What's the story on supermarket car park fines?

[map]

Just asking as a friend (disabled) got one for parking too long.
Was 2 hrs (Morrisons), where she normally shops is 3 hrs.

So now gets a letter from a firm of solicitors threatening taking her to court unless she pays.

Now IMO this is really demanding money with menaces but I thought I'd ask if anyone knows the legal position and the validity of such 'fines'.

Thanks in anticipation.

P.S. If already done in another post please reply with the link. Thanks.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[The Old Geeza]

Disabled or not...

Can she prove that she was there for only 2 hours ?

My stepdad has the same problems - only got 1 leg - but sometimes gets the same threatening letters. Just asks the issuer to prove he was outside his limit



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Horse Power was safer when the Horses had it!

[map]

Sorry, she got fined for staying over the 2 hour limit. She normally shops where they have a 3 hour maximum stay. Hope that makes it clearer.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[The Old Geeza]

[G]

If it was a supermarket car park then I reckon a polite letter explaining that it can take her sometime to complete shopping as she was doing a big shop there and has obvious problems getting around may help.

Copy the letter to the manager of the store, maybe slightly hinting on discrimation against disabled people who would naturally take longer.

[cqueen]

I am an expert on this subject.

This is what you do... you take the ticket off your windscreen and chuck it on the floor

Thats what I did, cheeky fuckers.

I herd nothing from them.

(that wont work with council parking fines though)

[strag]

It may be that the supermarket car park is not actually managed by the supermarket but another company, so it is them you will have to deal with. Was it pay and display with a max time? If so she should have realised and is unlikely to get off. If the supermarket manage it, keep a copy of the receipt for the shopping to at least offer proof she was on a mahoosive shop.
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carbon bling

[Walloper]

I hate Morrisons.
I was looking for a post office last week.
When it was Safeway (The good olde days) they had an instore PO.
Well Morrisons have no PO.

I saw a sign next to a counter that said
"Stamps Sold Here"
I asked the lady for some stamps.

She told me, "Oh they're sold over there at the other counter."

Why did she have a sign that clearly stated, 'Stamps Sold Here' when it should state 'Stamps Sold Over There'!!!
FFS

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W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair

[kawakid]

Morrisons is cheap and does have buy 1 get 1 free offers.

However, I think their bread (baguettes) is not as good as Sainsburys.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[map]

Sorry for the delay in reply, have been busy.

The car park is supervised by another company. However, the car park is owned by Morrisons and the company is contracted to Morrisons for the work. Therefore Morrisons are responsible for the actions of its contrators.

The car park only allows 2 hours for everybody. At ANOTHER SUPERMARKET (i.e. ASDA) THEY ALLOW 3 hrs. That's where she normally shops.

Hope the above makes it clearer.

So to get back to the original question does anyone know the legality of these comapnies imposing 'fines'. Thanks.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[sickpup]

I believe it's an implied contract i.e. you have entered the car park so must have read the t&c's and agreed to the contract.

The tickets aren't really worth the paper they are printed on and I would advise the person in question sends them a copy of their receipt for the shopping and points out they are disabled.

The parking company would have to take her to court (in theory) to enforce the fine.

The law on these to be honest is very grey.

[Visitor Q]

Well what you do, is you piss them off as much as possible, and pay the fine the day before court

They will waste ALOT more money.

At least it will make ya smile.
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China traffic/travel bike vid - When I make a sweeping statement, please add the word 'statistically' in to the sentence before you bitch...
From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[Walloper]

I would refuse to pay and then shop at ASDA for ever.
But the point is some folk take the piss in supermarket carparks.
I hate the lazy bastarts that leave their trolley at the side of their car and don't put it in the trolley park before they leave.

Oh and while I'm on it, why do they build roads that go past the front doors of supermarkets? In supermarket retail parks? Isn't that a dangerous place to mix cars and people?
I think the roads should be on the outside and you park your bike/car in the bike/carpark then walk into the supermarket.
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W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair

[Davo]

I'm not sure if this would work, but couldn't they reply using the Bill of Rights act?

As far as I'm aware they would not be able to impose a "penalty" on you unless you were convicted in a court of law. I've used it a couple of times to get a few bank charges waived.

[Mrs Kickstart]

Hi,

Firstly I assume is a penatly notice not a fine (A fine can only be imposed by a court.

Is there correct and clear signage inthe carkpark, if not that the person does not have the details of the contract being entered into.

How do they know who send the ticket to ?, it will have been sent to the registered keeper who may not have been the driver ? this may invovle lying through.

Also for them to claim money in court they would have to prove loss which would be be much.

So,
If you fight and/or ignore it will probably go away and if not you can talk to the judge in the small claims court.

Or you can write to the supermarket to try to get off

or pay up.

Regards
C
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Help fight the safety camera partnerships -- www.pepipoo.com

[cqueen]

Just ignore it.

[headlamp]

Get your friend to write to Chairman of Morrisons at their Head Office - send a copy to the local paper, local MP and the solicitor - make sure you state that she is a disabled and that she was trying Morrisons for the first time having seen their advertising & this is how she is treated. Also get her to make great pains to stress how difficult life, how unfairly Morrisons has treated her & that Morrisons has excerbated her pain as well as how 'stressed' she is to get the letter and how it has made her physical pain worse.

Morrisons address is: -

Sir Kenneth Morrison CBE
Executive Chairman
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc
Thornton Road
Bradford
BD8 9AX

They'll waive the 'fine' and probably give her a £100 voucher
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Using a mobile phone while driving a car should be made a capital offence!

[owdamer]

Exactly how legal are these "penalties"??? Surely a firm cannot just impose these conditions then haul you off to court?
I stop off at an aldi car park on the way home from work every day as I have to pick my girlfriend up in Oldham town centre on my way.
I finish work at 4-30, and get into Oldham about 4-50. As there is nowhere to park without paying near the civic centre where she works I wait in the Aldi car park until she finishes at 5, these she rings my phone & I drive out and pick her up outside the building she works in.
recently they have just put up signs saying that they are using anpr cameras to record vehicles entering & leaving the car park, and that customers are allowed 2 hours.
I looked into the parking fines on the net and noticed that Aldi are hitting people with fines of £170!!!
Now as I'm only there for 10 mins I would guess that i'm ok, but strictly speaking I shouldn't be there because i'm not shopping....

[nora2004]

At my work place we have a limit there aswell, and nearly everyday we will get a customer pop in and complain about there fine! We simply ask the customer if they pruchased any goods from us, they'll say yes and show us there reciept, we will then go and tell the cap park people to basically feck off!!

My advice is to go to the morrisons store and ask for the general manager, explain the situation to them show them the reciept and tell them that if this is not sorted within in 10 minutes you will never shop back there again!

You will find the manager will tell you to forget about it and you wont hear anything again, simply put the store will not want to lose a paying customer over a silly parking fine which was incurred when the person was paying out money to the business!

Although you have to be careful as ther car park may not actually belong to the store, it may belong to the local council who are "renting" out the land to the company!


Hope this helps!

[Walloper]

Is she an Asian, Turkish, Iraqi etc. refugee/immigrant?
If so, she'll be able to 'own' part of Morrisons group under one of the many convenient race relations act laws that have been brought in to offer some kind of protection to these sort of folk.
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W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair

[lozzypop1]