UKPC Parking charge

[Binary1]

Hi, Would like some advice please.

on 16th August this year I parked in Lidl to get a small amount of shopping. Its free to park here and has always been. On this particular day, I parked my little 'smart car' not in a parking bay as it was busy, I parked it alongside a parking bay where there are no parking bay lines, not in anyones way at all. I was in the shop 6 minutes, and when I returned I had a 'ticket' on my windscreen from UKPC saying that I had parked incorrectly and was to pay either £90 or if I pay within 14 days it would be £45 !! This company must have only just taken over the car park as they have never been there before.

The 'ticket' stated 'Issue time 13.17pm, Time first seen 13.17pm. The receipt I got from Lidl's for my shopping was timed at 13.23pm. I am fuming that I am supposed to pay a parking charge at best of £45 for doing my shopping as I have always done which now the car park has now been infested with UKPC.

When I got home I immediately emailed them to appeal the charge and they sent me a generated reply stating they would reply withing 21 days.

This morning ( 26th September) I received a reply from their 'Appeals dept' saying the parking charge was 'correctly issued' and I have 14 days to pay the 'reduced' charge of £45.

Now, do I send these toe rags my hard earned £45, or do I just ignore them and wait for them to go away?????

[Michael Browne]

do I just ignore them and wait for them to go away?????

 

Yes, and don't pay them a penny.

[Nev Met]

Alternatively, contact (email) Lidl's head office, explain the circumstances (enclosing a copy of your receipt) and demand that they either cancel the PCN or make arrangements for you to return your shopping for a full refund.

 

Unless these huge companies are made aware of this sort of ridiculous and unethical behaviour being perpetrated in their name then nothing will change.

 

(EDIT since Lidls have started taking debit cards then it's also possible that your bank statements might evidence that you are a fairly regular Lidl's customer?)

[Binary1]

Thanks guys for your advice. I still have the till receipt for the shopping I purchased when I got that ****e 'charge notice'. I will not be paying the £45 or any other amount they ask me for. I have just written a snotty letter to UKPC telling them exactly what I think of them, and for them to stop sending any further correspondece to me, otherwise I will sue them under the protection of harassment act 1997 !! I have firmly decided that under no circumstances am I handing over one penny to them, no effin way !!

[Michael Browne]

I have firmly decided that under no circumstances am I handing over one penny to them, no effin way !!

That's the ticket!!

[Binary1]

Hi all

I have just received stage two of the UKPC rip off correspondence!

They have ignored the letter I sent them telling them politely to go forth and multiply!

The letter I have just received is the ' you now have to pay £90 as you didnt pay the £45 within the 14 days'.

Im not going to even bother to waste my time replying to this second letter but If I did I would make a letter headed sheet with a company name of:

Fraudsters Unite Causing Kaous Openly Fleecing Folk Limited.......

Do you think they would get the hidden message....!!!!

Edited October 14, 2012 by Binary1
Spelling check and hi lighting

[Binary1]

Hi all,

Today I received letter 3 from UKPC. The last one I ignored which was 'explaining' if I didn't pay the £45 in fourteen days it would go up to £90, I ignored it and put it in the 'rubbish' file. Today I received letter 3 from them explaining they would 'offer me a discount if I pay withing 14 days' if I pay them the £45 they think I owe them.... and if I don't pay within the fourteen days it goes back up to £90 and they will 'put the matter in the hands of their Debt Recovery Agents'!

They also have the nerve to add ' please do not expect any response from us' if I decide to send any correspondence back to them that does not have any additional information regarding my reasons for not paying !!! How very dare they .

The last sentence they have put is ' We hope you take advantage of the extended discount period and will send your remittance promptly' ! Its like they think this is some sort of special offer for something I am going to benefit from. What a bunch of fools. Needless to say, this third letter has joined the other two in my 'rubbish file' .

