ParkingEye - Parking Charge Notice for 11' overstay at Lidl (SCOTLAND)

TempoPerso

Dear Forum folk,

I know there are already tons of posts on the subject and I appreciate most of you experts will be very tired with new people starting similar threads on the topic but your Newbie thread is not exhaustive of all the different combinations of fines/charges that people get and that is why we 'new users with little understanding of forums' keep opening new ones to get a straight answer to our issue.

Having said that, I will reiterate that I already checked the Newbie thread and several others and I am still unsure on how to proceed.

On the 28th Jan. I was in Dalkeith, Scotland to do groceries with my 4yo son. As we do it once every fortnight we buy a lot of stuff and it takes already quite some time. As nursery was closed I had to take my son with me, and of course with children everything takes double time. So I parked as tens of other times in the Lidl parking area, (unaware of any time limits as I never knew there were any as I never got any ticket for overstaying) and shopping, (inclusive of arriving, parking, entering the supermarket, buying, paying, packing, loading the car and leaving) took us 1h41', that is 11' minutes more than the supposed time limit of 1h30'.

(Btw, the total shopping was of 142£ and I do have copy of the receipt)

Last Friday I got a letter from Parking Eye saying I had to pay a Parking Charge Notice of 90£ (reduced to 45£ if paid sooner) within 28 days.

On the back it says that I can appeal and that if I want to do it I must write them - NOT the Landowner/Lidl - in paper or online, and that I can only appeal to POPLA once I appealed to them.

The letter comes with the BPA logo on it, photos of my car entering and exiting and of course the plate number. I read that the grace period is of 10', therefore there's no way I am going to pay 45£ for 1' actual overstay.

As I think it is unfair I am definitely going to appeal but I would like to know your recommendation in merit, please. Especially I don't understand whether I should write to Lidl, the landowner, as some of you suggest in other threads, or directly to Parking Eye.

Also, if writing to PE do you think is sufficient arguing that the length of the stay was not only due to the bulky purchase (of which I will attach proof) but to the fact that as a parent my focus in the supermarket was more on the whereabouts of my child than on the groceries themselves, as, as early as August last year a child has been kidnapped or 'lost' at a similar venue?

Please see > www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-teen-vanishes-lidl-store-24818283

and supporting the fact that I was with my son on Friday morning with the letter from the nursery stating that his class on that day was closed due to being short staffed for Covid...

Thanks in advance for your helpfulness and patience,

Bests,

TempoPerso

Fruitcake

The NEWBIES has specific advice for motorists is Scotland. It appears that you missed it.

The Keeper should complain to the landowner, the store manager, and the Lidl CEO, as well as their MP.

The Keeper should then Ignore anything and everything else except a court claim from a Scottish court in the next five years.

The Driver should sit on their hands in the corner and say and do nothing.

Note that this advice will change later this year when a vehicle keeper will become liable for a private parking charge, but at the moment only the driver is liable. Since the PPC do not know the identity of the driver, they are stuffed. Make sure they never find out who it is.

Note that it is not a good idea to tell the whole world on an internet forum that is monitored by PPCs anything about who did what.

The Driver parked the car.
The Keeper got an NTK.

As far as the law is concerned, these are two different people. The keeper has protections in law that the driver does not.

Coupon-mad

In view of the size of the receipt though, I would say in this case, appeal as KEEPER and attach the receipt (no saying who was driving or ANY story):

(Btw, the total shopping was of £142 and I do have copy of the receipt)

hullensien

Good luck with that
My partner had a similar situation with a Lidl in Skegness - an overstay of 11 minutes 17 seconds
6 emails of complaint to Lidl including the CEO - no joy
I then appealed to Parking Eye and advised them that I could find no planning consent for the ANPR cameras
I also told them that the camera picked up the car BEFORE i had actually entered the car park
Parking Eye cancelled the PCN!

Fruitcake

Coupon-mad said:

In view of the size of the receipt though, I would say in this case, appeal as KEEPER and attach the receipt (no saying who was driving or ANY story):

(Btw, the total shopping was of £142 and I do have copy of the receipt)

Go with C-m's advice. She is far more experienced than most with regard to the unregulated private parking industry. She is even a star of the "small screen!" 

