A CAVERSHAM shopper received a late festive gift that Ebanana Scrooge, the star of the Aldi’s Christmas advertising campaign, would be proud of – a parking ticket on Christmas Eve.
Yvonne Busby says she is not the only one affected by a mix-up for the Aldi store at Vastern Road in Reading.
Keen to make the most of her day before Christmas, she took advantage of the store’s early opening hours of 7am, so she could stock up on essential such as a sherry and mince pie for Santa later that evening.
But days after the bells rung for the new year, she discovered an unwelcome piece of post. No, not a Christmas card from a friend she’d forgotten to send one to, but a parking ticket for £100.
Normally, the free parking is only from 8am in the morning, to ensure that it’s not abused by commuters. And Aldi shoppers like Ms Busby had other things on their minds, such as if she had enough Brussel sprouts and bread sauce, than to check that the store had informed the parking company.
And it turns out that while Aldi had advertised its Christmas special hours to the public, it turns out no one told UKPC, the parking company that manages the retail park.
So not only did Ms Busby receive a fine, but scores of others did too. And they only discovered their misfortune when a post about it brought people together on social media.
“I always shop there on a Friday morning,” she said. “I’ve got a routine – every week, I’ll go to Aldi, Morrison’s, Tesco and home. I’m always there at 8am opening time (on normal weeks) because I can’t be doing shopping with crowds.
“My parking ticket shows I arrived at 7am and left at 7.19am, so I wasn’t there that long.
“It’s just ridiculous. Aldi should have had a conversation with the parking people and said, ‘You know, just for Christmas week, we’re opening at 7am’.
“If you get some old woman who hasn’t got a bit of sense, or hasn’t got a computer or anything they’re going to panic and pay it straight away. The car park people are making a fortune. This should be the responsibility of Aldi.”
Ms Busby said she had tried to get the store to sort the problem out, but had been unable to get through to head office.
She says that she had informed the store manager, who said he had had at least 20 people with the same problem.
“If everybody coughs up, 20 times £100 for parking half-an-hour earlier, it’s just crazy.”
Ms Busby hoped that the tickets would be voided in a late Christmas miracle, and Aldi’s head office confirmed to Reading Today that they would.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “We are sorry for this mix up with the car park operator. Any early Christmas Eve shoppers who were affected should contact Aldi customer services team to arrange reimbursement.”
n Aldi’s customer service team can be contacted by calling 0800 042 0800. Alternatively, log on to: customerservice.aldi.co.uk/contact
