Parking charge notice (PCN), Horizon, Iceland Chester - store closed and fine still issued!

Squirrel_Nut

If drivers can enter the store, then they can get a voucher. If they don't spend £5 in store, then my understanding is that they can still get one and once scanned at the machine, they can pay a small charge there (I'd just spend the money in the store, like I used to). The issue is that if the store closes before you can get a voucher, you can't pay at the machine. It's ridiculous. No voucher, no options and the PCN is going to land on your door mat.. Iceland don't care and just say ' the car park is nothing to do with us ' when approached. I know, because in following step 1 of the Newbies advice sticky I did exactly that. Any question about the car park gets the same standard answer from staff. Shame, as I used to like going there - but not any more! 

Redx

They may be right , they may be tenants and not the landowner !

Either you are assuming that retailers own the land where their premises are ( yet many of them rent ) , or you know for a fact that Iceland own the land

The 2 Iceland's near me definitely don't own the adjacent car park and I would think they are tenants on a retail park , due to several businesses on site


Plan A says the following ( note the word landowner )

1. ALL CASES, EVERYWHERE - COMPLAIN FIRST, ESPECIALLY OVER A RETAIL, HOTEL, OR HOSPITAL CAR PARK:

Always complain to the Retailer very quickly. This is 'Plan A' :

Successful complaints about private parking tickets - how to get them cancelled! <<< CLICK

It can be easy and quick to get these cancelled by a landowner. 

Umkomaas

Any question about the car park gets the same standard answer from staff. Shame, as I used to like going there - but not any more! 

And in their attempt to distance themselves from the plight of their customers, this is exactly what many staff forget (or, more likely, couldn't care less about).  

I would hazard a guess that PPCs do much more damage to retailers than any benefits they deliver by 'managing' car park churn. 

Squirrel_Nut

Redx said:

They may be right , they may be tenants and not the landowner !

Either you are assuming that retailers own the land where their premises are ( yet many of them rent ) , or you know for a fact that Iceland own the land

The 2 Iceland's near me definitely don't own the adjacent car park and I would think they are tenants on a retail park , due to several businesses on site


Plan A says the following ( note the word landowner )

1. ALL CASES, EVERYWHERE - COMPLAIN FIRST, ESPECIALLY OVER A RETAIL, HOTEL, OR HOSPITAL CAR PARK:

Always complain to the Retailer very quickly. This is 'Plan A' :

 <<< CLICK

It can be easy and quick to get these cancelled by a landowner. 

@Redx, I'm fairly sure that they don't own the car park. The staff lady said 'Iceland sold the car park to another company' and then went on to say 'so we have nothing to do with it anymore'. So, I asked her who they sold it to and she said that she didn't know. She may not know personally but the company must know. I'm planning to find out and make sure that the landowner knows about the problem that i explained above. The PCN in this case has been cancelled, as per earlier posts in this thread but now its about trying to prevent others having the same stress and worry that I had until cancelled as owner, not driver (thanks to the great people in this forum's advice). 

As @Umkomaas rightly said, the store want to distance themselves from the problems that the machine causes. Whilst they may think that it saves them the time and stress of dealing with the problems, what it actually does is lose them customers, income and the reputation for helping their customers. 

The machines (put in by the PPC, I assume) that aren't fit for purpose (or designed intentionally to have gaps, like not taking cash payments unless a ticket is first scanned). At best its an oversight, at worst its aimed to generate dishonest income from anyone who unknowingly falls into that trap. The entrance sign should state in large text: 'Notice all car park users: The machine in this car park does not take cash without first scanning a ticket from the store' (or similar). The key part here, that people may over look is that no one usually goes to a shop, if they know in advance that it's closed. The drivers go there to shop. Certain days, the shop closes earlier than most people would expect (and the car park was almost full - so no alarm bells there). The driver parks, goes shopping somewhere else first (this the same as usual), then coming back to shop in the store in question - only to discover that the store is closed and then when trying to pay for the parking, with no ticket, (after the free 15mins are up) that the machine wont take cash. Fast forward a number of weeks and here we are. Meanwhile, the same thing happened to at least one other person on this forum (who has now gone AWOL for some reason), as I found their post before I started this thread. I asked them for some details, but they didnt reply and so I made this. I wonder how many 1000's of pounds have been lost to other 'customers' of this store in PCN charges. If nothing is done, then it will continue. Next challenge is to find out who the land owner is and yes, I'll check the other threads for advice on how to do this, now that the store staff have refused to tell me. I wont post any questions until I've scoured the existing posts, like a good forumite 

