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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

not to pay their bastard parking fine.

112 replies

LEMmingaround · 06/10/2014 12:11

Bloody aldi (who i normslly love soo much) have just sent us a £70 parking fine for being too long in their car park Angry

We were half an hour over the 1.5 hour limit.

What happened was i did the shopping while dp took dd to a swing park ten minutes walk away. I was only 40 minutes in the shop but don't drive so couldn't drive to park and obviously had a weeks shopping so dp left car in the car park. I walked to park- lovely sunny day so we stayed a while. Totally forgot the 1.5 hour parking limit.

The problem is could have in that time walked into town.

Do we just pay up or is it worth an appeal??

I have the receipt from the shop. The irony being we were really skint on that day so did frugal aldi shop. Would have been chesper to shop in fucking waitroseHmm

OP posts:
whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 06/10/2014 16:57

boris, a summons is 'taking someone to court'. Not sure what your point is? That in itself is often enough for people to pay up. For people who don't pay, yes a lot of the time parking eye don't turn up. But sometimes they do - hundreds a year. Just because you would be happy taking that risk doesn't mean other people are.

And Joolsy, the "I'm not telling you who was driving" defence does not work. From money saving expert:

"Before October 2012, when on private land it was the driver who was liable for any parking charges from private parking firms, rather than the owner.

But now, parking operators in England and Wales are allowed to hold the vehicle's owner liable for unpaid charges if they don't know who the driver is and the keeper refuses, or is unable, to name the driver."

And yes, like I keep saying, if you ignore the correspondence in most cases they will give up. In some they don't.

Theas18 · 06/10/2014 16:59

REad the money saving expert advice about this and take it seriously. It used to be " they can't do anything, ignore" but they ARE taking people to court and sometimes winning now. It may be a battle not worth the stress of fighting.

sanfairyanne · 06/10/2014 17:00

its not a case of fighting it!

just ask aldi to waive it - plus proof you shop there

end of story

Theas18 · 06/10/2014 17:07

sanfairy that doesn't work in our aldi. I've seen people pleadin with the manager and he just said " nothing to do with him or the branch send the ticket and proof you shopped that day to the parking people" but that was for someone who didn't enter the number, not who stayed ages too long

nikki1978 · 06/10/2014 17:08

I just ignored mine. They gave up in the end.

sanfairyanne · 06/10/2014 17:09

m.facebook.com/AldiUK/posts/548298448564295

you need to speak to customer services head office
they should then cancel it on your behalf
possibly you would need to write to popla yourself after speaking to aldi - they should tell you either way

any probs, facebook them

problem solved

Bridezilla3521 · 06/10/2014 17:18

You are kind of BU..

Yes you shopped in Aldi but you still took advantage of the free parking to go elsewhere.

You clearly went over the parking time. And it's not as if it was just 5 mins or so.

Also, was the car park busy? Someone may have needed that space.

Out of curiosity, was it a parent and child spot?!!!

DrankSangriaInThePark · 06/10/2014 17:26
Flowers

Good advice on this thread LEM.

I am currently still ignoring ParkingLie letters and threats for court action from an overstay in Halfords from June 2013. They haven't got me yet. The lovely people on CAG website (consumer action group) gave me lots of ammo and predicted correctly that my next letter (received a fortnight ago) would be from Debt Recovery Plus (this is second one from them) reducing the fine Hmm as long as I pay up now.

Apparently my next one will be from another organization completely telling me that they have "bought" my case off DR+.....

ChildrenOfTheDamned · 06/10/2014 17:38

I'm laughing at some of the moral do gooders bemoaning how the OP is in the wrong. FFS! I'll bet you all agree with bankers bonuses and robbing bank charges too as obviously the big corporations are always in the right. Hmm

OP really don't pay the fine. Have a look at the money saving expert parking fine page for some advice. Also maybe try going back to the store and speaking to the manager? Show him your receipt. My DSD got one of these parking charges after over staying in a McDonald's car park (by 2 minutes Hmm) and she went back and spoke to the manager and showed him her bank statement proving she's spent money in there. He cancelled the parking charge for her.

Bridezilla3521 · 06/10/2014 17:58

It's not called being a do-gooder. It's just being a normal person who can read the signs (in this case), and in terms of bank charges, well again it's really simple, don't spend money you don't have as you won't get charged!

Not that difficult to understand really.

RobbStarksBitch · 06/10/2014 18:05

LEM the EXACT same thing has just happened to us with bastarding aldi so I'm reading this with interest! We had no joy with aldi themselves though because we couldn't produce our receipt a week later Hmm

PiperIsOrange · 06/10/2014 18:13

The only reason I mentioned small claims court is because it is happening.

