Streetlife

I know several people that have been given a ticket and paid up promptly as it was cheaper £60.But i have also been told that they are not legal notices and should be ignored.

You are right Rita. There signs have no legal enforcement anymore than if I had a sign round my neck saying if you looked at me you must pay me £60.
Please spread the word these tickets and any threats can be ignored. However, people are nervous, most are 'conditioned' to think they ought to pay or something worse will happen, like court. This is what the private parking companies play on.
On Moneysavingexpert there are forums and one specifically for "Parking tickets." Its the place to go to read up on each parking company and the best way to deal with their fake tickets.

Do what I do.

Do not frequent shops such as Aldi who try to use such scare tactics. Aldi get upto 20% of the revenue generated from the "fines".

i got a parking ticket fine at toys r us last year ignored it for ages and ended up paying £70 in the end if i had paid straight away it would have been £60 wot a con

I've stopped shopping at Aldi, apart from early in the morning if I've done a night shift, as the parking is a nightmare. Its easier and less worry to go somewhere else. It was handy for veg and the bread is nice but too much hassle

Steve L. You ignored it for some time then paid? What made you pay? Threats of court action? And which PPC was this??

Mr S. You claim that Aldi get 20% of "fines"? First, could you substantiate that as this is very interesting and something I could use! Secondly, don't call them "fines." Only the Council, the Police etc can "fine" someone. Tickets from PPC's are fake and SHOULD BE IGNORED.

Lisa B. Don't blame you. Shopping should be as nice experience as possible w/o the hassle the parasites of the private parking companies give us. You are voting with your feet. Good idea is to write to Aldi and tell them why you won't shop in there now due to PE. The manager there would be interested enough to pass your letter up the chain! The more the complaints they get the better and the greater chance we can rid shopping car parks of these parasites!

Oh Steve L.....it was not a fine...only the police and the council can fine you. What you got was fake. Go to Moneysavingexpert, forums, motoring and seethe discussion board  "Parking Tickets" and you will see that ignoring works. The PPC's, such as the one who ticketed your car, have letter chains. When you get the last one, usually threat of court(which won't happen)they then stop.

Why is the local council or police not doing something about these people passing themselves of as the law if this is the case? Why do those who have paid fins, not take the company to the Small Claims Court and get there money back?

no mine was on one of those cameras operated by euro car parks they have one in toys r us car park they give you two hours i was 2.5 hours so half hour overdue they get your number plate on way in and out if you go there the camera is on the wall as you drive in on tk max wall they also have the system at whitlingham lakes so i would say its a fair cop i was breaking the parking regulations.

Dear POEtic Justice.
The PPC's are not doing any thing illegal. But this does not mean their tickets are legally enforceable. What they are doing is asking you to pay them some money and they can threaten you will escalating charges, court action....but it will come to nothing because they know they would lose in court. Their tickets mimic real penalties and many are being duped into paying them. Don't! The best policy is to bin their letters and ignore.

Dear Steve L. The ANPR camera's can not be presented in court as evidence you over stayed in a car park. Any way, it will never get that far. The fact is the PPC has no interest in the land and hence they can not make a contract between you and them. Only the landower can sue for loss or damage.
You may well have 'broken' the PPC parking regulations but that does NOT mean you should pay them what is an extortionate fee. That amounts to a penalty and in law a private citizen/company can not penalise or fine another private citizen. You should NOT pay the PPC anything. Ignore them and never communicate with them. If you do they will think you are one person they can con and that would only mean they will hassle you more. Please please please if you are unsure about this visit Moneysavingexpert web site, the forums on there and seek out the "Private Ticket" board and read whats on there(the 'stickies' at the top.) If still unsure post your situation and you will get individual help. See here:http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

You can also visit forums.pepippo.com where the experts are also.

The point was Bruce B take them to court to get your money back.

