Aldi Parking -- £70.00 for overstay of 18 minutes

[ilovemydogandmrobama]

Am amazed that they can do this. Isn't it an excessive charge from the parking company, Parking Eye

Anyone know what's successful for challenging it?

...so much for shopping in ALDI to save money!!

Check with your local trading standards; they might be able to help.

IIRC, there's nothing legally to say what the charging limits are so they are pretty much free to charge whatever they want. You can contest this if you can prove that the signing to say you would incur a charge was inadequate (too small/too high up/not one).

I think as long as there are signs up which are clearly visible then they can do this unfortunately. How long were you parked there? I thought they normally say they charge if you stay over 2hrs (heavens, what on earth were you buying ?)

Kind of defeats the purpose of shopping at Aldi, doesn't it

Did shopping at Aldi, plus a bit of local shopping.

OK, I admit it! I stopped and had some cake and coffee

There's the problem. It was the cake!!
Go back with a camera and take pictures of the notices. Were they clear? Easy to spot?

That's one expensive piece of cake Hope it was delicious!

I agree your best bet is inadequate signage.

wow....£70 for a cake and a coffee! I'll never complain about the prices on Starbucks again

Agree check out the signage, but still call trading standards to see what they say; if others have complained about inadequate signage and it hasn't been improved then trading standards might be able to do something.

Yes, there was a sign. I didn't read it. My fault.

I'm stuffed, aren't I?

Don't pay it. See here www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/ for advice.

Hmm. Go back, was it easy to read? Too high? Writing too small??

Sounds like it's going to be a very expensive slice of cake. So sorry. DO go back and look at the sign though, just incase.

Forget about the size of the writing etc. Please read the information on the Consumer Action Group website and DO NOT PAY IT! They don't have a legal leg to stand on and rely on people being intimidated into paying up.

As others have said, check out Consumer Action Group - there are template letters there. I was caught out in a similar way once (although it was a 45 min limit) - I sent the letter, they replied with a red notice, I ignored. Never heard from them again. Read up before you do anything!

Actually, I agree with wordgirl; it is a lot to just pay up when you did actually shop in ALDI whilst you were parked there. Have you considered contacting ALDI?

Good point about contacting Aldi. Am somewhat that the DVLA gave out my name and address. As far as I can tell, Parking Eye, the company that manages the Aldi parking lots, has no authority to issue fines, so it's a civil matter.

My friend was also fined for overstaying in a car park at the back of our local Aldi when she thought she had a least 10 minutes more time. The problem was that the car park was formally owned by the council and then Aldi opened in a shop and then got an agreement to use it. The council rules were 2 hours parking for 20p so you drove into car park found a space got everything and everyone out of car then found a machine and purchased a ticket which showed when the 2 hours were up. The machines stayed in operation but unbeknown to a lot of people Aldi's installed camera's at the entrance and exit of the car park so recorded when you drove in and out and the time started and ended then. Of course a lot of people got caught out as you could have been queueing to find a spot for 5-10 minutes and then getting everyone out of the car so could be up to 15 minutes. There were so many complaints and articles in the local papers etc. the camera's were taken out of use. My friend wrote a letter of complaint and never did pay it.

My advice is don't pay. I made that mistake (paid up) when I now know I should have contested it. You may well find they can't be bothered to produce the 'evidence' and will drop it. They have enough idiots like me who DID meekly pay up to pay their bonuses. Incidentally, I've never set foot in an Aldi since!