Aldi and Parking Eye hit the news in Bristol

[pin1onu]

Aldi and Parking eye have hit the front page of Saturday Bristol Evening Post after they tried to sting a pensioner for £70 for an 11 minute overstay. For the story click here.

I have written the following letter to the editor and copied the journalist who wrote the story. I'm hoping to alert many people to these scams and have also put in a plug for CAG. I will post back if it gets published or I get a response.

"Your story on the pensioner handed a £70 “fine” for overstaying in Aldi car park (01/03/2008) and your editorial comment is factually incorrect and potentially misleading.

Only bodies authorised by statute or a court can issue fines to anybody. Aldi and Parking Eye as private companies do not fall into either category. What this charge amounts to is an invoice for an alleged breach of contract.

You correctly pointed out that a charge notice would be fought in a civil court. It should be pointed out that anyone facing such action is entitled to defend the charges. These cases will be heard in the small claims court. Bailiffs will only become involved if the claimant wins the case and the defendant then refuses to pay.

Aside from these issues there is also a question of the enforceability of such a charge. It could be reasonably argued that the amounts being demanded are penalty charges which have been illegal under existing case law in England and Wales for over 100 years. (Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. v New Garage & Motor Co. Ltd). It could also be argued that the terms of this parking contract constitute unfair terms which are outlined in The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999) which state that a term may be regarded as unfair when “requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation”. Given that Aldi’s car parks are free, £70 is disproportianately high.

I would advise any reader who has received an invoice of this nature from any private parking company to seek further advice before paying it. A free guide to Private Parking Charges and further information can be found at http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...affic-offences."

[green_and_mean]

The story does actually state the charge is not a fine?

Your claim that the £70 is too high is actually just as missleading since the store can claim for consequential loss such as loss of trade, not just the cost of the car parking charge. Car parking is free to customers for a limited period only as stated on the signs beyond that time its £70. Who decides what is fair, my local NCP car park is £22 a day can I just decide thats a bit steep and refuse to pay?

[JonCris]

No but CP their signs do as I recall

For them to be able to claim £70 excess parking charge in damages & win they would have to prove a loss of £70 & in this case a loss that occurred within 7 minutes apparently

As for the NCP the cost is displayed when you enter the CP therefore your entering into a contract where you agree to pay a certain charge.

A supermarket CP is different in that it is provided for a specific purpose & that it to provide parking for their customers. They are actively encouraging customers to park in their CP in order to shop & unless the car owner has not shopped there & it can be proven that they have stopped another prospective shopper shopping at their store by filling their CP to capacity they have no case

[green_and_mean]

Originally Posted by JonCris

No but CP their signs do as I recall

For them to be able to claim £70 excess parking charge in damages & win they would have to prove a loss of £70 & in this case a loss that occurred within 7 minutes apparently

As for the NCP the cost is displayed when you enter the CP therefore your entering into a contract where you agree to pay a certain charge.

A supermarket CP is different in that it is provided for a specific purpose & that it to provide parking for their customers. They are actively encouraging customers to park in their CP in order to shop & unless the car owner has not shopped there & it can be proven that they have stopped another prospective shopper shopping at their store by filling their CP to capacity they have no case

There is no difference in terms of contract between parking in an NCP car park and a Supermarket that charges a fee after a set period as long as the cost is clearly displayed. Virually impossible to enforce since the land owner has no proof of who parked but the principle is the same. If it says the cost of parking after one hour is a flat fee of £70 I fail to see how you can object?

[lookinforinfo]

Green and mean the headline says the OAP was fined, as does the opening
sentence. I adnit that the paper admits further down the article that they are not official fines, but that still leaves the impression that it is an unofficial fine does it not?
It would be hard to claim loss of trade in light of the facts that
a] the lady was parked for twenty minutes before the store was even open-so no loss of trade then.
b] only if the store could prove that other cars could not park because the carpark was full could they claim loss of trade.
c] to prove a loss of trade of £70 the storewould have to prove that figure.
And it would have to be a loss of profit rather than turnover would it not.
d]it would be offset by the fact the lady was a customer there and had spent
money in their store.

Interesting that it was the store that appeared to cancel the charge rather than Parking Eye.

