Father contacted Athena Ltd ! **CANCELLED**

[shortwoman68]

My father is in his 70's and was worried when he received a Parking Fine from Athena Ltd and complained to me that he actually parked in their car park and shopped in the Lidl store.

 

He was there for quite a while and I am unsure if he went anywhere else either way the ticket states he was 1 hour and 13 minutes.

 

In his annoyance my father contacted Athena to complain about the ticket and was given a deadline to appeal but handed it to me to write to them.

 

I was very dismayed that he contacted them and informed him that he should not bother with civil parking fines but as an elderly person he is worried.

 

My concern is that as he had made contact with them, he has admitted to being the driver of the vehicle. Should I write to them or leave it?

[BankFodder]

You should not ignore this. If you intend to resist it for any reason then you should write to them and warn them that you do not intend to pay and that if they decide to see you that you will defend the matter.

 

Please have a look through these forums to understand more about the whole subject

[shortwoman68]

I have read through the forum and came across a draft letter which another member has written. Their situation is similar to my fathers as they received the same type of notice. Please could you let me know if this would be fine to send.

 

To who it may concern

 

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle with registration number XXXX XXX and as such have received a 'Civil parking chargeicon Notice' with reference number 000XXXXXX from Athena ANPR ltd which purports to invoice a parking charge notice as a result of the vehicle being left in the Lidl supermarket car park in xxxxxxxxxxxx, on the 22nd Septemberl 2016 for longer than an allowed duration of stay.

 

I have reviewed the documentation and the signage in place at the car park in question and appeal the claim on the grounds that the signage does not legally create a contract between Athena ANPR and the driver of the vehicle which could have been breached and result in the unreasonable charge which has been requested. The details on the signage contain no core terms of a contract, therefore no contract was able to be considered by the driver of the vehicle on entering the car park and as such no breach of contract resulting in a charge could have occurred.

 

As requested by the documentation I am appealing this charge within the 21 days of receiving the notice and using an acceptable communication channel and would appreciate if you do not attempt to retrieve monies from myself as keeper of this vehicle by misrepresentation or attempt to intimidate me into paying this unreasonable and false charge.

 

Regards

 

What do you think?

[ericsbrother]

they will completely ignore that,

what you should do is get on to Lidl with the receipt for the shopping in hand and tell them that it takes an elderly person more than an hour to do their shopping and that they have the power to get this cancelled if they wish.

 

 

If they dont wish then they should accept the return of the items for a refund as the person does not need to be exploited by your company or its agents.

 

 

You will be happy to meet the manager of the store to hand over the goods in the presence of the local press so there is no misunderstanding as to why this is happening when it is reported.

 

One of the few ways of getting to these companies is to embarass them.

 

In the meanwhile,

tell us where the store is and we will do some digging as to whether there is a condition on the planning consent that sets a time limit for customer parking as often there is a stipulated 2 or 3 hours free parking.

If not, do Athena have planning permission for their signs we wonder.

[dx100uk]

it is not a FINE!!

 

 

its a speculative invoice

[dx100uk]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?462118-Have-you-received-a-Parking-Ticketlease

 

 

please fill this out

 

 

dx

[shortwoman68]

Unfortunately my dad did not keep the receipt for his shopping as he does not feel the need to.

The branch is Lewisham Lidl.

 

 

I have read through other instances online and notice that one of the sign states 1 and a half hours FREE PARKING

but I cannot see anywhere that states for Lidl customers.

 

 

It states 'if your vehicle remains in this car park for more than 1 and a half hours you agree to pay £90'.

 

 

The rest appears to be in small print that you would have to go up close to see it which most people would not.

 

 

Here is the link below:

 

http://www.dearcustomerrelations.com/2016/04/lidl-2/

[dx100uk]

another stupid website that insist on calling them fines!!

 

 

dx

[ericsbrother]

you could remind Lidl of the case of the 1st April 2016 at their Yate, Bristol store (see Daily Mirror article)

 

 

we need to know exactly which store it was as there are 3 Lidl's in Lewisham borough.

 

 

If it is the one in Plassy rd, on the retail estate adjoining JD Sports

then I would bet that Lidl dont own the land and thus the agreement they have with Athena is worthless.

 

An image of the signage will be useful, can get on to lweisham council one you have told us exactly which store.

[shortwoman68]

I visited the Lidl store in Lewisham, Lee High Road today and tried to take a picture of the sign but it was too high for me (I am 4ft 11in), however I did managed to take down the wording. There were around 6 signs dotted around the car park.

 

The signs read:

 

Maximum stay 90 minutes per store

 

Charges for staying in car park - Lidl customers up to 90 minutes. No charge

A charge of £90 applies to the driver of the vehicles that exceed the time limits and all non-customers.

 

No return within 2 hours or a charge of £90 will apply.

 

Users of this care park who do not properly register their vehicle at the check out agree to paying a parking charge of £90.

 

Ask a member of staff for assistance.

 

Any help with this??

 

Just another question why does their notices state on their payment section: Reduced Parking charge £45 Reduced charge due date 6/10/2016 Parking charge due date 20/10/2016

They say to pay a reduced rate you need to pay within 14 days but then state that you have 21 days to appeal. You could decide to pay and then change your mind and appeal which means that you would be outside the reduced rate payment. Not fair I dont think!

