Lidl Parkingeye PCN - Lidl claim they cannot cancel?

_MrBojangles_

Lidl Eltham: has ANPR with the usual VRM terminal - however the terminals have been either absent/out of action/covered in plastic bags over the last year. Apparently they're now functional again as invoice received from Parkingeye. Driver was shopping at Lidl that day and has proof, so presumably would get cancelled at appeal, however I am fundamentally opposed to dealing with those parasites so emailed customer services at Lidl (with proof of shopping) asking them to cancel it.

After a surreal afternoon of receiving multiple word-for-word identical replies from them absolving Lidl of all responsibility, I finally got an email that addressed my actual questions (although I suspect the paragraphs were still copy pasted from their customer service templates). Key paragraphs from their email:

"I apreciate [sic, maybe it wasn't a total copy paste job?!] you do not want to deal with the parking management company directly however I must stress that we are unable to cancel any car parking charges or appeal on your behalf.

The customer who receives the charge must appeal it with the car parking company directly on the grounds that they were shopping at our store, if you have any receipts you can use this as proof as the company is not there to penalise our genuine customers.

I am extremely sorry that we are unable to help from Customer Services but to get this resolved quickly and efficiently we urge you to contact them directly as we are unable to intervene and appeal any charges from here."

I'm assuming this must be total baloney and is just another attempt to fob me off? Should I just give up and appeal to the vultures? All advice gratefully received!

Redx

Tell them they are jointly and severally liable for the actions of their contractors and they will be conjoined into any counter claim that you make , requiring them to attend court along with their contractor , so to seek legal advice seeing as they believe that they have no responsibilities under the parking contract that they agreed and signed , which is clearly not true

Or they can cut their losses and cancel the PCN at zero cost

_MrBojangles_

Thanks Redx, that's given me the motivation to try another one! Here's what I've written so far, shall I hit send?

"Dear Mr Häertnagel,

Thank you for referring this email to a customer service advisor, who, as you can see, made an attempt to address my concerns. 

I'm afraid I reject the assertions made by your representative that Lidl cannot instruct Parkingeye to cancel parking charge notices. Your implication that you bear no responsibility for the actions of a company you contract seems incredibly unlikely. I believe you are jointly and severally liable for the actions of your contractors. For reasons I have outlined previously I do not desire to enter into any communication with a company renowned for its predatory behaviour and violations of privacy regulations, and I do not feel that I should have to as I have already provided photographic evidence to your customer service representative (the contents of said email being completely ignored by your representative) that the driver was a customer at Lidl Eltham that day, and the parking policies of said store have historically been inconsistently applied.  

Should Parkingeye decide to take this matter to court please be advised that Lidl will be conjoined into any counterclaim that I make, requiring legal representatives of Lidl to attend court along with Parkingeye. 

I hope you feel as I do that a far simpler, and customer friendly, solution to this situation would be for Lidl to contact Parkingeye directly and demand the cancellation of this incorrect and unfair charge. 

If Lidl persists in these attempts to absolve itself of responsibility I will ensure that my friends, family, and community are made fully aware of the contempt Lidl holds for its genuine customers. Similarly I will be writing to my local MP and press and informing them of these onerous parking restrictions and predatory and threatening behaviour of Lid's contractors towards its customers. 

As a reminder, the Ref number of the PCN from Parkingeye is ########

I look forward to your notification that this matter has been resolved to our mutual satisfaction. "

Redx

A few typos but otherwise seems a reasonable response , make sure that the company name is correct etc

Maybe mention that they should read the parking eye handbook which every client has after signing the contract , especially the part about cancelling a PCN on behalf of a genuine customer

D_P_Dance

I like it!

patient_dream

Wonder when the customer service of Lidl will wake up and understand that it is customers who pay their wages and not a parking cowboy.

Sounds to me that PE control Lidl and the CEO, Mr Häertnagel is being taken for a fool

_MrBojangles_

Their online customer service is an absolute trash fire - it seems the agents look for a keyword in your email, ignore the rest, and then reply with one from a list of templates (and not checking whether their colleague already sent you that exact same email twice already). It's like being trapped in a Lynchian surrealist nightmare. 

D_P_Dance

I am sure that a few adverse comments on Facebook, twitter, etc.  will help them see the light.  

Coupon-mad

Same as this one the other day:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6308778/parking-eye

Umkomaas

I think I'd be asking Lidl to confirm whether or not they have, in their contract with PE, given them authorisation to sue Lidl customers through the civil courts. 

I'd also ask at what spend point does the cancellation of a parking charge becomes automatic. You believe that there is a threshold point which is a 'hidden term' within a contract and which offends against contract law. 

hullensien

I have exactly the same problem

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6307247/parkingeye-overstaying-in-lidl-carpark