On top of the court cost, which will be added a CCJ will be put on the drivers credit history.

PiperIsOrange · 06/10/2014 18:13

The only reason I mentioned small claims court is because it is happening.

On top of the court cost, which will be added a CCJ will be put on the drivers credit history.

OnlyLovers · 06/10/2014 18:17

Yes, I find it hilarious being called a moral do gooder when all I and others are doing is saying that the OP parked essentially for free in the full knowledge of what the time limit was. A lot of the 'don't pay it' posts cite examples of people going over for a few minutes, which is more arguable than going over for half an hour.

I just can't think of any excuses for it.

VinoTime · 06/10/2014 18:26

Without meaning to sound like a do-gooder... Hmm

There were signs in the car park stipulating the time limit for parking that you read. The time limit was 1.5 hours.

You did your shopping in Aldi and it took around an hour to do.

You then did that incredibly annoying thing a lot of people do and left your car in a car park meant for shoppers whilst you went elsewhere, meaning the space you were occupying couldn't be used by somebody else.

You spent and hour at the park with your DH and DD, forgetting all about the time limit in Aldi's car park, and went over said time limit.

You now have a £40.00 fine to pay for your mistake.

I'm sorry OP, but YABU. Pay the fine and stay within parking time limits in future.

sanfairyanne · 06/10/2014 18:36

i bet some of you get a bit of a secret thrill from fines like this for transgressors Grin Grin

borisgudanov · 06/10/2014 18:42

Yes, in a few cases they turn up. They only win if the defendant doesn't know the correct defence - reasonable preestimate of costs. They don't win just because they turn up, they still have to argue their (feeble) case.

In the unlikely event that the judge is on glue and finds for the plaintiff, appeal. They will drop it because the appeal court sets a precedent and the last thing they want is real case law declaring their argument bollocks. Their business model would be toast.

Also to repeat - in Scotland, they still cannot require you to name the driver.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 06/10/2014 18:48

DONT PAY IT

Look on money saving expert for a template letter to send with a photocopy of your receipt. Doesn't matter how long you were shopping for, if you have a receipt for £30 or more they will just write it off.

FGS DONT PAY IT

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 06/10/2014 18:50

Vinotime
Actually, many supermarkets only get permission to build by agreeing to provide a certain amount of free parking to benefit residents of the area and local business. It's a trade off. The parking is positively not just for the shoppers but is there for people to use when using the local amenities.

AgaPanthers · 06/10/2014 19:01

It's not a fine. Fines come from criminal courts. If I stick a notice outside my house saying I will fine you £100000 for parking in my driveway, doesn't make that enforceable.

I would not pay.

creampie · 06/10/2014 19:41

As others have said, don't ignore it, you have to appeal, but don't pay either. If you ignore it you do risk being taken to small claims court. However even if this happens and they win, they cannot be awarded costs in a small claims court so you would still only have to pay the original fine and no more, although you wouldn't be eligible for the discount rate.

If you do appeal, follow the advice on money saving expert. Don't even bother including any if the mitigating circumstances like being unwell or whatever, no one ever wins in this basis. You have to appeal based on the legality of the ticket. MSE has loads of template letters you can use.

If you appeal correctly there is an almost 100% certainty the charge will be written off at the appeal stage. However, it is stressful and costs you in time and energy so you need to consider if it's worth your while for £40 or whatever.

I recently won against parking eye by doing exactly what it said on MSE and would definitely appeal again if I got another ticket.

Good luck!

HappySeven · 06/10/2014 19:46

I would write and apologise for overstaying but explain that you were shopping. I did that and was told I would have been "let off" if I had had a valid receipt so send a copy of one if you still have it. It's worth a try.

borisgudanov · 06/10/2014 19:46

The legality of the ticket, crempie? What legality? Come to that, what ticket? It isn't a ticket, it's a speculative invoice. And the "appeal" process has no competence to determine its validity.

liquidstatehasrisenagain · 06/10/2014 19:54

Another do gooder here Hmm

YABU - just pay up.

I often have to wait up to 20 mins to get a space at my Aldi and I have never managed to park in the parent and child spaces. Nowadays dh waits in the car whilst I start shopping or drives off and comes back for me. I wouldn't mind if it was an emergency or something but this was just plain stupidity on your part. Accept it and let it go.

Tiptops · 06/10/2014 20:01

Please can people stop advising the OP to just ignore this!

The law has now changed, and it is no longer best to ignore this type of parking fine!