Parking your motorhome at supermarkets when shopping - fines,? (1 Viewer)

[scotzsue]

ABROAD
Absolutely no problem anywhere overnighting - and getting fresh bread as soon as they open is wonderful

One of the big chains has height barriers, can't even access the fuel station in a just under 3M van.
favourite all time was one where no height barrier on the way in, but did have not a barrier but a low building over the exit, no signage. Had to have the traffic stopped and go out the entrance, was a right pain.
So many money grabbing car parking places.

 

[scotjimland]

One of the big chains has height barriers, can't even access the fuel station in a just under 3M van

Intermarche has height barrier.. came across it in Chateudun, . it was 3mt .. but you could access the fuel pumps

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Intermarche has height barrier.. came across it in Chateudun, . it was 3mt .. but you could access the fuel pumps


View attachment 884839

Phew, 2.9mt.
Mike.

 

[poppycamper]

Phew, 2.9mt.
Mike.

Phew... me too

 

[gus-lopez]

Surely if you park in two bays parallel to the lines and within the lines and pay for two tickets you aren’t breaking the rules.

Unless the council do not allow purchase of 2 tickets in their rules? Bear Street car park in Barnstaple,, a huge affair, does not allow purchase of two tickets so you can't park there with a car & trailer either

The second largest public carpark in Dereham used to have a weight restriction of 30cwt

All Chelmsford city council car parks have a 1500kg unladen weight limit but as I said to the bloke on the phone , "when am I going to see the range rovers, G wagons,land crusiers , most large mpv's all getting tickets?"

Intermarche has height barrier.. came across it in Chateudun, . it was 3mt .. but you could access the fuel pumps


View attachment 884839

You can drive around them .I had no problem last year. It is like many super u's also . Or you drive in the out if no barrier.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[nicholsong]

You can drive around them .I had no problem last year. It is like many super u's also . Or you drive in the out if no barrier.

Sometimes there is the possibility of driving into the 'Deliveries' entrance and connecting with the parking area that way - no height barriers there.

 

[hja]

One uk council web site (can’t remember which) identified possible car parks for Motorhome parking, but when looking via google satellite there were signs at the entrance with weight limits. Contacted the council who said it would be fine, the weight limit was just to stop trucks! Also if the machine was reluctant to give two tickets, reg number to be inserted, use two different machines, as every car park had at least two machines.

 

[Fdhadi]

I parked at Cheshire oaks once for 15 mins seen the parky pass me as I got out and walked away he gave me a "hi"
I was in the MH so had to take up 4 spaces,
came back and he had tickets me, on a car park of probably 2000 spaces with about 300 cars on, and no one on my section'

its a job

Cheshire Oaks now has a dedicated Motorhome parking area.

 

[scotzsue]

Intermarche has height barrier.. came across it in Chateudun, . it was 3mt .. but you could access the fuel pumps


View attachment 884839

Yes that is the group, height near St Tropez was 2.6M so glad we had filled up at an independent elsewhere, it was a long way to next nearest fuel station.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Whats worse in France is the very high concrete plinths leading into petrol stations like width restrictions. One at Geant at Port Grimaud.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Whats worse in France is the very high concrete plinths leading into petrol stations like width restrictions. One at Geant at Port Grimaud.

And Rouen, where their a single lane, so little to no chance of reversing if you end up in the wrong lane!!

 

[Fdhadi]

Used it a number of times. No need to call the number on the entrance gate. Entry from the roundabout.

 

[DelMar]

Horizon sent me a fine of £70 for overstaying our time, this was just before Christmas. Yes we did overstay, but also spent over £160 on groceries, then had lunch in the cafe before leaving.

Took the letter to customer services and showed them our till receipt etc. They then kindly told Horizon to push off and told me if I hear from them again to ignore it. We didn’t hear from again.

 

[Gromett]

Mmm..IMO... ignore.. they will threaten you with court....
They won't proceed..... cost them too much for fine you will be given.

Risky advice. It is not a fine it is an invoice for a service. When you park in a private car park you are agreeing to their terms of service.

Last year the guidance was withdrawn limiting what they could charge. Not sure if that has been updated.

https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/private-parking-code-of-practice-latest-developments/

 

[BikerGraham]

Be careful with the advice of ignore...

these parking companies chase very aggressively these days, up to 3 or 4 years ago they used to go away regularly when ignored, things have changed somewhat

that's true.

my son decided to fight them a couple of years ago and lost in court. ended up with about £300 to pay. They had pushed for much more but the judge told them no.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Tombola]

that's true.

my son decided to fight them a couple of years ago and lost in court. ended up with about £300 to pay. They had pushed for much more but the judge told them no.

