FFS Tesco

[HaveringWavering]

I did a massive shop the other week, spent over £250 quid, spent ages browsing the clothes and homewares, stocking up tins and freezer stuff.

I’ve just received a sodding parking ticket in the post because apparently the car park has a 2 hour limit and I was in there 2 hours and 10 minutes!

I know they have them to stop people using supermarket car parks as all-day parking but 2 hours? It’s pretty easy to spend 2 hours shopping, and I’d have bought a hell of a lot less if I’d realised I had to be out quicker.

I know that Tesco subcontract parking to an independent company so no point complaining I guess. And no I didn’t pay attention to the signs, or think about what time it was when I was in the shop. Never occurred to me that the parking rules would apply to genuine shoppers.

YANBU. Some tescos extra around here are like shopping centres. Multiple clothing stores within the store.

if you want a browse and coffee/lunch 2 hours isn’t long enough for that.

That you wouldn't spend two hours doesn't mean others are unreasonable to do so. I only shop every few months and as OP says, can spend 30 min browsing at makeup or other categories.

This. I could easily spend more than 2 hours in a Tesco Extra. I'd be showing the transaction on card and requesting the ticket be cancelled.

Your options are:

Challenge.
Pay
Ignore and be mindful of the consequences.

Ring National Debt line for advice. There's a helpful Factsheet online (can't link but easy to find).

The restrictions are there to prevent people who aren't Tesco shoppers using the car park. Someone using the car park for its intended purpose, even if they take longer than 2 hours, isn't even a tiny weeny bit in the wrong.

This happened to me at a shopping centre. I appealed and they asked me to send receipts of my shopping after which they cancelled the parking ticket.

Until supermarkets start manning tills again and not leaving you 5 trollies deep at the one checkout open then all time limits for shoppers should be off imo.

Good luck challenging

Also I should say that there's a football stadium nearby the shopping centre so the time limit is there to discourage people from parking there on matchday not for genuine shoppers.

This is a ridiculous comment. Shoppers should be able to take as long as they want if they are spending money in the store. Perhaps op is only able to get out once a month or so and enjoys browsing. The circumstances don't really matter, it's a stupid rule and shouldn't apply to genuine shoppers who are spending good money. What a great way to alienate customers.

Our Tesco has a cafe and a Costa so why encourage people to hang about it they don't want them clogging up the car park? It's bonkers and you should definitely challenge it op.

That's rubbish
Tesco local to us used to have a facility where you got your ticket validated if you were there more than an hour.seem fairer to me.
You could spend 2 hrs 10 mins in our massive one, and I suspect people do. There's a cafe and people go for breakfast/lunch and shopping. Bearing in mind the lack of other places to shop for clothes etc I think 2 hours is really light.

I totally disagree. If you were obviously shopping/using the facilities in the store like a cafe, it is ridiculous and in council car parks you have to have a grace period of about 10 minutes now anyway. I have no idea why supermarkets and other stores outsource their parking to these cowboys (although I think in some cases they have no choice and their landlords impose it).

Heaven forbid that they impose special restrictions on match days rather than having a blanket policy.

I think the Tescos nearest me has a 3 hour limit. But other shops locally appear to have cameras on you and if they don't see you go into the store; or if you go into another store nearby, you will get a ticket!

I get the horrors thinking of a 2 hour food shop. But I appreciate that some people like to take their time and have the experience as a day out.

At least you know for next time. Just pay it while it's at it's cheapest and appeal it later.

I've appealed this when caught out by time in sainsburys. I didn't have my receipt but sent an excerpt from my bank statement showing the money I had spent there in the past month. They cancelled the ticket.

Unfortunately, this has happened to me before, not in Tesco but in a retail park. It was 6 years ago- I remember exactly because I was 38 weeks pregnant at the time and I had spent a lovely morning ambling around from shop to shop getting baby things and stocking up the house for after the baby came, then I had what was probably my last peaceful coffee and cake for several years! I exceeded a 3 hour time limit that I hadn’t noticed (we were new to the area).

I contacted the parking company to ask if any exceptions could be made for genuine shoppers and they said “Please send us all your receipts”. So I spent ages compiling them all, even including an index and a chronology that showed clearly I’d been there all the time spending in multiple different shops.
They wrote back and said “sorry, you still have to pay”. No reason given, no further right of appeal. It was like they got me to collect and send the receipts just to fuck with me.

It’s worth appealing it, you’ve got nothing to lose. Go into the shop and talk to them.

If anything you bought is returnable, do so and pay your fine with that.

If this is a repeated occurrence, maybe you need to set a little alarm on your phone to remind you that parking rules don't match your browsing habits.

When my DS was little, he fell asleep
On my knee in Sainsburys 's cafe and when he woke up I did my 'big shop'. I got a parking ticket for being 15mins over time (3hr limit!). I called the store and the manager sorted it with the car parking company and I didn't have to pay. I just had to email them a photo of my receipt, so it might be worth a try. They won't want to lose your custom.

It's easy to argue. If this went to court you'd win as there was no loss which they need to prove. Been there and done it :)

Every supermarket I've been to recently have two hours parking. That's not just Tesco.

And you've admitted you did it before, missing the maximum stay time sign. So why don't you have a glance around to check if there is one wherever you park? Caught once is fine, caught twice means you need to keep your eyes open and set an alarm.

I agree! I take ages shopping in the massive supermarkets sometimes.
Stop in the cafe for lunch, browse electrics/clothes/toys, pick up prescriptions, sort phone contract out, use the photo printing machine.

Find your receipt and talk to customer service. I think they will cancel the fine.

Twice in 6 years in 2 different places, and the first one was 3 hours.

I’ve explained that I did not think to check because I expected the time limits to be reasonable. I’m not saying it’s a defence, it’s just a fact.

@HaveringWavering I know you've not got the receipt but is it worth doing into Tesco with a back statement showing a large payment to Tesco that day?

It's got to be worth a try?

*bank