New Lidl car park system. Invoices by default?
Discussion
SpeedMattersNot said:
As others have said, if the normal 10-15 mins free parking existed, then that's absolutely fine. It also encourages customers to be decisive and get on with it (something Aldi obviously love when they throw your eggs in your face after they've scanned them).
I've only recently been told that the correct etiquette is to pack your bags on the shelf at the front of the store Mandalore said:
mybrainhurts said:
Mandalore said:
Forget theory.
In practice it will create spaces for their shoppers by removing all the people we all see every day who park there for their personal convenience and then go off somewhere else.
Our local Iceland have good system where you pay £2 for an hour and you get it refunded at the till by showing teR off part of the ticket. Before they did that, you could never find a space, despite the shop being near empty as their car park was in town.
So, if you can't find what you want, and buy nothing, it costs you £2. What a great way make you buy something you don't want. I wouldn't shop there.In practice it will create spaces for their shoppers by removing all the people we all see every day who park there for their personal convenience and then go off somewhere else.
Our local Iceland have good system where you pay £2 for an hour and you get it refunded at the till by showing teR off part of the ticket. Before they did that, you could never find a space, despite the shop being near empty as their car park was in town.
rigga said:
Mandalore said:
mybrainhurts said:
Mandalore said:
Forget theory.
In practice it will create spaces for their shoppers by removing all the people we all see every day who park there for their personal convenience and then go off somewhere else.
Our local Iceland have good system where you pay £2 for an hour and you get it refunded at the till by showing teR off part of the ticket. Before they did that, you could never find a space, despite the shop being near empty as their car park was in town.
So, if you can't find what you want, and buy nothing, it costs you £2. What a great way make you buy something you don't want. I wouldn't shop there.In practice it will create spaces for their shoppers by removing all the people we all see every day who park there for their personal convenience and then go off somewhere else.
Our local Iceland have good system where you pay £2 for an hour and you get it refunded at the till by showing teR off part of the ticket. Before they did that, you could never find a space, despite the shop being near empty as their car park was in town.
technogogo said:
I haven't seen this before. Every car is number plate scanned on the way in. You have to give your reg number at the till to avoid being invoiced. It is fair enough in theory but I can think of many scenarios where people may get caught out. For instance if the car park is full, like it nearly was today, most people loop around head to Tesco 200 yards up the road. I sense trouble ahead!
It's not new. Lidl have been using it for over 12 months.http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-27...
The Kent store mentioned in the article is in Ashford.
A loop around case involving Parking Eye at Fistral Beach was thrown out last year by a County Court judge.
http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Couple-win-parkin...
In fact PE were causing so much general grief that the site owners refused to renew their contract.
http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Controversial-par...
technogogo said:
Well firstly keeping non customers out is perfectly valid. But even as a Lidl customer myself this new approach seems to put things well beyond fairness by not taking into consideration instances that do not constitute parking. For instance, a potential shopper, perhaps the most loyal Lidl shopper in the country, drives into car park. There are no spaces. They leave. At this point it seems certain they will get a demand for money though the post.
See above.technogogo said:
It isn't clear if the system logs entry and exit times as other systems do? The way it is being used doesn' seem to require two times. Just arrival? Hence my interest. Next time I am in the store I'll ask. I only popped in for a couple of items today so didn't want to hang around.
If the system can't record an exit time it will be impossible to 'prove' any length of stay. A court case would founder on that rock.technogogo said:
This seems to be a sort of escalation in the private parking wars. Perhaps spurred by that pivotal court decision a short while ago?
Until the SC judgement in Beavis is handed down it's all up in the air. That won't happen until the court sits again after its summer recess.The PE contract for the Riverside car park in Chelmsford has some unique features (HHJ Moloney mentioned this in his Appeal Court ruling).
It is going to be very interesting to discover what the SC has decided and on what basis.
technogogo said:
I haven't seen this before. Every car is number plate scanned on the way in. You have to give your reg number at the till to avoid being invoiced. It is fair enough in theory but I can think of many scenarios where people may get caught out. For instance if the car park is full, like it nearly was today, most people loop around head to Tesco 200 yards up the road. I sense trouble ahead!
I can't see this lasting long when Lidl management pull their heads out of their bottoms and back down on this system when they start adding up the postage fees involved with posting out all these invoices, along with the huge increase in loss of their customer base to the likes of Aldi, Tesco or Sainsbury's.Edited by technogogo on Sunday 30th August 15:28
They might also have a problem with contract law on this but I will leave the small-print to BV.
