To expect to be able to park at supermarkets for FREE?

[empie]

Our local Sainsburys in Kenilworth has just introduced a policy whereby you have to pay £1 to park, and you get it refunded if you spend over £10 (yes, £10) in store.

Okay, so admittedly I was one of the people that used to abuse the free parking facility by nipping into town at the same time but I ALWAYS used to walk through Sainsburys and pick up a few bits, so I did pay my way if you like.

Likewise, when we hit Grumpy Hour at around 5.30, I often pop up there and walk around for a bit, and get a few things even if it's only a pint of milk and a loaf of bread.

Like a lot of SAHM's I'm a little and often shopper rather than a big once a month shopper, but where do supermarkets get off making you PAY to go and spend money in their shop, and then telling you how much money you need to spend? Needless to say, Sainsbury's won't be getting any more of my money as I have switched over to the dark side (internet shops), but surely I am not being unreasonable!!!!

[DebitheScot]

Our local Asda only has a public carpark (the shop is attached to a shopping centre) and you have to pay to park 24 hours a day and you don't get it back when you shop there.

[DebitheScot]

and its an hourly rate so you need to know how long it'll take for you to do your shopping before you go in

[Aquababe]

I don't mind paying for our local sainsburys as I invariably will spend over 10 pounds any way

[Hillls]

empire that is terrible! My local sainsburys you have to pay £1 for 2 hours but you get that back in store if you spend more than £5, still pretty steep but £10 is something to speek to the manager about I'd say.

[LIZS]

We now have this but you can have half an hour free by just pressing for a ticket . Not that it is easy to negotiate their queues in that time although a few items may be possible. Personally it annoyes me , especially since the refund relies on the assistant remembering (I never do) and I also need a £ coin for a trolley.

[theslownorris]

The big Asda near us charges,but it is right opposite the railway station and there is NO free parking anywhere in town for over 2 hours stay. If they didn't charge there would be no parking for customers .

[Hillls]

I got a £70 fine once for spending 2 hours in tescos

[zippitippitoes]

well it's either that or nowhere to park as people abuse it

it is private so they could charge more

[empie]

Well, the local papers have been full of it (it's what passes for news round here ) and there have been several strongly worded letters from Annoyed of Kenilworth, and of the gangs of pensioners that stalk the streets ( I don't know why people moan about kids in hoodies, the pensioners are far worse) are all boycotting it, so sainsbury's is now bound to go bust.

I mean, it's not like Kenilworth is retail magnet of the West Midlands, it's got like 15 charity shops, sadly not an exaggeration, a Boots, and a Costa Coffee and that's about it.

The Sainsbury's manager says that people were parking there all day and there was no room for genuine customers, and I can see his point, that isn't on - but I am sure they know who the offenders are, couldn't they just clamp them or something and let the rest of us get on with it?

This ranting board is sooooo cool, I feel so much better already!

[expatinscotland]

Do they do parking validation?

This happens often enough in the US, which has a lot of multi-storey car parks, but you get free parking if you get validation at the till, even if you just shopped and didn't buy anything.

Of course, they know if you're taking the mick because the time of entry is printed on your ticket.

Otherwise, people take the piss and use it as free parking and then there's no parking for customers.

They also tow away people who are parked there who are not customers quite stringently. The shop just contracts with a tow company and they do all the monitoring.

But no, if you're patronising the shop then you shouldn't have to pay to park.

[bonkerz]

Definately not on and good for you going to the dark side! Our local co-op charge to park BUT you get £2 off your shopping!

[littleducks]

New sainsburys near me is attached to a council car park and so is £1.50 to park for two hours refunded if you spend £15 instore, so i walk but if i want heavy things i go elsewhere but i live very close.

But where i lived previously when tesco charged to park there were no spaces and long queues causing traffic jams as commuter parked and paid for 8 hours so they switched to free parking but max. three hours and lots of people did then go into the high street, a special access bridge had been built so not unexpected but there were still spaces for customers.

[ChippyMinton]

where we used to live, you got back £1 if you parked and spent £5 in Sainsburys, which is a more acceptable level. Mind you, the cheapest parking ticket was 50p so DH would walk there at lunchtime, buy a 50p parking ticket and claim back a £1, making 50p on his shopping.

[NuttyMuffins]

You have to pay to park by our Aldi, but thats because the carpark, a pay and siplay one, was there before Aldi was, and was to service shoppers using the shops in the town centre.

However, if you park on this car park now, all you do is go into Aldi and buy anything doesn't matter how much, and they will stamp your reciept and you don't have to pay.

[LunarSea]

Never mind empie - when Kenilworth gets it's new Waitrose, half of Sainsbury's customers will defect anyway! I wondered if this was going to be a Kenilworth thread as soon as I saw the title - used to live in Kenilworth, and am only about 5 miles away now. tbh I never pay to park in Kenilworth anyway - you can almost always park (free) on Bertie Road, just behind the main carpark, and walk through to Warwick Street.

[MrsWho]

All our supermarkets have a time limit (and parking wardens ) but no charges. They all allow 2 hours but some of them are next door and if you cut through walking rather than drive round you can get a ticket.

[TheDuchessOfNorksBride]

I wouldn't pay to park at a supermarket.

If they gated their car parks so they couldn't be used outside store opening times it would deter people using it whilst they're at work.

In terms of people using it to shop in other stores around town, I daresay the supermarket made a lot of noise about being 'part of the community' and 'adding value to this towns shopping experience' when they applied for planning. In which case they should accept others parking there.

[LIZS]

expat they used to do the system you mention but it required someone employed to sit in the kiosk and check the cars out. More often than not that person would knock off by mid afternoon so anyone parking all day got off scotfree. Now they have this pay and display system . Surely if the mnaximum stay were, say . two hours just a preprinted , displayed ticket would show how long a car had been there , without any need ot pay, or there would be the hassle of renewing it during the day for overstayers.

[unknownrebelbang]

We've got a mixture of free, limited and refundable parking, you get used to it.

[chocolattegirl]

Write to Sainsburys expressing your disgust and point out that you are a frequent shopper there. I have to say where I live the high street parking is generally chargable but the supermarkets carparks are free. Go into the next 'town' and you have to pay as on-street parking is scarce and it's residental permit land everywhere (plus it borders on two boroughs so different rules apply very close together).

[SueW]

Our local Tesco has introduced a clamping scheme if you park for more than three hours 'in response to customer feedback because you said it's difficult to park'.

Er, no, it's not, never has been. Asda across the road is much more popular. Even at times when you might expect Tesco to be packed, the car park isn't.

Of course, it's entirely possible that since the council agreed planning permission for these two massive superstores in our town centre which are gradually killing off the small local stores that the council's own car park revenue has plummeted because you have to pay to go in the public parking but not in the Tesco/Asda car parks.

Aldi is undergoing renovations at the moment and will be introducing an automatic £25 fee, controlled by number plate recognition technology and a barrier for anyone who parks for over an hour

[SparklyGothKat]

We live in parish town, which means that we pay extra on our council town and the shops are not supposed to charge for parking. Asda tried to do when they rebuilt the store but were told no. Anyway, the local shopping centre has started to charge for parking, £1 for 2 hours, lots of people are boycotting it as its unfair. They only did it to stop the students parking up and staying there all day, while in leatures, but we pay extra and shouldn;t have to pay.

[SparklyGothKat]

council town?? I meant council tax

[RustyBear]

I wouldn't pin your hopes on Waitrose - in our town they are the only ones who do charge...