Redx

And email a complaint with PCN reference number to the CEO of Iceland too , to tell him why his advertising budget is wasted when loyal customers get penalised with Private parking charge notices !!  Regardless of if they are the landowner or not

See the Countess823 complaint thread about McDonald's

95Rollers

Squirrel_Nut said:

If drivers can enter the store, then they can get a voucher. If they don't spend £5 in store, then my understanding is that they can still get one and once scanned at the machine, they can pay a small charge there (I'd just spend the money in the store, like I used to). The issue is that if the store closes before you can get a voucher, you can't pay at the machine. It's ridiculous. No voucher, no options and the PCN is going to land on your door mat.. Iceland don't care and just say ' the car park is nothing to do with us ' when approached. I know, because in following step 1 of the Newbies advice sticky I did exactly that. Any question about the car park gets the same standard answer from staff. Shame, as I used to like going there - but not any more! 

I would personally put up a Social Media status (tagging/ hashtagging/ linking them in) or on their own platform saying that you've shopped there for years and always liked them because they seemed like a good wholesome family brand etc - But sadly cannot anymore due to this incident which to you goes against your perception of their family friendly value for the people image.  Even though this store has gone you won't risk visiting their other nearby branches due to their choice of contractors (mention the contractors name - if it is Excel they boast of their partnership with Iceland on the website so Iceland obviously have more clout than what they are letting on - you just need to get someone senior in the organisation).

Tell that you went to the store, got the opening hours mixed up - online opening hours aren't always accurate these days since the pandemic has ended (I've gone to countless stores or coffee shops etc only to find out that Google has the opening hours wrong!).

I would put the status on the Iceland facebook/ Twitter and even Trustpilot (as companies often respond to this and comb it daily for Negative reviews) and mention the store didn't want to know and advise other people to think twice about shopping there or travelling by car due to how you've been treated and that you will probably be using another store due to the risks of unfair terms in Iceland carparks to a shop which might be slightly pricier - but has clearer carparking terms and thus will be cheaper in the longrun.  A polite post on how disgruntled you are tagging in other users would be good. Also worth mentioning that you are waiting to hear back from the local press (that could be a paper or even just local Facebook/ WhatsApp or newsletters - which all have the power to hurt their business and brand) and as a citizen have a duty to warn other locals so they don't fall into the same pitfall as you did as money is much tighter for most people in the current state of the national economy.  If all else has failed then this is a good way of piling the pressure on.

autumnr0se

@Squirrel_Nut I just received one of these too! Are you still a member on here? I am dyslexic and autistic and I can't understand the forms or all the rules that are in the newbie thread. 

I am interested in what you said to get yours overturned? 

Really hope you can help

Squirrel_Nut

Hi @autumnr0se, yes I am still a member on here. I'll have a look after work, as it was quite a while ago!

Le_Kirk

Read here and you will see the answer to your question  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78613472/#Comment_78613472

Coupon-mad

autumnr0se said:

I just received one of these too! Are you still a member on here? I am dyslexic and autistic and I can't understand the forms or all the rules that are in the newbie thread. 

I am interested in what you said to get yours overturned? 

Really hope you can help

Could you please post pics of both sides in a reply on this thread below, as we don't have a Horizon one from 2023:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6483542/a-thread-of-pictures-of-2023-parking-firm-ntks/p7

We will also be able to see if it's non-POFA.