Dear POEtic Justice. I have never heard of a person taking a PPC to court to recover what they paid them. If one has already paid them its best to put it down to experience but never repeat the same mistake again.
To get this into prespective. From memory some 1,800,000 tickets were given out in 2011. 49 went to court. 24 won by the PPC. But of those wins the defendant either did not turn up so the ppc won by default , the defendant offered a very poor defense, the judge was not up on the law or the defendant was a stooge of the ppc. So, it would be better odds to win the lottery than the likely hood of going to court and losing. Of those who did simply ignore the ppc's fake tickets 99.9999999% did not pay anything as the ppc gave up as their last threat was ignored.

Bruce B, where do you get the information that 'the judge was not up on the law'?

Dear Anthony. Re a Judge not 'up to the law'. Got this from the MSE forum "Parking Tickets" where a contract  can only be binding on both parties if both are present when it is drawn up and it has be to "fair." This from a barrister taking on a PPC said :""The charge you [i.e. PPC in question] are levying is an unfair term (and therefore not binding) pursuant to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. In particular, Schedule 2 of those Regulations gives an indicative (and non-exhaustive) list of terms which may be regarded as unfair and includes at Schedule 2(1)(e) "Terms which have the object or effect of requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation." Furthermore, Regulation 5(1) states that: "A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer" and 5(2) states: "A term shall always be regarded as not having been individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term."
Now, a judge presented with a poor defense may not take this into consideration, though they ought.

I got a ticket this month from that place! I appealed since it wasn't clear that the space belonged to the pub which is sharing the SAME car park as Aldi. I didn't see the sign and complained that it should be indicated on the floor that it's for patrons only, like they do for disabled car space. I got a reply saying they refused my appeal and threatened to take me to court if I don't pay so reluctantly I paid the £60 to not have the fine increased and avoid court hassle. It makes me furious! Especially now that I've read this article and found out it's a scam! That's not right and wonder what can be done? I've shared your article to warn others but for me I guess it's too late...

Dear Bruce B I'm really glad I found this page and found it very useful and informative. Regarding your first reply to POEtic Justice I still don't understand how what they are doing is not illegal since it is a scam. I call this extortion from vulnerable or not well informed people which in my book is abuse. What can be done?

My understanding is that Aldi had to use the parking restrictions because their car park was being used by those catching the bus into the city or working nearby - therefore taking car parking spaces which should be for their customers only and not used as an all day free car park by those who are not.

Pauline T

I think you'll find that the same situation occurred at Tesco Blue Boar. People were using their car park as a free Park & Ride. They also have a parking time limit now whereas before you could leave your car there all day while you got  a bus to the City. It was a better option especially if you wanted to come back after the ridiculously early finish of the real Park and Ride.

I can't see that there is a real problem if you are shopping in Aldi. The time allowed is more than adequate to do your shop, as is the time allowed at Tesco. If you choose to park there and go off somewhere else, you take your chance

Dear Pauline T. You are right. Aldi has employed Parking Eye in an attempt to stop people parking on their car park w/o any intention of using their store. This would be inconsiderate parking. However, this does not mean, IMO and many many others, that the best way to manage their car park is to employ a money grabbing scam that attempts to con people who use the car park inconsiderately or not. PP'sC are really only in it for themselves and they were the same companies that would clamp and tow your car away and would not release it til you paid them an extortionate sum of money. They are the same cowboys one could say. The PPC's try to extort money from someone who parks 5 minutes over 2hrs for instance. They try to extort money from some driver who was over a white line. For someone who is in a disbaled bay but does not display a Blue badge even though no blue badge is necessary on private land. The fact is that unsuspecting people who transcribe the PPC's own regualtions are being fooled into paying what amounts to a penalty. But what they give the RK/driver is just an invoice that is unenforceable. Thats what I wish to make known. I too was fooled into thinking these PPC's had to be feared and paid, but no longer(though I have never been given a ticket). Everyone who drives a car should park considerately and responsibly. But lets call a spade a spade. The PPC's are scammers, period! Don't pay them is my message. If one does got one of their tickets, IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE.

