My wife parked at out local ASDA store in Northallerton. She had our young child with her who was off school ill. As a result of having to wait for his prescription him, she overstayed her 1 hour free parking time by 10 minutes.
When she returned to the car, the parking attendent was writing the ticket. Instead of stopping, he continued and appeared to her aggressive and in the process even getting the make of the car wrong on the ticket.
We have subsequently complained to the ASDA store manager Duncan Haggie (who didnt respond) and ASDA CEO Andy Clarke (who actually responded), but said he was powerless to do anything. Andy Clarke just said that he had asked the Store Manager to speak to the attendent on his aggressive behaviour.
This seems to be extremely unfair and is just ASDA ripping off its customers. A £70 charge for a 10minute overstay in a car park is totally disproportionate. What makes it even more infuriating for me is that the attendent who placed the ticket on my wife's car and Duncan Haggie both saw she had our son with her (who was off school as he was unwell) but made no allowances for this. My wife returned home all shaken up and in tears. She is a social worker who works in Northallerton and has refused to visit the ASDA store since.
There are 2 other supermarkets in Northallerton, who have private free car parks. Tesco, who provide you with 2 hours parking and Sainsbury's who also provide you with 2 hours parking. ASDA obviously expects their customers to be twice as fast as Tesco and Sainsburys.
The plan now is to try and bring this extortionate and disportiionate cost to everyone's attention, so no more customers are suckered into the ASDA price!