[Binary1]

I've just rung Lidl's head office and explained what is happening within their carparks. I explained my dialema and how unhappy I am and that UKPC are extorting money from Lidl customers for the pleasure of shopping in their stores. I am totally flumexed at the response from Lidl. The person I spoke to said ' you will have to take your compaint up with the parking company' ! I explained I was shopping in their store, giving them my money and had done so for quite a few years and I would not shop there again if they feel their customers are not important to them, but the lady whom I spoke to said, ' thats your choice, you have to take any parking problems up with the parking company' !! well, thats Lidls off my Christmas card list.... Tesco here I come

[Nev Met]

I always advise people to write/email and complain rather than pick up the phone.

 

It's all to do with the imposed psychology of the person who takes the call, they are under pressure (quite often self inflicted) to 'deal' with the problem completely there and then. In doing this they often fail to give due consideration to all the facts and the bigger picture.

 

If you write/email in you not only have an undisputed audit trail of your complaint but written complaints are for no apparent reason given a higher status that verbal or phone complaints.

 

Written complaints are carefully logged and assessed and a more considered response is provided. Written complaints are also used to monitor performance whereas for all you know there will be no record of your telephone complaint in the system.

 

Can I suggest that you therefore follow up with a written complaint, perhaps enclose copies of till receipts if available and give Lidl's another chance to respond.

 

If you google 'British Waterways' and 'clamping' you will find the following two quotes which counter Lidl's claim that it's nothing to do with them

 

1) Paul Watters, head of roads policy at the AA, said:

 

"Land owners have to bear some responsibility for what they allowed to happen on their land – they can't just agree a contract with a clamping firm and think it absolves them of responsibility.

 

"The credibility of well-known big firms can be severely damaged by cases like this."

 

2) Jo Abbott, spokesman for the RAC Foundation, said: "Companies needs to understand they are liable for the behaviour of their agents and motorists should be encouraged to let them know what is happening on their land."

 

Perhaps Lidl's need this pointing out to them?

[tomtubby]

Binary,

 

On behalf of a relative I spoke recently with Lidl and they told me that the main company that they use are ATHENA.

 

What was made CLEAR to me was that Lidl do NOT want to lose customers and that the purpose of having private car park operators is to ensure that their FREE car park is not used by people who merely want to park for free and shop elsewhere.

 

I was told that if a letter or email is sent to Lidl that the person making the complaint should enclose a copy of the bill or credit or debit card receipt to prove that purchases had been made in their store.

 

In my sisters case, she had paid cash and no longer had the receipt and I was informed that in such cases, a receipt from a PREVIOUS visit would be sufficient as this would show that my sister is a Customer of Lidl.

 

Email address: [email protected]

 

Postal address:

 

Customer Services Department

LIDL UK

Tailend Farm

Deans Road

Livingston

Scotland

EH54 8SE

[instrumentsofjoy]

...... Tesco here I come

 

Tax dodgers. Better elsewhere.......

 

Rather than Head Office - better go to the local manager.

 

BUT - the supermarket may have to pay for the speculative invoices the parking company issues if they decide to cancel them.

 

An alternative strategy is to fill the trolley up with mainly frozen goods and once it you have started to run it through the check out about halfway through - tell them you have to leave to get your car sorted out.

[Binary1]

Thanks everyone for the good advice, I will act on all of it, especially the trolley load of frozen goods. What a wonderful ideal. I still have the till receipt for the goods I purchased on that day so hopefull this may help, but even if I get no joy from Lidl I will not be paying UKPC one penny of my hard earned cash !

[tomtubby]

I really would suggest that instead of ignoring these tickets a letter should be sent to the relevant store. Unless this happens, the store/supermarket will never be aware that the public have complaints about these private car park operators.

[Surfer01]

Perhaps there should be a sticky with the contact details of the person responsible for marketing/parking at all the big supermarkets plus a template letter. Once they start receiving a few of these template letters plus evidence of shopping, perhaps they will sit up and take notice!

