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Lidl clamping down to ensure car park used by “genuine customers”
20/04/2023
Fines of £90 will be issued to those breaching car parking rules
Shoppers who’ve been taking advantage of a short period of free parking in the Lidl car park in Banbury to nip into the Town Centre could now face a £90 fine. The supermarket has put up signs warning users that vehicles not registered in store could face a big bill.
The car park has always been for Lidl customers, but in the face of increasing parking charges at other car parks, some town centre visitors had discovered Lidl’s car park as one of the few places where they could save some money during a short visit.
Now, cameras will note the registration number plates of all vehicles entering the Lidl car park. Drivers will then need to validate their vehicle’s details using the receipt for their shopping at one of the in-store terminals.
Lidl told Banbury FM that this sort of system is in common use across other retailers and industry sectors.
A spokesperson said: “With it being a busy store, it just helps to ensure availability of parking spaces for genuine customers.”
The limit of 90 minutes for any one visit to the Lidl car park will operate 24 hours a day, even when the store is closed.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
Simon August On 21/04/2023 at 10:28 am
Quite right! I shop there every Saturday morning
but I was a bit later one morning and had to wait for a space as people were cutting into town or carrying kit bags to and from Spiceball.
Gary On 10/04/2024 at 5:40 pm
I have just had a penalty charge for 45 mins !!
Stevie On 10/04/2024 at 7:38 pm
did you pay it I just recieved one to
Sotirakis Peklivanas On 01/05/2024 at 6:49 pm
I was using the car charger, which is owned by Lidl. I have received a penalty charge for 46 minutes. I will nolonger be shopping at Lidl.
Tony On 28/04/2023 at 10:10 am
What about the older generation or disabled people whom are not as quick as shopping as others ?
Jo On 06/12/2023 at 3:54 pm
yes, I am disabled and got a £90 fine which I appealed against but still had to pay. disgusted not using Lidl again.
James On 05/01/2024 at 7:15 pm
same here I’m going to post this on social media we had spent over two hundred pounds that day
Paul Chapman On 09/01/2024 at 8:42 am
Did you speak to Lidl?
Gary On 10/04/2024 at 5:41 pm
How long were you parked ?
Margaret Huggett On 07/06/2023 at 1:12 pm
a visitor to the store i got caught. surely the cashiers should point out that you have to validate your visit.
Karen Corradi On 09/06/2023 at 2:18 pm
I had no idea you had to validate registration and I did shop there! I did not see anything in-store which informed me I should do this and wasn’t aware the rules had changed. I was parked under an hour.
John On 10/07/2023 at 8:40 pm
I parked for around an hour shopped in Lidl but saw no signs saying you had to validate your car registration. As I paid by cash I gave no receipt. If I have to pay a fine I simply will vote with my feet and shop elsewhere. Perhaps they should just send out a warning first to alert their customers i.e the ones who pay their salaries . Without customers they don’t have a business!!!
Mark On 13/07/2023 at 5:20 pm
Didn’t see any signs in car park or in store , didn’t see a machine to scan ticket in store and cashier didn’t say anything about validating car parking.
Chris On 15/07/2023 at 1:03 pm
Just found out we got a fine, have to complain in writing. Will not be shopping at Lidl again. Arrived at 17:59 when town stores are closed and car park was 3/4 empty. Didn’t see the signs and would have assumed it was a warning for people not going to Lidl anyhow. A large notice board would have been appropriate, I won’t be shopping there again.
Paul Chapman On 09/01/2024 at 8:45 am
Did you speak to Lidl?
renate nahum On 23/07/2023 at 12:57 pm
Same thing happend to us. I think they do it on purpose to make money
Scott. On 31/07/2023 at 4:05 pm
I now face a fine of £45.00 because I knew nothing of the instruction to validate your ticket.
This is the most expensive place to shop in Banbury without this knowledge.
Lidl, you have just lost another customer.
M Shervington On 11/08/2023 at 1:47 pm
lidl has lost my custom
Avril On 11/08/2023 at 3:34 pm
I have also been caught out and have a fine of £45.00 for a 51min shop in Lidl. I saw no signs stated you have to validate the receipt and was not told by any shop assistants this was the case. I will appeal but probably to no avail….No longer a Lidl shopper as from today !
Linda On 16/08/2023 at 12:33 pm
Same happened as me, I just received a fine notice for 56min shop in Lidl，luckily I still have receipts on hand, will appeal it immediately , and never ever go back shopping at BANBURY Lidl store
Rebecca Fisher On 15/08/2023 at 1:52 pm
I have just been asked to pay a fine there but did shop in Lidl, did enter my Registration and did scan the barcode on my receipt. I have now lodged an appeal against the charge, Lidil wont help in anyway because its a Parking Eye system and if Parking eye have tech issues and issue a fine to a customer of Lidil its up to you to sort it out. my feet will definitely be voting not to use them again
Rebecca On 18/08/2023 at 9:02 pm
They cancelled the fine as I submitted digital receipts for my purchases in store, no apologies for their broken system though! No concern from Lidil either
Sharon Clements On 18/08/2023 at 12:02 pm
I have just received a parking fine for a 46 min shop in Lidl Banbury. Was shocked and have appealed. Shall NOT be going back to Lidl again, another costumer lost!!