A chap I know in North Wales bailiffs have been round and it keeps mounting. He's arguing the point and thinks they will go away.

Hiding your car and watching worrying behind the curtains isn't for me. I'd rather pay up.

 

[SpeedyDux]

Isn't the real point that the landowners often get money for nothing, by in effect licensing these Parking Management Companies to ticket the ordinary customers who infringe the arbitrary "terms and conditions" in situations where in reality neither the landowner nor the Parking Management Company has incurred ANY financial loss (direct or indirect) as a consequence of the alleged minor "breach" of T&Cs?

I find this whole approach offends the basic principles of the Law of Contract. It is a spatchcock invented under the ConDem coalition, responding to a campaign by the Daily Mail against cowboy clampers. Fair enough, because there were some very bad clamping abuses, but there could have been better ways to legislate to stop such abuses. Instead of landowners having a common law right to clamp trespassing vehicles, the coalition government banned clamping outright, instead substituting a ticketing right, that in its turn is becoming a widespread abuse thanks to the Parking Management Companies' greed and underhand tactics. Even MacDonalds burger eaters are getting fined heavily for overstaying, having been held up in drive-through queues. The flawed legislation included in the Orwellian "Protection of Freedoms Act" was pushed through Parliament by a LibDem junior minister.

 

[DelMar]

Something I forgot to mention earlier, was that customer service at Tesco told us to notify them on arrival, that we may go over our allotted time for parking, which they will record to prevent a ticket.

 

[JRT]

Intermarche has height barrier.. came across it in Chateudun, . it was 3mt .. but you could access the fuel pumps


View attachment 884839

Wait for white van man to move then carefully negotiate the kerb......

Jobs a good un.....

 

[wfdTamar]

What a joyous little country you have there.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[scotjimland]

Something I forgot to mention earlier, was that customer service at Tesco told us to notify them on arrival, that we may go over our allotted time for parking, which they will record to prevent a ticket.

Tesco Extra near us have a three hour parking limit, presumably o prevent it being used as an all day car park by commuters .. and surely three hours is more than enough to do a weeks shopping .. and have a coffee

 

[Delboyarapaho]

Yes we have had the same problem. Parked at Sainsbury’s in cramlington occupying two spaces rather than one (we are 8.5 m long) and got fined. Signs clearly said to park inside bays and no caravans, trailers etc but only looked at them after we saw the ticket.
In our case spoke to customer service who said the car park was nothing to do with Sainsbury’s and was privately owned and managed. Appealed waste of time and told the signage was clear so had to pay up.
Ignore the numpties saying ignore the fine, you just dig a deeper hole for yourself. You must follow their process to appeal and find something (such as no signage or something that can contend they are not operating in accordance with their published rules). I doubt you will be successful but since the works look like they are temporary you might be lucky.
Otherwise you just need to chalk it up to experience and I guarantee like me you will now look at the car park signs before leaving the Moho.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

 

[BikerGraham]

Yes we have had the same problem. Parked at Sainsbury’s in cramlington occupying two spaces rather than one (we are 8.5 m long) and got fined. Signs clearly said to park inside bays and no caravans, trailers etc but only looked at them after we saw the ticket.
In our case spoke to customer service who said the car park was nothing to do with Sainsbury’s and was privately owned and managed. Appealed waste of time and told the signage was clear so had to pay up.
Ignore the numpties saying ignore the fine, you just dig a deeper hole for yourself. You must follow their process to appeal and find something (such as no signage or something that can contend they are not operating in accordance with their published rules). I doubt you will be successful but since the works look like they are temporary you might be lucky.
Otherwise you just need to chalk it up to experience and I guarantee like me you will now look at the car park signs before leaving the Moho.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

I wasn't aware of the restrictions on certain vehicles at Sainsbury's car park in Cramlington until you pointed it out.

They are my local shops I had a look when next there and yes, there are loads of signs around the car park. But you have to be well inside to be able to read them. Although you can drive straight out I suppose.

well done for getting an 8.5m vehicle in there though. The entrance road has a very tight bend on it, probably to deter long vehicles.

I believe the car park is owned by the shopping centre owners which now is something to do with part of the council.

 

[MGSMerc.]

Time to start watching "The Black Belt Barrister" on Youtube, when getting into a car parking situation. A minefield of useful information to contest these situations when dealing with private parking companies.

 

[AlanandMayya]

I received a 'fine' from Horizon parking who manage the parking at our local Tesco. I wasn't in the motorhome at the time but it just got me thinking about parking the motorhome there as I often do this on trips.