Just note that if it is rejected, you then go into ignore mode because PoPLA isn't available to keeper's in Scotland (a very unfair and one sided system), only the driver, whose identity must never be revealed.

hullensien

Below is one of the 6 similar replies I received from 6 different customer service personnel

CEO’s email is christian.haertnagel@lidl.co.uk

Re: Parking Charge Notice

Thank you for contacting our CEO. I have been asked to reply to you on his behalf.

I was so sorry to learn that you received a parking charge. I appreciate this must be very frustrating for you.

As previously advised we must stress that we are unable to cancel any charges. We are also unable to offer vouchers for this as when a customer enters the car park they must abide by the car parking terms and conditions stated on the signs.

You can appeal this directly with the car parking company using receipts or bank statements showing the Lidl transaction to show you are a genuine customer. The car parking company is not there to penalise our customers but to help maintain our car park for Lidl customers only.

Thanks again for your contact.

Yours sincerely,

For and on behalf of Lidl Great Britain Limited

D_P_Dance

PE's signs are pants, read this and complain to your MP.   

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972164/parking-eye-signs-oxford-road-reading/p1

Le_Kirk

hullensien said:

Below is one of the 6 similar replies I received from 6 different customer service personnel

CEO’s email is christian.haertnagel@lidl.co.uk

Re: Parking Charge Notice

Thank you for contacting our CEO. I have been asked to reply to you on his behalf.

I was so sorry to learn that you received a parking charge. I appreciate this must be very frustrating for you.

As previously advised we must stress that we are unable to cancel any charges. We are also unable to offer vouchers for this as when a customer enters the car park they must abide by the car parking terms and conditions stated on the signs.

You can appeal this directly with the car parking company using receipts or bank statements showing the Lidl transaction to show you are a genuine customer. The car parking company is not there to penalise our customers but to help maintain our car park for Lidl customers only.

Thanks again for your contact.

Yours sincerely,

For and on behalf of Lidl Great Britain Limited

Dear Lidl
Thank you for your reply and thank you also for spoiling my last ever visit to any of your stores.  I cannot afford to shop there any more if every visit comes with a £100 surcharge.  I am sure my friends and family will feel the same!

Coupon-mad

As I said yesterday (on another thread) Lidl won't cancel it but ParkingEye will, due to the receipt.

TempoPerso

Hi folks,

thank so much for all your inputs and recommendations.

If I understood you all well, Lidl doesn't give a crap about the PCN, therefore is useless to complain to them. I should write instead to PE saying I am the keeper of said vehicle and that on that date I did a big purchase at Lidl which took a long time and that I spent such and such and adding the receipt as proof, but I should stay clear of including too many details and of saying who was driving. And that's it? Anything else?

Thanks again,

Tempo Perso

Btw, what's the point of complaining to the local MP? he doesn't care, he's most likely going to tell me how sorry he is and that he can't do much about it ...

TempoPerso

Fruitcake said:

The NEWBIES has specific advice for motorists is Scotland. It appears that you missed it.

The Keeper should complain to the landowner, the store manager, and the Lidl CEO, as well as their MP.

The Keeper should then Ignore anything and everything else except a court claim from a Scottish court in the next five years.

Dear Fruitcake, I appreciate your honest and curt advice, you must be really tired of Newbies not taking the time to read thoroughly the dedicated section. However Time is what all of this is about.

Because of this unfair PCN, I had to spend a considerable amount of my time researching online, here and elsewhere, the best course of action, the one which will give me more chances to get this fine lifted. That is why you will excuse me if I don't complain to Lidl, the local MP and HM the Queen of England, as I don't see the point of doing it. As it appears clear from other comments they are not going to lift a finger about it and I have already wasted enough time on this matter. However, if, as Coupon-mad rightly mentioned, there is a chance in writing to PE, appealing as the Keeper, but staying clear of providing too much compromising info, well then I shall try that.

Any way thanks for your sound advice.

TP