Consulting Structural & Civil Engineers in Marple Bridge

Author Topic: Asda car park - beware  (Read 16357 times)

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corium

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2016, 08:48:20 PM »
So I'm going to venture one of two short term outcomes if they have gone..but pure speculation! Either it will become in the short term at least, a repository for all day parkers and the store will then find few shoppers and a lot more demand on its delivery service  or the ASDAStockport Model will be adopted - pay £1 for two hours and get it back when you spend more than £5. Any other speculative offers?

tonyjones

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2016, 08:05:31 PM »
I ventured into the asda car park today and noticed that the cameras have disappeared, and so have the signs warning of a parking charge.

Dave

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2016, 08:04:59 PM »
There are times when you literally cannot get a space in Asda car park - and now we know why!   ::)  I agree entirely with Alison:
Two hours is plenty of time to do your supermarket shop and even nip and support the local shops, but if you want to be in Marple longer there are plenty of other parking options, some paid, some requiring a bit of a walk for those of you that are able. I've been stuck in that car park trying to get out when it is gridlocked with people looking for spaces and having a sensible limit makes it fair for everyone.

Melancholyflower

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2016, 07:34:42 PM »
I was issued with a charge last week after outstaying my welcome by 19 minutes the previous Saturday. I'd shopped there but not found my receipt. Park was half full when I left just before 7pm.

Try talking to Asda in the first instance. I had a word with someone in the store who offered to cancel the charge as a one-off. Fair enough as I won't be caught by that again.

Salex

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alison

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2016, 08:56:15 PM »
Ok I know I'm going to get shot down now but I'm feeling mischievous! Whilst I have every sympathy for the cinema goers who didn't realise the hours of operation and were not taking up spaces shoppers wanted, I think it's fair enough that there should be limits on how long you can park during the day in the asda car park. Two hours is plenty of time to do your supermarket shop and even nip and support the local shops, but if you want to be in Marple longer there are plenty of other parking options, some paid, some requiring a bit of a walk for those of you that are able. I've been stuck in that car park trying to get out when it is gridlocked with people looking for spaces and having a sensible limit makes it fair for everyone.

( puts Tim hat on, retires to a safe distance and waits for 'indignant of marple' to start laying in to me)

Alison

Rudolph Hucker

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2016, 08:29:22 PM »
Anyway, I digress. Do not contact them in any way but then you have to be brave. You will get dozens (literally) of letters threatening court action. You will have a few phone calls as well. Eventually you will get letters from a "debt collection agency" who will offer you "final chances" to avoid a debt collectors visit.

Have just reread my post. Got a bit carried away. You won't get literally dozens of letters, it just feels that way. Probably 5 or 6 from the company masquerading as parking enforcement, 1 or 2 phone calls and perhaps 1 or 2 letters from the "collection agency" who will be a subsidiary company of the former....

RH

Rudolph Hucker

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2016, 08:21:04 PM »
I am not a lawyer but Dizzy is 100% correct. It is a scam, and the biggest crime is that the government doesn't revoke the paper thin legislation that allows these companies to get away with it.

Go to Google and do 20 minutes research before contacting the company. You will find the simple option: do not appeal. Do not contact them in any way. By doing so they could claim if it got to court (it won't by the way) that simply by doing so you have indeed entered into a contract with them, on the terms stated in the alleged enforcement notice.

I have received a few of these notices over the years. I'd like to point out I'm not talking about council parking tickets because they are legally enforceable. I've not had one of those since I was a teenager! So, as I said, I've had a few of these scam notices over the years - the most recent one when I stopped at a deserted airport roundabout to drop off a passenger who was simply picking their car up (their return flight having been diverted to a different airport by fog). I was literally stationary for 10 seconds.

Anyway, I digress. Do not contact them in any way but then you have to be brave. You will get dozens (literally) of letters threatening court action. You will have a few phone calls as well. Eventually you will get letters from a "debt collection agency" who will offer you "final chances" to avoid a debt collectors visit.

Ignore the lot.

Nobody will physically arrive at your door. No court summons will drop through the letter box. Nothing will happen. It's not worth their while.

But as I say, you have to be brave and stick to your guns. The first time it can be quite intimidating, the letters never seem to stop and the penalties threatened seem daunting. But they'll dwindle away to nothing after 3 or 4 months. Note, they may have another bite 12 months down the line. Ignore that too.

The second time is still a bit nervy. Did you somehow dodge the first one, is this somehow different? It isn't different at all. Still a scam. By the third time it's a game. Nothing will happen if you drop the letter in the bin without reading past the header.... The fourth time, now you begin to have fun and start writing to them on your terms, including an invoice for every correspondence. Surprise, surprise they don't respond because, by doing so, you could claim if it got to court (it won't by the way) that by responding they have entered into a contract with you, on the terms stated in your letters.

As I said at the beginning - if you get one of these, spend 20 minutes on Google (other search engines are available). Then decide for yourself if £40 (or whatever) is a price worth paying to avoid being bullied.

Sorry for the wordy message but if 1 person reads this and better understands their options it'll be worth my time. To the others, sorry that's 2 minutes of your life you won't get back (if you've got this far). Sorry again.....

Google. 20 minutes. You know it makes sense!

RH

Dizzy Penguin

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2016, 10:17:39 AM »
It is a shambles, and I can't believe you paid....

We got one too the other day. We bought some essentials at Asda before popping across to All Things Nice to meet my mum & dad for a coffee. We were parked in Asda for 2 hours 11 minutes, and received the notice a week later.

It didn't take much googling to see what a sham it is. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a scam, but at the same time they don't actually have a legal leg to stand on because if they take you to court over it (highly unlikely, particularly with SMART Parking who issue the Marple Asda notices and are known for not taking it that far) but even if they did, they would have to somehow prove to the court that you broke a contract agreement, i.e. not just "read the signs".

This video, particularly the ending, will demonstrate exactly what you should have done with that parking notice:

I can't believe you've willingly paid £40 for being 17 minutes over an alloted time. Tell me, at that time, was the car park so full that you were taking up space that could have been occupied for somebody else? What a crock of ----.

corium

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2016, 09:43:20 AM »
Thanks John

JohnBates

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2016, 09:34:39 AM »
The signs have now been updated to say they do not operate between 7pm and 7am

corium

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Re: Asda car park - beware
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2016, 11:35:18 PM »
I've never been sure there is a time they don't work. Is this actually published anywhere?

shambles

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Asda car park - beware
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2016, 07:51:11 PM »
On Saturday January 9th we went to the matinee at Marple cinema and parked in the asda car park at 16:40.
Watched The Lady in the Van and then bought some chips from just over the road and left the car park at 18:57.

A week later we received a parking charge notice for staying longer than the two hours allowed. This notice had been issued some 4 days earlier.
The fine / charge was for SEVENTY pounds, but if we paid within 14 days this would be reduced to Forty pounds.
We immediately submitted an appeal and waited for a reply. We paid the forty pounds just before the 14 days expired.
The reply arrived a couple of days after the 14 days had expired.
Interestingly at the top of the companies web page is a notice that somebody did try and argue that the fine/charge was excessive but this was rejected by the High Court.

Beware - the cameras do work, but more importantly, the charges apply between SEVEN am and SEVEN pm. All the council car park only charge between 09:00 and SIX pm.

And before the more vocal readers of the forum even think about replying - yes, I should have read the #$%^&* signs.