[green_and_mean]

Originally Posted by lookinforinfo

Green and mean the headline says the OAP was fined, as does the opening
sentence. I adnit that the paper admits further down the article that they are not official fines, but that still leaves the impression that it is an unofficial fine does it not?
It would be hard to claim loss of trade in light of the facts that
a] the lady was parked for twenty minutes before the store was even open-so no loss of trade then.
b] only if the store could prove that other cars could not park because the carpark was full could they claim loss of trade.
c] to prove a loss of trade of £70 the storewould have to prove that figure.
And it would have to be a loss of profit rather than turnover would it not.
d]it would be offset by the fact the lady was a customer there and had spent
money in their store.

Interesting that it was the store that appeared to cancel the charge rather than Parking Eye.

I think the point of the story is that the lady was 'fined' by Parking Eye and then goes on to say the fine is not valid. Many private parking companies do issue fines and penalty charge notices which may not be legal but surely if thats what they do that is what should be reported?
I am aware that £70 may be hard to prove I was simply stating that as the parking was free that no damages or loss could be claimed.

[pin1onu]

Letter was published in full tonight complete with the web link. Hopefully people will find their way to Pete's guide and Bernie's template letters and thus close down some more revenue for these scam artists.

Alongside my letter was another moaning about the DVLA releasing private information.

BTW G&M I do make the point in my letter that £70 for a 20 minute overstay is rather high especially in an otherwise free car park.

Remember they are charging the fee for a breach of contract i.e. an overstay. Therefore even if a penalty charge is not applicable £70 under the unfair terms in a consumer contracts is.

[Conniff]

Originally Posted by Minstreller

She deserved to pay. The rules are the rules. It is black and white.

Troll on the prowl.

[Gronk]

I received a charge from Parking Eye for parking overnight in the Wollaston Aldi car park. Needless to say I did not park there. What appears to have happened is I visted the store on 26/08/2008 and could not get the product I required so I returned to the store next day. Either by error or design the system only registered my arrival on 26 and departure on 27. I live alone but I think I have a way of proving not only my case but others as well. More to follow when I get the required information.

[Al27]

You don't actually have to do anything. Just simply ignore any letters you receive from them and they will go away. Parking Eye simply do not do anything apart from give up after 4 or 5 letters.

[ConcernedPerson]

Bridgend Aldi

I'm in the same situation, and have received a letter that says pay £70 for 17 min and 23 secs overstay (a Discount £40, if i pay early). Whats the advice. Wise to pay, or totally dumb? Thanks to all who post constructive response. This is the first time that it has happened to me, so i'm concerned.

[lamma]

just ignore it. check out the stickies and do a search on Aldi on here.

[Gronk]

don't forget Aldi do not want any adverse publicity so whether you decide to pay or not contact:-
Paul Foley
UK Managing Director
Aldi Stores Ltd
Holly Lane
Atherstone
Warwickshire
CV9 2SQ
01827 711800
Explain and request a review in the light of the short time aledgedly overstayed.
do not delay.

[Badday]

I received a parking charge notice from ParkingEye yesterday. I was not the driver and the car was parked on an almost empty carpark at 8pm at night when the only store on the site opened was Blockbuster. The charge is £80 for being parked 19 minutes over the time displayed. ParkingEye has only recently taken over the car park management and the driver was not aware that the parking rules for this carpark had changed. On the new signage parking time allowed etc is in a large font. However in comparison the fact that these times now apply 24 hours is in a very small font. Having read all the useful information on this topic I will send off the suggested template letter. Does anyone know of a case that they have actually taken to court? As a senior law abiding citizen my natural impulse was just to pay the £50 reduced fee. Emotionally this has proved very upsetting and even though I intend to follow the advice provided in this forum I still feel incredibly anxious.

[Conniff]

Welcome to cag Badday.

Don't feel anxious, there is a lot of experience in this forum and if you stick to the advice given, you will learn that you are right and Parking Eye is a cowboy outfit with no other goal in life than to rip people like yourself off.

You should start your own thread on this.

Go to the 'Parking and Traffic Offences index (just click this link) - Parking / Traffic Offences - The Consumer Forums

and at the top you will see "New Thread". Click on that and away you go.