And on a different note, if I shopped at Lidl and was asked for my car registration number at the till I would have to say I don't remember it, then would promptly walk out of the store like any good Lidl customer would to the car, then back again in order to provide it to the drone on the till with the numberplate. Might take a bit of time what with the dodgy leg, the cigarette break, checking the weather forecast, and any other incidental trivia that I could think of to piss the Lidl management off and realise that it is the customer that they serve, not the other fking way round, then leave everything on the conveyor or trolley, walk out of the store and drive over to Aldi
BTW, I don't shop at Lidl, have a dodgy leg or indeed smoke, and come to think of it I don't shop at Aldi, Sainsbury's or Tesco if I can avoid it, but thought I would add these comments for maximum PH effect
Been many a time i've left lidl empty handed, going to get a tool or something from the flyer they post round, then find out they only had 2 of the thing you were after in the whole shop aand the first customer in the door that morning took them both. No big loss not shopping there anymore if they are going to be arsey about it.
Negative Creep said:
SpeedMattersNot said:
As others have said, if the normal 10-15 mins free parking existed, then that's absolutely fine. It also encourages customers to be decisive and get on with it (something Aldi obviously love when they throw your eggs in your face after they've scanned them).
I've only recently been told that the correct etiquette is to pack your bags on the shelf at the front of the store Only drawback I can foresee is the fact that you might actually get dragged around Ikea by the wife or girlfriend
Funkycoldribena said:
Funny,I go to a supermarket that has no parking enforcement,yet there seems to always be spaces and none of this parking chaos that keeps getting mentioned here...any company that uses these parasites deserves to go bust in my eyes.
Go bust? Don't make me laugh, this is an international company with over £45bn annual turnover. You posted something similar about Hilton Hotels quite recently, do some research. technogogo said:
I haven't seen this before. Every car is number plate scanned on the way in. You have to give your reg number at the till to avoid being invoiced. It is fair enough in theory but I can think of many scenarios where people may get caught out. For instance if the car park is full, like it nearly was today, most people loop around head to Tesco 200 yards up the road. I sense trouble ahead!
At our local Lidl (Leatherhead) you get 10 mins free so if car park is full no charge. Cameras on entry and exit and 90 minutes free if you shop. It frees up spaces previously used by people not going to Lidl and using the car park for free parking. I think it works well.Edited by technogogo on Sunday 30th August 15:28
Negative Creep said:
Surely if you're making the effort of driving all the way to Iceland it won't be on the hope they have one particular item?
Local Morrisons has this system.My wife often calls me at work to pop in and buy some milk or some bread.
Unfortunately, at Morrisons you have to buy £5 before the reduction can be applied to the bill. This makes the milk expensive or I have to buy something I don't really need.
voyds9 said:
Local Morrisons has this system.
My wife often calls me at work to pop in and buy some milk or some bread.
Unfortunately, at Morrisons you have to buy £5 before the reduction can be applied to the bill. This makes the milk expensive or I have to buy something I don't really need.
Or you could buy it somewhere else. You don't say how much they charge. My wife often calls me at work to pop in and buy some milk or some bread.
Unfortunately, at Morrisons you have to buy £5 before the reduction can be applied to the bill. This makes the milk expensive or I have to buy something I don't really need.
LoonR1 said:
Funkycoldribena said:
Funny,I go to a supermarket that has no parking enforcement,yet there seems to always be spaces and none of this parking chaos that keeps getting mentioned here...any company that uses these parasites deserves to go bust in my eyes.
Go bust? Don't make me laugh, this is an international company with over £45bn annual turnover. You posted something similar about Hilton Hotels quite recently, do some research. speedyguy said:
Trif said:
What happens if you don't purchase anything but browse for an hour?
Would you do the same in a restaurant? Replace table with parking space.
SpeedMattersNot said:
speedyguy said:
Trif said:
What happens if you don't purchase anything but browse for an hour?
Would you do the same in a restaurant? Replace table with parking space.
swerni said:
My local Waitrose car park is always packed.
Next door is the health center with a tiny car park and opposite is a reasonable size pay and display.
Where do you think everyone parks ( for free) ?
Makes great business sense and looks after your paying customers.
Sounds like my local in WB.Next door is the health center with a tiny car park and opposite is a reasonable size pay and display.
Where do you think everyone parks ( for free) ?
Makes great business sense and looks after your paying customers.
One aspect I've heard about these cameras in local authority car parks is that the local authority gets a payment from DVLA for each untaxed car they report. Maybe Lidl and other supermarkets get the same.
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