Rebecca On 18/08/2023 at 6:54 pm
I sent parking eye the receipt from my shopping and they cancelled the fine, I’d been into the store got my shopping and entered my reg into the tablet but it didn’t update to their system. Thankfully I do the lidil app with digital receipts
Vanessa On 14/09/2023 at 5:42 pm
Got my fine today for a 42 minute shop, saw no signs and cashier did not mention anything. luckily I paid by card and have appealed with a screenshot of my payment. I’m not a regular shopper, and won’t go back to the Banbury Lidl.
John On 24/10/2023 at 9:26 pm
Lost a regular customer. No signs, no warning, no mention by staff. I shopped only at Lidl for 46 minutes; didn’t go anywhere else. £90 fine. Never will shop at Lidl again. Complain to their corporate so they hold the local shop accountable
Kevin Woof On 06/11/2023 at 7:53 am
This is a blatant strategy to make money, which will probably be rectified when they have screwed enough customers. nothing wrong with the concept of having a time limit on parking or charging for parking, but everything wrong with not putting up big signs to inform customers and people charging their EV. what is wrong with these corporate muppets? Don’t they realises it damages goodwill and their reputation?
Dave Iszard On 09/11/2023 at 6:02 pm
I too have received a £90 fine for not validating my shopping recept. why didn’t the staff make customers aware rather than p*** people off and loose custom. I have my till readout for the transaction and will be appealing. Where quite happy shopping there, not anymore.
Timothy Watt On 21/11/2023 at 8:49 pm
Furious! popped in to buy lunch. turns out it will cost me lunch plus £45. I wonder if the money they earn from the fines makes up for the customers they are losing
Matt George On 30/11/2023 at 6:35 pm
Same for my 89 yr old mother, 42 minutes in Lidl and a £45 fine for the privilege.
Won’t be going back, ever.
Patrick Blair On 13/12/2023 at 2:21 pm
Hope this helps everyone. Please have a very happy Christmas.
Hi Emma and Fiona, Lidl Customer Care 96171588 refers
Please see the attached parking fine and copy of bank statement as proof of my £91.87 shop at the Banbury store.
Thanks for being so kind as to sort this out. It is not possible to contact the parking thugs that the store has hired. My partner and me normally shop in Buckingham or Bicester where there is no restrictions. We were only in the car park for 50 minutes. It was very busy and we had to queue with 2 trollies to get out of the shop. So that is about half an hours shop and the rest of the time is just getting in and out? We go to Lidl because it is a superior store – we like it. We saw no signs and the till lady did not mention we would need a till receipt to leave the store without getting a £90.00 fine.
Together we spent about £150.00 contactless. I am a loyal Lidl customer and I have been very stressed by this experience, and unable to sleep and heart palpitations which at 74 I don’t need. I feel like I have been mugged. I thought we did quite well to do the shop in 50 minutes: apparently we are allowed 90 minutes parking time so why would Lidl fine us after 50 minutes? This has ruined our Lidl Christmas shopping experience.
Luckily I made contact with you good people or I would have been stressed all Christmas. £90 is a very large proportion of my old age pension. What about all your other elderly customers who your Banbury store is trying to kill?
I would like to bring your attention to Banbury FM Lidl parking blog, where you are losing customers due to these parking thugs. I would be most grateful, on behalf of all the elderly and disabled or partially sighted if you would contact the store and get the manager to train the till staff, to tell customers about the parking situation. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water, what is Lidl thinking? Keeping your customers informed is part of your duty of care and it is such a simple solution to a brutally unkind policy.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter. It is very much appreciated.
Yours Sincerely,
Patrick Blair
Patrick Blair On 14/12/2023 at 1:52 pm
I would like to say that I iwas very upset by my Parking fine at Lidl’s and would like to point out that iI apologies unreservedly for calling the computer camera a parking thug . In this age of AI I suppose we have to get used to Robots governing our lives and it is no fault of the robot. Best wishes for a very merry Christmas . Patrick Blair
Christine Sanderson On 07/05/2024 at 12:20 pm
same I was charged for 45 mins
Graham Lundberg On 09/05/2024 at 2:19 am
I shopped at Lidl Banbury, and got fined. I thought it was a carpark for Lidl shoppers, it was the only place I went, and I did not abuse the time limit. So unfair, last time I use Lidl.
George Hugh On 19/09/2024 at 12:56 pm
We thought we would try Lidl at Banbury for the first time — never again ! We didn’t see any notice or reference to parking either outside or inside the store. We were there for 62 minutes and fined £45. Disgraceful use of these methods by Lidl.