Am I A Customer?

[smartypants10101]

I parked my car on halfords car park last week, and saw a parking attendant stood there , i asked him if i could park on the car park while i went to a cash machine , when i returned to the store the part i wanted wasnt in stock, so i bought a car air freshener., when i returned to my vehicle there was a penalty notice on it , i challenged the attendant , asked him to void the ticket as i have made a purchase. he replied , what have you bought, i told him an air freshener, and he said the ticket stands because im not a customer as ive only bought a 1 pound air freshener, , do i need to spend more than a pound to be classed as a customer? , i think not, as far as im a concerned you dont have to even make a purchase to be a customer, i thought you become a customer as soon as you cross there thresh hold and continue been a customer until u have actually left the store. Is this correct?Basically the attendant is saying i am not a customer as i have only spent a pound,

[fiction-factory]

The devil may be in the detail here of the exact terms and conditions, the exact timings here (was the 45 minutes definitely not exceeded when the ticket was issued).

[zebo]

We had a similar problem a few years ago. Pouring down, dropped Himself at the door of a major DIY store and went and parked on the boundary, nipped over to collect dry-cleaning. On return, 6 minutes later, clampers were at work, explained that Himself was inside collecting almost £450 worth of tiles we had ordered, not interested. Phoned Himself, he got the manager to speak to them, not interested. Eventually, managed to sort it but it took over an hour of banging my head on a proverbial brick wall and a threat to call Granada Newsroom where my brother worked, a lie.

[smartypants10101]

i think that these private parking company's have much in the way of legal powers, they cant enforce a ticket charge to be paid, all they can do is take it through the county courts as a civil case they do not have any legal power of enforcement behind them, as there a private company, there not the council nor the police.. They use scare tactics and nasty letters to try to make people worry about what might or might not happen..when i looked on there web site they call it limited time parking ..In there words they say

'' This is a popular regime within the retail sector, offering free parking for genuine customers and deters long stay abuse. Ensuring a turnover of valuable spaces at all times.
Limited waiting regimes allows visitors to park with or without a charge for a specified period of time, often accompanied by a no return policy. Parking enforcement is commonly administered by the issue of Parking Charge Notices for exeeding the time allowed.
The scheme can be monitored via ANPR (Automated Number Plate Recognition) or Parking Attendant(s).
TPS can provide parking equipment and enforcement personnel to promote parking compliance.

[fiction-factory]

If they use ANPR and a 45 minute time limit applies then either you exceeded that or they made an error. These parking companies make their money by charging people so will look for likely abusers- I know or Sainsbury's will watch people who park up then go straight over the tiny fence out into the streets and will then look out for them returning with bags of shopping from somewhere else. I do use their free hour but I always go into the store first, maybe buy a TV Guide mag or stamps, or maybe just browse for 5 minutes, then nip out but by the normal pedestrian route.

Yes it is a charge, not a fine, so they would have to try to enforce it through the courts and if the circumstances were as you said- you asked first and stayed within the time limit- then you will win. If you overstayed you have broken the terms of the contract and may have to pay a reasonable fee. How much are they asking for/demanding?

[Hopkirk]

Just keep your receipt.

In the hugely unlikely event that they took it to court, you just produce it as exhibit A.

[emeritus]

Unless the time on the Penalty Notice is earlier than the receipt for the Air Freshener. They may argue that you only bought the Air Freshener having found the Penalty Notice. Did you ?

[Hopkirk]

Not relevant Emeritus, or they could 'do' every customer who makes a purchase after the ticket was issued.

What is needed here is the wording of the terms and conditions of parking.

[smartypants10101]

wether i did or not buy the item to void the ticket is irrellevent, the fact is i am sure that u are allowed to enter the car park and park and are a customer from that point, wether i choose to shop str8 away or within the set time limit should secure that, how else cud of i have done it .
the attendent presumes without much eveidence that i have tried to play the sytem which may ofr may not be true