Parking fine at Sainsburys superstore

If you used a Nectar card the store can look up all your purchases

No, we advise on liability (rarely questionable) then advise on enforcement options if the ticket isn’t paid. These are two different issues. What the MSE “process” seems to be aimed at is to try to dissuade enforcement by basically being a pain in the arse. Which may or may not work. As I’ve said the downside of that particular gamble is, in my book, not worth it and certainly not what a responsible adviser should be advocating.

We’ve had this with a Tescos car park
We sent them a bank screen shot of the spend as we’d lost the receipt.

We’ve done the same with a few car parks
Never a problem.

That's not correct.

The terms and conditions of these car park providers invariably frame the 'fine' as a parking charge which is payable only if you stay beyond a certain amount of time.

Their claim is that if you fail to pay that charge, then you are in breach of contract. But of course to allege that they need to demonstrate that you entered a contract to pay them that money in the first place.

Are you on SM? Tweet/message/whatever Sainsburys and tell them what you've told us.

If they don't immediately respond and confirm that they've got it cancelled, follow up using appropriate hashtags (including Sainsburys and the town name), warning people to beware of buying much from that shop; if you know of another local supermarket that doesn't have a restrictive car park run by a predatory company, urge everybody to only use the Sainsbury's for little top-up shops, but for a proper shop, clothes etc., strongly advise them to use the other one instead.

I'd also take it to the local paper if you have one. As PP have said, it's fair enough if non-shoppers are using their car park, but they/their goons should not be profiting from penalising people for spending too much time - and money - in their shop.

It absolutely amazes me why some of these huge businesses spend millions on blanket advertising - presumably to increase custom - yet then go out of their way to deter custom from people who actually turn up wanting to spend money with them. Utter buffoons.

But you said you thought signage not being clear was one of the only real avenues for OP to challenge on.

But depending on the car park, she could well have been within (or only very marginally outside) the grace periods required by the code of practice governing this industry.

A court order in itself does not affect credit rating. It is the unpaid court order that is the problem.

And yes, of course the OP should make sure her address is up to date etc. But thats not a reason to just blindly pay a £50 charge.

If you used your nectar card then sainsburys will be able to retrieve your receipt

Exactly - you advise them not to challenge, which may be pragmatic (especially for people who would find it too complicated) but that doesn't mean that detailed advice about how you can challenge tickets if you wish to is terrible advice. You see people when it is already too late to challenge or people who aren't capable of challenging not people who have just received the fine and have detailed legal advice as to what to do next and the will to do so. You are comparing apples and pears.

You submit the appeal online so it's instant, no waiting for the post to get there on time!

I think with Eurocarparks that if you appeal the reduced rate still applies until they tell you if your appeal was successful or not. If not successful you then have the 2 weeks again.

OP, check this, but I would submit an appeal with a screenshot of your bank statement and an explanation of why it took you a long time in the shop. I think they'll probably write it off. I have had 4 or 5 parking fines written off with a polite appeal and some evidence.

Btw my comment was aimed at your reply which agreed with a poster who basically stated the position in the same way as how that thread frames it but you don't seem to see the contradiction.

Name the driver as someone living in China. I did this and it got written off the next day.

At least you have now read it. Perhaps you should have done so before rudely declaring that my advice was terrible advice. I am pretty sure sainsbury's will cancel the parking ticket since op had clearly been in sainsbury's the whole time and was not trying to get away with anything. It is not in their interests to penalise paying customers.

If you’ve lost your receipt can you show them your bank statemEnt?

You may be right, I was under the impression Sainsburys car parks were ran by Horizon

When it happened to me, I rang Sainsbury's, told them how much I had spent etc. and they cancelled it. Be sure to ask them to email you and confirm, they almost had the wrong details for mine.

They never asked me for any proof, though.

Happened to me in B&Q. We followed the appeal process on the fine letter and sent in the receipt but could you send a copy of your bank statement instead as will show you were a customer. They agreed to cancel mine.

Email sainsbury's head office. Say you did not realise the time limit, you were shopping etc. Offer apologies, reiterate you are a genuine customer, ask if they can help. It has worked for me in the past. If no joy, then I would follow the appeal process. There are loads of resources to help with appeals online, just search parking charge forum. Good luck OP.

This might not be the case if the carpark is shared amongst various stores eg in a retail park scenario where no one store has control over the parking provision / enforcement.

Its your money to throw away, but you only need to speak to Sainsbury's to get it cancelled

Go into Sainsbury's with your receipt and the fine and they normally get it cancelled.

That thread, which I have now skimmed, is ridiculously convoluted and I feel aimed at those with more time and energy than most who would in the cold light of day accept that they overstayed and therefore have to cough up. I’ve dealt with many ticket holders who want to fight “out of principle” (mostly men as it happens) in which case all one can do is point out the law and the possible repercussions of not paying.

My actual experience advising people about parking tickets counters your claim. There are very few grounds on which these types of tickets can be disputed, that’s the bottom line and that’s the advice that would be given if someone in OP’s position were to contact CAB. And as I’ve said before usually it’s gone way further down the line by the time people come to CAB where options are even worse.

I recently had this at a Sainsburys. In my case I'd paid for 2 hours and left the car park before the two hours was up. Unfortunately I did not realise that I also had to pay for the 10 minutes or so between driving into the carpark, finding a parking space, unpacking the bags etc and sorting out the ticket. Currently disputing it.

Won't be going back to that Sainsbury's in a hurry. Sounds like they need a new car park provider.