Dear Lauroa O. You wrote: "Dear Bruce B I'm really glad I found this page and found it very useful and informative. Regarding your first reply to POEtic Justice I still don't understand how what they are doing is not illegal since it is a scam. I call this extortion from vulnerable or not well informed people which in my book is abuse. What can be done?."

What the PPC's are doing is what one would call a legal scam. (Land banking for instance is another). All they are doing is asking you to pay them the money they wish you to.Thats why they may, and its not against the law to, threaten you with a debt collector(who are toothless any way but most people don't know this confusing them with court appointed bailiffs) or court action. Any one can take any one to court or to say they will. But the PPC's don't. Its al part of the scam.  But if you know its not enforceable then to ignore is what one can do. However, one can spread the word as I am trying to on streetlife. The more people get to know the more will choose to ignore.(Though with the advent of POPLA one can use ta method to cost the PPC money if one chooses). W/o a change in law the PPC will keep on being parasites in shopping ca parks etc. But just as the clamping firms were outlawed on private land last year who knows what the future will be for the PPC's? Any way, the point I'm trying to n make is that while Tesco's, Toys R Us, Aldi etc etc hhave the right to manage their car parks it is NOT right for them to use PPC's who are conning people out of large sums of hard earned money. And thats something else that one might be able to do. Complain to the CEO of such companies about their use of PPC's. If they get enough complaints then perhaps they will manage their car parks responsibly w/o emplying scammers such as the PPC's are.

Dear Laura O. You wrote: "I got a ticket this month from that place! I appealed since it wasn't clear that the space belonged to the pub which is sharing the SAME car park as Aldi. I didn't see the sign and complained that it should be indicated on the floor that it's for patrons only, like they do for disabled car space. I got a reply saying they refused my appeal and threatened to take me to court if I don't pay so reluctantly I paid the £60 to not have the fine increased and avoid court hassle. It makes me furious! Especially now that I've read this article and found out it's a scam! That's not right and wonder what can be done? I've shared your article to warn others but for me I guess it's too late..."

Well, if its any consolation I probably would have done excatly what you did a year ago. But since I found out what these PPC's are and how they operate, by mimicing real fines so to masguerade as real authorities in parking, their appeals process is a sham and their tickets are unenforceable I won't be caught paying them now. In fact I sometimes park in the PH bays next to Aldi's when going to Aldi. Not inconsiderately as there are plenty of empty spaces and the land owner suffers no loss. When the little guy in the high vis jacket was about to ticket me as I got back I told him what I know, that it would cost them £2.50 to get my details from the DVLA then I would use POPLA which would cost them another £32 but any decision POPLA made would not be binding on me but only them....he walked away! This shows that their tickets are unenforceable. And if one does get one to best thing is to ignore. I have also taken the time to go up to fellow shoppers there and warn them and if they have already got a ticket to visit MSE forums or Pepipoo. Too many times I have seen the older folk get one. It makes me furious knowing that they will pay up probably out of their meagre pensions.
I should add here that I will never ever park inconsiderately or irresponsibly on private land. :)

I popped in there on Saturday to get some of the 49p vegetables after doing the rest of my shopping at Tescos. The car park was very full and then I found a space near the main road and parked parallel to another car. I duly logged my car details in to the terminal inside Aldi. When I came back there was a man with a spade shovelling some of the ice and snow near my car. He said I was in the pub car park which I didn't realise and that I was over the parking space lines. I replied that it was hard to see due to the now and ice which parking spaces were which and that I had merely parked parallel to the next car (which was no longer there). He wasn't nasty but from comments above I think I would have got a ticket if there hadn't been snow and ice down in bucketloads! Can't say I am really a fan of Aldi but some things are much cheaper like the special offers on veg and Farley's Rusks which my husbnad likes (!) as they are about 70p cheaper there than Tescos.