I recently shopped in my local Aldi store, arriving in the early evening when the car park was half empty. I didn’t see the signs, which were not illuminated, specifying a maximum stay of one and a half hours.
I had a lot of shopping to do – with several questions about pricing – and finally spent £115. There was no indication from the staff as to the danger of overstaying one’s welcome in a car park that was now empty.
Imagine the shock when I received a demand for £70 from ParkingEye, apparently because I had overstayed by 15 minutes. The language and tenor of the letter were strong, promising to pursue me for payment.
I will not pay this outrageous charge, but can you imagine the distress such behaviour produces in pensioners, like myself, and others? Aldi should be boycotted until it sees some sense. WH, Surbiton, Surrey
In our view it doesn’t seem unreasonable for major supermarkets and retailers to provide their customers (who are going to spend money with them) with unlimited free parking, but of course there’s money to be made from this. Aldi’s car parks throughout the UK are managed by ParkingEye, and although Aldi has told us before that it does not receive any revenue from parking notices, that does not stop us from receiving a regular flurry of complaints.
In your case you admitted to overstaying by 15 minutes, but you also wrote to Aldi with a copy of your receipt. Happily for you, Aldi has cancelled the charge. It said: “WH first contacted us on 28 September, and [the issue] took a little longer than it would usually do to resolve because he didn’t provide an email address, so the appeal system had to be taken forward via letters.
“A letter was sent on 11 October to let him know that his charge has been cancelled, so he should receive it soon, if he hasn’t already.”
So no need to boycott Aldi just yet!
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