NO PARKING: Brian Riley at Asda, where he says able-bodied drivers who park in disabled bays are not challenged by store management
Articles and letters from the Press and Public
Here are some letters from various sources but all on the same common theme, Asda's disabled parking across the country and Asda's statements. You may also see how other companies have reacted when approached on this issue in future letters.
Want to add your own Asda disabled parking abuse letter, then drop me an email here
This is your chance to add your voice to the site
Taken from my web form 18th January 2008
Please leave you questions and comments here. Thank you for taking time to contact me. If you require a response, I will get back to you as soon as I can. Disgruntled Weymouth' had received information that TCP had issued passwords to several of the managers at Asda so that any customer who got a ticket and comes in store complaining can be pacified by a manager phoning TCP ticket section and having the ticket quashed by using the password ! Of course both (Asda and TCP) will say there has to be a genuine reason but in reality all the customer has to do is make a big fuss, say they are sorry or threaten to shop elsewhere or granny is in the car or the kids were playing up etc. etc.
I was asked on the form to check if the password system is nationwide and would Asda to justify all the publicity when in fact to be honest only a complete fool will end up paying a fine ! I have asked Asda on my most recent email and you can read this on the email blog page link at the bottom of the page.
Taken from my web form 17th January 2008
Please leave you questions and comments here. Thank you for taking time to contact me. If you require a response, I will get back to you as soon as I can. I currently work for Asda and I bumped in to the sacked TCP man and although he wanted to come forward and tell the truth about the obstruction he suffered at the hands of the Asda management to his strict policy, which led to his sacking, he could not do so as threats involving the Data Protection Act had been put to him at his final disciplinary hearing before being sacked for gross misconduct by TCP.( this 'gross misconduct' appears to centre around the fact that he went to see the manager on his day off ,not in uniform (but unpaid ! ) to try and reach a common policy on policing the car park during the eight week recent re-fit. The following day he received a phone call from his regional supervisor saying Asda no longer wanted him on site. ALL SMELLS A BIT FUNNY IF YOU ASK ME AND MANY OF THE PEOPLE I HAVE RELATED THIS TOO . I also pointed out that he had informed me he had issued about 300 cautions (just a warning notice) and about thirty real penalty notices in the time he was there yet had been branded over zealous ! Seems like he was just doing his job to me and in line with exactly the policy that Asda have gone on TV bragging about !! If there were genuinely customer complaints about him then they would appear to be from the very people who Asda say they intended to penalise. I have asked Asda to comment on this but as you have not left a valid email address you will have to keep an eye out on the email blog page for any response from them.
27th October 2007, taken from a website response sent to me:
Please leave you questions and comments here. Thank you for taking time to
contact me. If you require a response, I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Why is it so hard to get a reply from Asda or Town and City Parking as to why
one of them (Asda) requested the suspension of one of the two car park patrolmen
and the other (TCP) then dismissed him apparently for 'gross misconduct' (that
is what I have been told by a member of ASDA's' staff).All seems a bit strange
to me because everybody I have spoke to thinks he was doing a really good job !
!
Can I add your comments (minus and personal info) to my site? Yes
FROM: DISGRUNTLED OF WEYMOUTH TO WAL-MART (Name changed on request)
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:17:38 +0000
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am sure by now you are aware of the website:
www.sappy.nidram.co.uk with reference to the existing problem with disabled
bay parking at our local store and indeed several others in the UK.
My question is quite simply even if your store is on land owned by you, you must
still be required to uphold the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 if you have
signs saying it is an offence on your land to park in these bays? Surely a court
of law would say that although you own the land an act of discrimination is
being carried out on your behalf by either an employee of yours or by those
contracted to patrol your car parks.
If you wish to get rid of the thirteen signs in our car park then fine but if
they are to remain then surely you must comply with your own rules or there is
little point in having them and I am advised they may be deemed to be illegal if
only part of the sign is applied as this would again be seen as discrimination
against one party or the other?.
I look forward to an URGENT response as it appears from the above website it is
impossible to get a straight answer from anybody ( including Andy Bond ) in the
UK.
Yours faithfully,
Disgruntled of Weymouth
RESPONCE FROM WAL_MART:
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:47:46 -0500
From: help@walmart.com
Subject: Re: Disabled bay parking in the UK
Dear Disgruntled of Weymouth
Thank you for contacting us at Walmart.com. Your comments and questions are very
important to us as we strive to meet your needs.
We are writing to acknowledge receipt of your email. Unfortunately, we do not
have access to your local stores in United Kingdom. If you have a general query
about shopping in Asda stores please contact them directly at 0845-300-1111 (8am
? 10pm, 7 days), or you may visit
http://www.asda.co.uk/corp/home.html. We apologize for the inconvenience.
If we may be of further assistance, please email us at
help@walmart.com, or call us at
1-800-966-6546. We're here to serve you from 6:00 AM CST to 1:00 AM CST, 7 days
a week!
Sincerely,
Herbert
Customer Service at Walmart.com
From:
Disgruntled of Weymouth
To: help@walmart.com
Subject: RE: Disabled bay parking in the UK
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:53:43 +0000
Dear Herbert,
Thanks for your quick reply. I take it from what you have said that the parent
company has no control over what Asda UK says or does. This seems a little
strange as many of the marketing and training strategies appear to come from
America. I am currently researching who actually owns Asda UK to see if they are
aware of the discriminatory behaviour currently taking place across Great
Britain and would be grateful for any data you can supply. I believe in America
you have a Freedom of Information Act ( or similar ) so I am sure you will be
able to help me.