[shortwoman68]

I completed the form that was requested.

 

For tickets received through the post (Notice to Keeper) please answer the following questions.

 

1 Date of the infringement - 20/09/2016

2 Date on the NTK – none as my father has yet to appeal

3 Date received 22/09/2016

4 Does the NTK mention schedule 4 of The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012?

 

5 Is there any photographic evidence of the event? A very dark picture of his number plate which they state is my father’s car entering the car park and a brighter picture of his number plate which they state is him leaving the car park

6 Have you appealed? Not yet

Have you had a response?

 

7 Who is the parking company? Athena Ltd

 

8. Where exactly Lidl Lewisham, Lee High Road, SE13

For either option, does it say which appeals body they operate under.

There are two official bodies, the BPA and the IAS. If you are unsure, please check here

 

They state that if they reject you appeal then they will provide you with the details of IAS.

I notice that on the letter it states

‘This notice is deemed to have been given to you on the second working day after the Date of Sending above’.

 

 

Unless this letter is sent by ‘next day guarantee’ which it was not that they cannot assume that it was received the next day.

 

Can I just point out that when I asked my father about not registering his car at the car park, he said that he didn't realise that he had to as he has never had to do this in any other retail car park. He only picked up that there was free parking for 90 minutes and that was all he registered.

 

Please assist and my father is becoming very anxious now.

[shortwoman68]

Just an update

 

 

my father for once, did not throw away his receipt for Lidl's.

 

 

I can only assume that they charged my father for not registering his details.

He did shop in Lidl but also went to the doctors and chemist nearby.

 

 

Today is the last day of the 14 day deadline for early payment

 

 

he would still like to appeal this extortionate charge.

 

 

Is there anything he can do?

 

The receipts are in two parts and are attached.

First part of till receipt from Lidl Lewisham - 20.09.16.pdf

Second part of till receipt from Lidl Lewisham - 20.09.16.pdf

[shortwoman68]

I want to send off my fathers appeal letter today, please can anyone let me know if this is ok. thank you

 

Vehicle Registration No. XXXXXXX

Incident Date 20/09/2016

Parking Charge Notice No.X XXX XXX XXX

Parking Charge Issue Date:

 

Dear Sirs,

 

I, as registered keeper, wish to invoke your appeals procedure. The driver, although noticed the signs stating 90 minutes of free parking for Lidl customers at the Lidl in Lewisham, they did not notice the information stating that drivers need to register their vehicles registration number at the store. It is not the drivers usual store and as this is not the requirement of other stores in the area they did not notice this unusual request. However the driver did shop instore (copy of receipts attached).

 

In any event your charges are penal in nature and not a genuine pre estimate of loss.

 

I am under no statutory obligation to name the driver and will not do so.

 

If you reject my appeal please supply a popla code.

 

Yours,

[ericsbrother]

too polite but keep it mostly as it is. I would change it to state that there was no breach of conditions as the driver was a customer and can prove it by way of the attached receipts. Should you continue to make unfounded claims I shall initally make a complaint to the owners of the site and then take the matter further.

Avoid mentioning panalty charges and obligations of naming driver, it makes it look like you have just looked up a stock internet letter and dont know anything yourself and that means they are more likely to reject as they think you will then believe their taradiddles.

[shortwoman68]

Thank you very much for this response. I will make the changes. I have now changed it to this.

 

Dear Sirs,

 

I, as registered keeper, wish to invoke your appeals procedure. The driver, although noticed the signs stating 90 minutes of free parking for Lidl customers at the Lidl in Lewisham, they did not notice the information stating that drivers need to register their vehicles registration number at the store. It is not the drivers usual store and as this is not the requirement of other stores in the area they did not notice this unusual request.

 

There was no breach of conditions as the driver was a customer and can prove it by way of the attached receipts. Should you continue to make unfounded claims I shall initially make a complaint to the owners of the site and then take the matter further.

[shortwoman68]

Is it ok to email the letter and a copy of the receipts?

[ericsbrother]

As Athena are IPC members I would just not bother appealing unless you just want to see what they say. They have never agreed with a motorist becasue they deliberately misapply irrelevant superceded case law.

[shortwoman68]

Unfortunately I am appealing on the behalf of my father who is in his 70's and very anxious about this situation. If i told him not to worry, he would worry more about any further letters he would receive requesting more money.

[ericsbrother]

complain to Lidl and tell them that you expect them to get this claim cancelled.

 

If you appeal to Athena first

they will tell Lidl that it has been dealt with

and Lidl will say that it is out of their hands.

 

 

You should be telling Lidl that robbing a pensioner for being a loyal customer is not the way to generate business or goodwill.

Embarrass the hell out of them, they understand ridicule and dont like it.

 

Once you have got a response then you can go after Athena.

 

Which Lewisham store was it,

as said,

they dont own the land on the one near the high st so more leverage there.

 

If you father is really worried he can name you as driver

and then you can take it on when they write to you as the driver at the time.

rare to advise this but in your circumstances may be prudent.

[shortwoman68]

Thank you for this. I will.

[shortwoman68]

Thank you everyone. My fathers received 3 letters stating that his parking charge is cancelled!

[dx100uk]

from whom?

[ericsbrother]

Good, keep them safe for the moment.

[shortwoman68]

From Athena.