago or more

maisie_cat

Was the car parked correctly? People who can park correctly will often complain to staff about other drivers who "need" 2 spaces or simply cannot park properly (also known as selfish ***** around here). The shop staff are between a rock and a hard place, and getting grief from both sides is annoying 

D_P_Dance

Drivers sometimes have no alternative but to park over a line, especially if, like me, they are disabled and need a wide access.  IMO, any PPC which tries a BOC claim in these circumstances is likely to struggle in court.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.

friendlyguy

nosferatu1001 said:

Yes. Scummy of them
Is it a sole car park for the tesco express? Yes or no. if YES then *his store hired them* and *he just lied to you*

Yes. If he has lied, what can I do? 

friendlyguy

Just realised that the letter is for £70 but states an earlier letter was sent to pay a reduced charge of £20. This earlier letter was never received. The car was parked over the marked bay so would it be wise to call the parking company and ask for the £20 fine? I'm just thinking of damage limitation. 

beamerguy

I had this a couple of years ago with a Tesco Express
Then the CEO was the man to contact and he would cancel. Not nowadays, the CEO just treats customers with contempt.  Never set foot in another Tesco since.   You spend your hard earned money with a company who has respect for customers, Tesco does not deserve the business. And yes, they give their staff cameras

Dump Tesco and shop elsewhere

twhitehousescat

this is a case of soft ticketing using a non parking co employee , wonder what training he was given 

nosferatu1001

Friendly - go in stronger. Ask who hired them - if he says" this store" then ask why you cant request cancellation
Doing this quite loudly in front of custoemrs may make him want to do something
Make the store suffer, if theyve hired these parasites. 

friendlyguy

So since my last post I have visited this Tesco Express twice to speak to the manager again. The first time he was conveniently away and the second time I just about managed to speak to him but he did not seem interested at all. I did raise my voice but, unfortunately, there were no other customers around at the time to have much impact. In summary, this what I was told:
- he has no control over the parking fine and can't get it cancelled 
- he can't contact the parking company (Horizon) and I need to do so
- nearly 5 to 6 customers per day have reported to him not receiving the £20 discount before the £70 letter. Again he said to contact Horizon
- he could not care less if I did not shop there again

I rang Horizon and they said I should submit an appeal through their website and they will investigate. Is the following sufficient for an appeal:

Hi. I received a PCN letter in the post on xxx. The letter was in relation to an incident that took place on xxxx at Tesco Express [address]. The letter stated that a PCN was issue with discounted amount of £20 but this was never received. In fact, this is the first I have heard from Horizon or Tesco in relation to this incident. I have been into the store to speak to the manager and he has said that this is not the first time he has heard this and actually 5-6 customers per day have come into the store to complain that they too never received the £20 letter.  He advised to call you, which I did and the person I spoke to advised to submit this appeal. I would appreciate if you could please investigate why this has happened and give me a fair opportunity of the discounted amount.