[Bailiff Advice]

Thanks tomtubby for the info about Lidl. I received one of these notices for parking at theire store in Sept. I have already complained to the Manager of the store as I was only 5 mins late in their "free" car park. I showed the Manager my receipt as proof that I was shopping in their store. He told me that they receive so many complaints and that I should write to Customer Service. I wasn't going to bother but I will now.

 

I want to complain to DVLA because they should not be allowed to sell my personal details without my consent. Does anyone have any details of where to write? Is there an email address?

[lamma]

You gave your consent on the vehicle registration document.

[Binary1]

Well.... I took the advice here to write to Lidl head office, and Friday I received this reply:

 

We refer to your recent correspondence with our Customer Service Dept regarding the Parking Charge Notice issued to you.

As you are probably aware, Lidl UK GmbH is a national retailer. As such we have stores in locations with limited parking space and in common with many of our competitors, our store car parks are abused to significant and detrimental extent.

The car park is private property and the restrictions in place are legally enforceable. The regulation pertaining to the car park use is clearly indicated on the numerous signs at the location.

Therefore in light of the above, we are unable to cancel the parking charge incurred. UKPC will request payment, in writing, in due course.

We would like to thank you for taking the time to contact our Customer Services Dept and hope that this matter can be resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Yours sincerely

Pam Waite

Car park services.

 

What a cop out letter. How very dare they !! No mention of thanks for being a Lidl customer etc etc.

 

And the folllowing day I received the Final Reminder from UKPC for £90!!! This leads me to believe that Lidl and UKPC are working very closely together.

I am fuming that even after I enclosed evidence to Lidl ( my till receipt) they have just more or less said 'go forth and multiply' !

I am not paying UKPC anything at all. No way.

Does anyone have any comments re the Lidls letter?

Thanks guys and gals for all your assistance.

[intend]

Re post 14 - good idea about a sticky. Just had some joy from Aldi - going to cancel the ticket and allow extra time parking. As for Lidl - continue not to pay, try to find someone higher up the food chain. Shop elsewhere.

 

Reply and state it will only be resolved when you cancel the ticket!

 

Intend

Edited November 11, 2012 by intend
add comment

[Surfer01]

Take the mickey and write back and inquire under which law is parking legally enforceable on private property? Actually demand that they supply the law. That should give them something to think about. Otherwise don't worry yourself about it as it is unenforceable anyway.

[Binary1]

Thanks for your reply's. I will send Lidl a reply asking the aformentioned question regarding proof of the law which makes it legally enforceable. I will report back when I get their reply.

Many thanks again

[DBC]

The reply from Ms. Waite is yet another example of a supermarket being conned into believing that a PPC has some sort of official standing.

[Binary1]

DBC, the letter was from their Head Office, not the supermarket.

I've thought about it, and to be honest I'm not even going to bother replying to either of them. Not Lidl or UKPC.

Im not going to waste my finger tips, printer ink or paper on either of them .

I will just file the letters I have received with the rest of them, shredded in the bottom of the hamster cage. At least my hamster is benefitting from the letters they are sending !!

[DBC]

But it was still from the supermarket's head office who ( I presume) were responsible for hiring the parking company.

[Binary1]

Hi DBC, Yes it was from Lidl's head office. Sorry, I thought you thought It was from the supermarket where I got the 'Parking charge'. I would assume they are responsible for hiring the PPC and looking at the reply from them, they are cosying up together!! I wonder if they get a percentage of money extorted from motorists who unknowingly pay up. I'm sure they must do, otherwise whats the incentive to have them in their car parks driving motorists away!

As I said, I'm not going to waste my time replying to either of them. Its just like spitting in the wind !!

[Binary1]

Unfortunately it didnt work for me.

 

I wrote to lidl's head office explaining & sending proof of purchase whilst shopping in there store for only SIX minutes.

 

They wrote back saying more or less tough, pay up !! I couldnt believe it.

 

Neeedless to say I'm not paying up NO WAY.

 

If thats how appreciative they are about their customers spending hard earned cash in their stores they are worse than the morons who issue these invoices.

 

I will not be paying the invoice from UKPC, no flipping way