Hi devsen you're absolutely right.

Hi, Crem We spend approx. £35 per week in Sainsbury's on food shopping. Every couple of weeks we fill up for about £45. When we pay for food shopping, we sometimes get vouchers which offer £12 off the next food bill if we spend £60 or more. We sometimes get a voucher in the post or at the checkout offering double nectar points when we buy petrol. We don't spend ANYTHING like the amounts you suggest! Have a good day! Our local Sainsbury's (off the A27) provides free parking. Parking should have a 'free' period but anything beyond that (however long or short the 'free' period is set) does need to have some reasonable, minimum charge to give other shoppers a chance to park, don't you think?

OK, HB, I'm a troll. We've earned the nectar points and got the discount. Ask how it works in any branch of Sainsbury's. We have also been able to earn double nectar points at Sainsbury's petrol satations. The point being that if that facility was extended to car parking, more folk would would to take part.

Hello, Crem Anyone who wants to park within reasonable walking distance of a certain facility will be prepared to queue and will accept t & c's that apply as in local authority, NCP, etc. car parks. Most people will wait to park for many different reasons. Sometimes multi-storey car parks have long queues to get in and you still have to get a ticket to make the barrrier go up. A few more seconds to punch in your car reg....? Maybe many drivers do not know their car reg. no. but they still have to check when they re-insure, apply for a tax disc as well as get their MOT's each year. Most supermarkets have a customer desk which also fulfills the 'reception' role. When you exit, as you do from airports, you have already been 'cleared' by a machine: I'm including the checkout 'til as well as reception as purchases other than parking may have come into play for some car park users. How long does it take to scan a credit card? Same sort of time for a parking ticket. Because there have been so many complaints from the public about parking facilities managed by PPC's, there needs to be some real changes which benefit the users in the first instance: they bring in the revenue to the stores. Wouldn't you rather speak to a store manager or on-site parking attendant about a faulty ticket dispenser than receive a letter in the post demanding you pay £70 or more? Sainsbury's tills already reads nectar cards, credit cards and can handle purchases for toppping up mobile phones. THey are happy to - each machine generates income - so could a parking facility. You're absolutely right about going to the surgery, barber's, etc., - it always takes longer than one thinks. No easy, 'free' answer available here. What does the rest of the population do? Sadly, there are more cars on the road than ever before and most of them want to park at some time near shops, etc.. If they could all park free of charge, say in your area, would there be enough spaces? Do you have any answers for them? We use our nectar card: if we spend £72, we get £12 off. Not bad. If you have had a "free" parking period, say 15 mins (maybe much more in some areas), I think it is reasonable for the owner of the parking facility to ask you to pay after that UNLESS you have made some in-store purchases or you have to pay a pre-set fee (ref: your parrking ticket). No-one can expect to park free of charge for as long as they like in ANY car parking facility that wants to attract shoppers. Generally, only out of town centres have very large expanses of free parking. Finally, unless we as consumers can agree t & c's with the stores providing the parking facilities, we will have third parties like PPC's behaving like bullies. What would most folk like?

Hi, dx100uk True, the markings have no basis in law: but if I was disabled, I would welcome having an area near the store where I could park, and I would hope that able-bodied users would respect those markings as I think most folk do. Admission to that store's car park, the prevailing t & c's regarding the use of the car park would still apply to any vehicle using it - not based in law but on the fact that we all want life to flow fairly easily: i.e. to have somewhere to park and to get on with our business there - without any punitive costs for overstaying - only a reasonable (cf: other local car parks) parking fee.

Actually, crem, it isn't. If you use any service or facility you will have to pay for it in some form or other - either point of contact or tthrough higher prices. What is in dispute (from earlier threads) is the appalling practice of 'fining' folk as well as the level of some 'fines' payable - some in excess of £70. There should be NO 'fine' payable - only a reasonable fee payable if one overstays OR a minimum store biill waives the fee. Already Waitrose in Worthing do this. Please see my response to Honeybee.

Actually, I am not. I have a 'fine' for £70 from one of the PPC's and which I have no intention of paying: I gather this one has had very little if any success when taking a non-payer to court or similar (law?) enforcing agent. Please see my response ro Honeybee. Have a good day!

Hi, HB I am all for fairplay: most car users want or need to use a car parking facility and when that facility's t & c's are clearly established (e.g. as printed on the parking ticket on admission to the car park), we can choose to park there or head for the exit gate and feed the ticket in (still within the "free" 15 min. period). Any charge for overstaying is either waived by a store bill over a pre-established amount OR the car park user pays a parking fee equivalent to the rate set by local pay-as-you-exit car parks: if the store car park user overstays during what the local pay-as-you-exit car parks charge for 'peak rate' parking, then that's the rate the user will have to pay on exit. Does that make sense? We quibble about lots of things and no system is perfect, but if the intention of the system is to provide a fair and just system, then people will buy into it.

Every parking facility has it limits, especially if it is a popular store or very close to other shops. You have to pay. Full stop - or if within the "free time", you conclude your business and can prove you spent money there. Already supermarkets provide parking bays for disabled drivers: I would hope that supermarkets would further encourage disabled drivers to use their store by offering them the parking ticket with all the info. on it as that customer enters the supermarket. The rest would follow on payment of the shopping biill.

there will always car park organisations who are ignorant of what makes for good customer relations - to the detriment of the store's reputation and the customers' opinions of that store. Car park organisations have a vested interest in making money and to ashow how efficient they are in generating that income. They have no interest in the individual customers of a store. It wouldn't come as a surprise to find out that store managers regret entering into contracts/agreements with these car park organisations because their store's reputation has suffered.

Maybe some supermarkets would offer widow(er)s special passes if they are frequent users and can prove they have spent money in the shop on those days, irrespective of the amount. It would be a good PR thing and may result in increased sales from other "would-be" frequent users.

I think the basic premise is that the owner of the car park is providing a parking facility: a potential user makes a choice to park there. There is no obligation to use the car park. Many people use buses and have to manage with that. If a user overstays in the car park, the checkout OR ticket machine OR reception desk will inform them of the overstay: the user can then ask for cash back, or hopefully have kept some cash in case it was needed to pay for the overstay.

Here's a simple thought: private car parks which can hold fifty or more cars MUST have a vehicle barrier which issues a parking ticket after the driver has punched in their car's number plate: the ticket should show the correct car registration, also show time of entry and any tariffs applicable for the rest of that day. VERY BOLD print on the ticket should indicate overstay charges and where these are payable for THAT DAY. The driver MUST hand the parking ticket to the reception desk OR machine OR checkout person when paying for purchases: to be scanned: If no purchases are made, first 15 mins. parking are free (because doctor's surgery, posting an important biill, leaving parcel nearby, etc., etc. need to be done - there is life beyond a supermarket car park). A scan will declare "free parking" for purchases over £25 if the car was parked beyond the "free" period - depending on where in a town or city the car park is located Folk who make purchases in the shop and exit well before their "free parking" period is over, earn the equivalent of nectar points against future shopping -credited on the returned ticket next time they shop. from: Howzit?