| Author |
Message |
Hoppy
Joined 05-12-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, 19 July, 2006 - 08:34 am: | |
On Saturday, I parked in the 'Sainsburys' car park, without a ticket for 31 minutes. I have done this hundreds of times before, but this time I got a £50 parking ticket from Lewisham Council/NCP.
Apparently, what I should have done is parked up, walked to the 1 ticket machine in that bit underneath the shop, get a ticket (first 30 minutes free, but you still need a ticket), put it in the car, then shop.
Thanks to Lewishams kind reminder, I am now aware of what I should do, but wondered if everyone else was? |
Robwinton
Joined 07-06-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, 19 July, 2006 - 09:16 am: | |
I saw that and ignored it. I think it is outrageous that we should pay for that car park. I know it is the only one in the area (this side of the tracks) but I really object to it. If they want to enforce parking for shopping only, they can put in a barrier and someone to check receipts if they want. In any case, 30 minutes!!?? It sometimes takes that long just to get through the checkouts. That is their problem, not mine. Grrrrr. |
Fh1
Joined 01-04-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, 19 July, 2006 - 10:50 am: | |
I am a resident of that development and have a parking permit (bright yellow at that on the windscreen) and still got a parking ticket.
Count yourself lucky...... |
Sherwood
Joined 30-03-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, 19 July, 2006 - 02:43 pm: | |
You could use the Savacentre car park in Sydenham. It is free. |
Hilltopgeneral
Joined 24-03-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, 19 July, 2006 - 03:25 pm: | |
Not very convenient for Forest Hill town centre though is it me old Forester |
Theotherbrian
Joined 28-03-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, 26 July, 2006 - 09:56 am: | |
There used to be a machine in the open section behind the store but I noticed that has been removed ,so leaving just one. Maybe the car park operator saw it as extra cost and, of course, the customer must come last when it comes to profits. Sainsbury's has had to put up notices reminding customers to get a ticket. |
Brian
Joined 18-04-2005
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 07:36 am: | |
Unless one is handicapped on very eldely I wonder why anyone would want to use a car to go to the local Sainsburys. Surely very few people live more than 1 mile away and most a lot nearer. Start walking and get the weight of. |
Jem
Joined 28-03-2006
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 09:01 am: | |
Disagree with that - there are many other reasons why people might drive to the supermarket than being handicapped or elderly, I'm very much in favour of leaving the car at home whenever possible - but for those that can't , then I think the sainsbury's ticket idea is strange, I never even knew about it and so it seems I've been very lucky not to have a parking ticket. |
Bosco
Joined 16-07-2004
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 10:10 am: | |
The Sainsbury's ticket idea is not strange at all. I used to live in Clapham North/Brixton and both the local Sainsbury's and Tesco had ticketed car parks. You'd get your ticket and get a refund of your pound at the till when you paid for your shopping. It's not a new idea and it ensures that the car park is used by people who are actually doing their shopping in Sainsbury's.
Given the fact that people on here complain about how small the new car park is surely it makes even more sense for it to be ticketed in this way so that you at least have a fighting chance of getting a space when you come to do the weekly shop. |
Hilltopgeneral
Joined 24-03-2004
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 10:35 am: | |
Oh not another person who names areas after Tube stations. You did not live in "Clapham North" as the station staff wouldn't have let you stay when they shut up for the night. You may however have lived in North Clapham, or even Stockwell as it is traditionally known. Now behave. |
Jem
Joined 28-03-2006
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 11:17 am: | |
Fair enough, but I've been going there fairly regularly over the last few years, and have never had a problem parking, even before the refurb - I thought the issue was the fact that it hasn't been clearly indicated that you had to get a ticket - maybe I walk round with my eyes shut, but I hadn't noticed it after it reopened again. I'm too busy trying to get down 2 flights of stairs whilst pregnant , with all my shopping because both lifts were out of order!(but not with my eyes shut - that would just be plain dangerous) |
Bosco
Joined 16-07-2004
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 12:43 pm: | |
HTG - fair enough, North Clapham/Brixton, but I have NEVER lived in Stockwell.
Anyway, that's like berating people for saying they live in Crystal Palace, since it is in fact, Sydenham... areas change names over time. I'm quite sure Honor Oak Park was called something quite different pre Elizabeth I's alleged visit. |
Michael
Joined 04-03-2005
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 12:55 pm: | |
The car park does not belong to Sainsburys, it belongs to Lewisham council. They used to charge for less than 30 minutes, so really the 30 minutes free is better than how it used to be. It is strange that the parking underneath the shop (land belongs to Sainsburys) is also run as a council car park, but I guess this was part of their agreement with Lewisham to build the new shop. But because it is Lewisham that owns/runs the car park it could not accept Sainsbury's receipts or payment at the checkout. |
Hilltopgeneral
Joined 24-03-2004
| | Posted on Friday, 28 July, 2006 - 01:13 pm: | |
Well Bosco my good fellow Stockwell starts mere yards from Clapham North station (e.g. Landor Road) but my "thing" about people naming areas after Tube stations isn't quite the same as berating people for calling Upper Norwood / Sydenham "Crystal Palace". I wouldn't, as that seems fair enough. It was fairly sizeable feature in its time and an appropriate thing to name the area after.
Names do indeed change over time but the word order of English doesn't and it is this that especially irritates (although I want to poke people in the eye with a pencil who say they "live in Angel", too). Adjectives after nouns please! |
Andrewr
Joined 24-05-2006
| | Posted on Friday, 04 August, 2006 - 10:39 pm: | |
I've used the Sainsbury's car park many times but forgot it was pay and display when I parked there yesterday. The machine has been moved and there are NO signs visible if you drive straight in and park ahead. I only noticed a warning posted by Sainsbury's on my way out of the store. Fortunately I hadn't been caught but if I had, I think there would have been good grounds for appeal on the basis that no signs are visible as you enter the car park.