Thanks in anticipation, Disgruntled of Weymouth
Thank you for a copy of your letter. I must thank you for trying to get some answers too. I have had trouble getting any from the USA but in some states it is an offence to park in a disabled bay if you do not have a badge even on supermarket land! Hopefully here too soon. The Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott must have some say so over Andy Bond and his policy on disabled Parking?
I would appreciate it if you would keep me informed if you get any news. I will ensure that I not publish your details as requested. Thank you.
FROM: MUMS DRIVER
I shop at ASDA in West Bridgeford Nottingham, they have an excellent policy toward Blue Badge parking. Any non badge holders parked in a bay receive a tannoy asking them to move. I understand they are about to introduce a fine for offenders. I though this must have been a national policy, sorry to hear you have problems. 28/06/07
I am glad it works for you. I am afraid that in Weymouth this option is not available it seems. It would at least shame them in to not parking in them again hopefully. Thank you for leaving your message.
A DISABLED man is fuming after being told his local supermarket does not
challenge able-bodied drivers parking in its disabled bays - for fear of
"upsetting customers".
Brian Riley, who has a debilitating lung condition, said he felt "appalled and
insulted" to be told that Asda's policy at SportCity, East Manchester, was to
turn a blind eye to able-bodied drivers using its disabled parking bays.
Metro News has discovered that Asda won best chain category in the first
Baywatch Disability Parking Awards in 2004.
The 55-year-old, from Higher Openshaw, shops at the flagship store every day,
but says he rarely finds a disabled parking space because they are often blocked
by traders' vans.
He says he has suffered verbal abuse from drivers when he has challenged them
and now waits in his car while his wife Susan goes into the store for groceries.
Mr Riley is calling for Asda to crack down on the offending motorists and to
reverse its "irresponsible" policy of failing to challenge them.
He said: "I arrived at the store last week to find a Transit van parked over two
disabled bays and the driver and his passenger were eating their breakfast in
the van.
"The store manager came out and I asked him if he would do something about it.
He replied that he could not say anything because it is Asda's policy not to
upset its customers. I was appalled and insulted. Did he not think that as a
disabled customer, I would be upset by this policy?"
Mr Riley was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 14 months ago,
and cannot walk for more than a few yards without stopping for breath.
He said: "For someone who was previously quite healthy, it was a shock for me to
deteriorate so quickly. I never understood why disabled spaces were so important
to people but now I know.
"It's irresponsible that a top retailer like Asda cannot take the time to
improve the situation for its disabled customers."
Baywatch, a collaboration between various disability organisations including the
Disabled Drivers' Association and Scope, is working to end abuse of disabled
spaces by able-bodied drivers. It runs awards to acknowledge supermarkets and
other retailers who have disabled-friendly car park policies.
Mr Riley has tried to make able-bodied drivers aware of their thoughtless actions by providing Asda with Baywatch leaflets, but says they have never been used.
The leaflets, downloaded from the Baywatch Campaign website, say: "Please move. This vehicle is parked in a space designated for a disabled person displaying a valid blue badge. The registration number may be recorded and you are urged not to repeat this offence."
While supermarkets are not under any legal obligation to enforce restrictions, Mr Riley says that the bays should have more prominent signs and in different languages, to make it easier for people to spot the disabled spaces.
He said: "Something needs to be done because every time I shop there I see irate able-bodied people shouting at disabled people. All because some disabled person has pointed out that the spaces are for disabled."
A spokesperson for Baywatch, Douglas Campbell, said: "Non-disabled motorists who park in disabled bays are acting with total disregard for the needs of others.
"Supermarket chains and car parks are failing in most places to control this abuse, thus turning away their disabled customers. If some outlets can tackle the problem, there is no excuse for the rest."
A survey in January last year of about 600 car parks showed that one in five bays are occupied by cars not displaying a valid blue badge.
A spokesperson for Asda said: "This is not Asda's policy.
"We have 61 mother and baby and disabled parking spaces at SportCity - that's more than any other Asda store in Britain. We provide the spaces because we care passionately about serving our customers with special needs.
"If anyone spots someone using a space that is not meant for them, we would urge them to come into the store and tell us and we'll sort it out pronto.
"Every day at SportCity there is a dedicated Asda colleague who puts out a tannoy message asking for those who don't need to use special parking spaces not to use them."
From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Friday 25th May 2001.
REGARDING the complaint about misuse of the disabled parking facilities at the Asda store, in Grimshaw Park, Blackburn, I am a disabled badge holder and regularly use this car park and at times there can be as many as one third of the disabled spaces taken up by cars not displaying an Orange or Blue badge.
Some of these are, no doubt, genuine badge holders who have simply forgotten to display the badge, but others, non-badge holders, seem to use these spaces for their convenience, especially when it's raining.
The solution of crushing cars wrongly taking up disabled parking spots -- threatened recently by the Asda store in Sittingbourne, Kent -- sounds rather drastic, but will give your correspondent food for thought as to what he would like to see done about this problem.
HAROLD LONGWORTH, Newton Street, Darwen.
News: Disabled parking still abused
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