Shoppers’ boycott threat sees clamp practices curtailed

Angry Dunshaughlin shoppers who threatened to boycott two local supermarkets over car clamping, say they are delighted the issue has been resolved.

Following a number of incidents in which shoppers at Lidl and Aldi felt they had been unfairly targeted by the same clamping company, the problem was highlighted on social media and a boycott was threatened.

Laura Moran was outraged when she was clamped in the Lidl car park earlier this month. “I parked slightly out of the bay due to the car in front of me protruding into my spot when I swung in. I just went as far as I could at the time, while trying to leave them room to open their boot.

“I wasn’t in anyone’s way, I was between the lines and I wasn’t in a disabled spot. It was €120 to get declamped.”

When she initially raised the issue with Lidl they said it had nothing to do with them, she appealed and her appeal was rejected, but the company recently agreed to refund her.

Laura posted about the incident on social media and a lot of people got in contact with her with their own stories of being clamped because they were parked slightly crooked and minor infractions.

“After hearing everyone’s horror stories aside from my own, we felt something should be done about it.

“We felt it was outrageous behaviour. Nobody would tolerate being treated like this - clamping elderly ladies in Lidl, threatening to reclamp a woman in Aldi when she remarked on the clampers illegal parking.

“We felt they were clamping for very minor issues. We encouraged people to complain to the two supermarkets voicing their concerns and sharing their experiences of the clamping company.”

Following their action, affected customers were contacted by Aldi who said they had taken steps and the clamping company, CPMS had also been very proactive in moving to resolve the issue.

Laura said that since then she hasn't been aware of any further problems and she knows of a number of people who have been refunded clamping fees.

Cllr Fionnan Blake said he been contacted by several constituents concerned by the clamping policies in both Lidl and Aldi stores in Dunshaughlin.

“Customers using the stores were being clamped even when parked under the allotted 90 minutes.

“One lady parked less than one foot forward in a parking space and came back to her car clamped. This was a customer spending her money in the shop and getting clamped. It's infuriating and totally unacceptable.

“Another constituent, who is a pensioner parked and returned to find her car clamped and had to pay a fee, which is hard to meet as a pensioner.

“Another man who had just parked slightly sideways also got clamped.”

Cllr Blake said the action taken by the supermarkets and clamping company was very welcome and was a big win for the people of Dunshaughlin.

“I've no problem with the rules or this company being paid to stop people leaving their cars all day and not using the facilities, but people getting clamped while spending their hard earned money in the store was totally ridiculous.”

An Aldi spokesperson said: “We want every customer to feel welcome at Aldi and we are aware of recent concerns regarding car park enforcement at our Dunshaughlin store. We have since engaged with the car park management company and can confirm that they have resolved the issue.

“Customer feedback is important to us, ensuring that we can continuously strive to offer the best shopping experience for our customers.”

A spokesperson for Lidl said their car park was managed by third-party company CPMS “to ensure it is used appropriately, remains a safe space for our customers and to ensure that all customers can avail of our parking facilities.

“Clear signage is in place throughout our car parks to advise of the policy and active clamping. Typically, customers are permitted to only shop within the Lidl store and can remain for up to two hours.

“Lidl has worked with CPMS to address all issues at the Dunshaughlin store and has resolved these issues on an individual basis with any person impacted.”

CPMS has been approached for comment.