I don't have a problem with the free for 30 minutes and then pay principle. If the car park was free, it would be full of commuters by 8 am every morning with no possibility of parking for shopping. |
Bt
Joined 27-07-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, 05 August, 2006 - 08:25 am: | |
You're right Andrewr about the commuters. I think they have a network to let each other know if the ticket machine is out of order, as when it is there is, and always was, a considerable increase in the number of cars in the car park. As to the free 30 mins this was in operation for a couple of years even before the store was 'modernised', as it was in the Perry Vale car park. I was once caught out by being a few minutes over when I had paid for 2 hours. The Warden hangs around if your ticket only has a short time to go and pounces on your car even if its only a few mins over. I have really annoyed him on a couple of occasions by getting into my car with just a few mins left on the ticket and just sitting there until its well past the time. Once you are in your car he can't give you a ticket. Also, check that the time on the machine is the same as your watch. I have found several times that the ticket machine is up to 5 mins 'fast', so that if you are cutting it a bit fine you could get caught out. |
Sherwood
Joined 30-03-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, 05 August, 2006 - 04:23 pm: | |
Bt,
Can you post on here or send me a message via the Webmaster if the clock is persistently inaccurate? This is an old car park attendant's trick. It used to be used to swindle customers by charging them for an extra hour. The attendant kept the extra money. |
Abi
Joined 09-09-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, 05 August, 2006 - 08:58 pm: | |
I had the dubious pleasure of using this car park today, to park my motorcycle, for the first time since the store expansion.
Conspiscuous by it's absence, was a motor cycle bay (which used to be under a tree - prior to the renovations) - equally absent is the tree in question.
No matter - a parking attendant loomed from the direction of the alleyway link to London Rd. I was sure I could find help here.
In the first instance, he was unable to advise me as to where I might be able to park my motorcycle as it was the first time he had ventured into this car park - fair enough.
His advice was to purchase a ticket and display it on my motorcycle - he wasn't clear as to where on the bike I should display it.
I pointed out that attaching a ticket to my bike was a free gift for the next less than scrupulous car driver to enter the car park and spot it on his/her way to the ticket machine, rendering me liable to a fine, when I had taken every available step to avoid one.
His response was that he had offered me a solution to the problem, and that i was "dissing it".
I responded by telling him that I wasn't dissing his suggestion, but his suggestion wasn't really a feasible solution - and he seemed to grasp this.
Change of tactic time....
"Look mate, I need to buy 2 mangos and a bottle of wine. I'm going to be no more than 10 minutes. In that time, are you going to ticket my bike?"
Reply was "No I'm not but if another attendant comes along he might"
I parked my bike, bought my comestibles, returned to the ticket free bike, observed the tickets that had been applied to cars in my absence and left.
Upshot of this is......
It's a damn sight easier for me to use Sainsburys at Dog Kennel Hill or Savacentre, than it is to use the one nearest to where I live.
Today's palaver has done zilch to encourage me to spend at this store. |
Sherwood
Joined 30-03-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, 05 August, 2006 - 10:40 pm: | |
Abi,
I think that normally motorcycles cannot park in car bays. I suspect that provision has not been made for motorcycles because you are unlikely to buy a trolleyfull of goods. The old problem of commuters occupying the car park would arise because you really cannot stick a ticket to your bike and be sure that it will be there when you get back.
Are there motorcycle bays in the station car park? |
Abi
Joined 09-09-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, 06 August, 2006 - 11:49 am: | |
Sherwood,
I don't know if there are motorcycle bays in the station car park - my guess is probably not - why would you need them? Commute by motorbike to the station, and continue your journey by train? - 'Seems a bit odd.
More to the point, I'm unconvinced by your argument that there are no motorcycle bays because motorcyclists are not volume shoppers.
In the same car park, space has been found and secure provision has been made for bicycles......
..... as an aside I have occasionally wondered where I would stand were I to use such a facility to park my motorcycle. After all, the wording on the tax disc as well as the vehicle registration document says 'Bicycle' and not 'Motorcycle'. |
Robwinton
Joined 07-06-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, 06 August, 2006 - 05:08 pm: | |
Abi
You would have been slightly protected by the fact that the machine requires you to enter the numerical element of your number plate for the ticket. It means it is unusable by the majority of other people using the parking. This is less useful with the current "02" "52" etc numbering, but better than nothing. Thus less incentive to nick your "free" ticket (if you were there for 10 minutes there was no financial commitment).
As for the lack of motorcycle bays, that is a separate matter. I think it is a result of poor planning rather than any calculation. I wouldn't use the bicyle bays as you are more likely to get your bike scratched! |
Sherwood
Joined 30-03-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, 06 August, 2006 - 05:29 pm: | |
Abi,
I am not saying the lack of motorcycle parking is right.
It might even be that no-one thought about it.
I suspect that the provision for pedal bicycles is because they are "green" and environmentally friendly. I have seen several planning applications recently that have included provision for bicycle parking spaces. |
Bt
Joined 27-07-2003
| | Posted on Monday, 07 August, 2006 - 07:31 am: | |
I used to find that the Motorcycle bay in the 'old' car park was often occupied by one of the many minicabs hanging around in the car park waiting for fares, especially when it was hot and sunny, and this was the only bit of shade available. |