Basically I was 'fined' for 'not parking within a marked bay.' on this occasion my excuse was there are some barriers up so the marked bays are not long enough for safe parking. Me and several others parked longways across the bays instead. I went back and people were still doing this (no temporary signs saying not to). Horizon making a mint out of Tesco customers in this particular situation then.

Anyway, on a more general note - anyone been 'fined' in a supermarket for parking a motorhome a across 2 or more bays?

Would be interested in any thoughts about how to approach this particular situation too!

View attachment 884583

Today...

View attachment 884584

Very important not to ignore it. Reply in writing with your position. Refer to the 2014 Consumer Protection Act concerning unreasonable implied contract terms. This shows you are serious, and capable, about resisting. Also important, should it go to court, to show that you have acted reasonably and their action is a poor use of the court’s time. If you don’t reply you lose all this. This is not legal advice, I am not a lawyer , but my record in litigation is 4 wins no losses, against Shell, a Dutch bank and EON (twice- they never learn!). I find the English Small Claims Court system very fair, logical and supportive of the lay individual.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[poppycamper]

Yes we have had the same problem. Parked at Sainsbury’s in cramlington occupying two spaces rather than one (we are 8.5 m long) and got fined. Signs clearly said to park inside bays and no caravans, trailers etc but only looked at them after we saw the ticket.
In our case spoke to customer service who said the car park was nothing to do with Sainsbury’s and was privately owned and managed. Appealed waste of time and told the signage was clear so had to pay up.
Ignore the numpties saying ignore the fine, you just dig a deeper hole for yourself. You must follow their process to appeal and find something (such as no signage or something that can contend they are not operating in accordance with their published rules). I doubt you will be successful but since the works look like they are temporary you might be lucky.
Otherwise you just need to chalk it up to experience and I guarantee like me you will now look at the car park signs before leaving the Moho.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Numpties??????????

 

[Mick Kennedy]

I'm with the others who say to ignore the threatening paperwork - DON'T reply to any of it, just straight in the bin. You can't get away with it with a regular traffic warden on double yellows, etc, but with ''private'' firms you can. I've done this in the past and they eventually give up. Don't be alarmed at the ''impending doom'' messages of increased fines and court costs. Bin 'em all. They make a mint from all the poor souls who just stump up, so can't be arsed with the hassle of courts and just send automated letters at given time intervals which will eventually stop. But - I repeat - DON'T reply to any of them. As for parking in two or even several bays, we always do this in our 9m moho, but we also have a sign on our windscreen saying, ''Dear Traffic Warden, apologies for parking over more than one bay, but please note we have bought two tickets (if in a Pay & Display car park) to make up for this - hope that's ok! Thank you.'' It seems to work ok in Supermarkets, too. I only had to challenge it once with Chester Council and when I sent them a photo of the two (concurrent) parking receipts they cancelled the fine. I'm sure the windscreen message helps, too.

 

[Spriddler]

A chap I know in North Wales bailiffs have been round and it keeps mounting. He's arguing the point and thinks they will go away.
Hiding your car and watching worrying behind the curtains isn't for me. I'd rather pay up.

Yep, it isn't worth the hassle to me.
In Guildford a couple of weeks ago all traffic was diverted into the bus lane by temp bollards at an emergency repair of a leaking water main and I got a £60 bill (reduced to £30 for immediate payment) with a photo of my car in the bus lane.
I just paid up as life's too short to get into protracted arguments over a few quid.

 

[poppycamper]

Yep, it isn't worth the hassle to me.
In Guildford a couple of weeks ago all traffic was diverted into the bus lane by temp bollards at an emergency repair of a leaking water main and I got a £60 bill (reduced to £30 for immediate payment) with a photo of my car in the bus lane.
I just paid up as life's too short to get into protracted arguments over a few quid.

So how much did they reap because vehicles being forced into bus lane.... what were you supposed to do.. stop and wait for the bollards to be removed..
That IMO is definately worth pursuing!

 

[nicholsong]

Yep, it isn't worth the hassle to me.
In Guildford a couple of weeks ago all traffic was diverted into the bus lane by temp bollards at an emergency repair of a leaking water main and I got a £60 bill (reduced to £30 for immediate payment) with a photo of my car in the bus lane.
I just paid up as life's too short to get into protracted arguments over a few quid.

That was your decision, but if all drivers did that imagine how much the Council would reap during the period that all traffic was diverted around the repairs that probably took many hours. Not to speak of the rake-off if any contractor was involved in operating the scheme.

I hope some local residents approach their Councilors to urge the Council to cancel all fines, and refund any paid, for the period in which the works were in progress.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}