Peel Centre

Today was my first and last visit to the Peel Center.I did not realize the car park was pay and display - if I had, I would have bought a ticket.. and of course my 20 minute stop off to buy a shower curtain from Argos cost me £103.99 I think it is a scam; there are no clear signs.. quite frankly it is criminal that this be allowed to happen. I am a law abiding citizen and would have paid - had I seen any signs. I am really upset, this is a fine I will struggle terribly to pay.

People may be interested to know that from March 2007 to March 2010, Excel issued 11,498 parking charge notices (£100 each) to motorists who failed to display a ticket at the Peel Centre car park. This is Excel's own figure. It emerged in court documents when they took me to court for not paying their £100 charge. Excel lost the case, as reported in the Manchester Evening News on 16 Sept 2011.

I got a ticket from Excel, and refused to pay. I received many threatening letters from them, and eventually the a****holes have given up. Just never respond to any of the letters.

I live across the road from the Peel Centre and the problem is that with it being so close to the actual town centre people would use it as a free car park when going shopping in the centre itself. This would be unfair to the actual shoppers of the Peel Centre so to deter them from doing it they make you pay like any other car park but no where near as much! YES I agree it seems to be one of a kind of charging for parking on a retail park but others have spoilt it for the Peel Centre shoppers!.

People get a life, get over it! For god's sake if you didn't buy a ticket it's your own fault, no one else's. The tickets are cheap and the shops are good. Is it really worth getting so uptight about?

I bought a pay and display ticket at the Peel Centre and put it on the dashboard. I then helped my 80 year old mum out of the car and went shopping. On my return to the car I had been issued with a PCN for £100. The pay and display ticket had blown off the dash and was on the floor on the passenger side. I appealed only to be told it was on no use as the ticket should have been displayed. What utter nonsense. I have the ticket and did forward the number to Excel. Would I have bought a ticket if i wasn't going to display it? It's just a very easy money making machine for someone. Perhaps the reason they don't supply adhesive tickets that stick on your windscreen is that they make more money out of it.

Like so many others I visited the Peel Centre for the first time and last. On leaving Toys R Us there was a delightful man (not) looking at my car, but he did not issue a ticket. I thought no more of it until four weeks later I received a demand for £100, saying I had failed to pay the fine or invoice. I advice everybody to look at the Reviews on Google so we can stop this happening to other people. I would like to say to the clever people who spot the ticket machines. Don't you think we would rather pay for a ticket than be fined. All towns should stick to the same rules to stop confusion. If your shopping there you should be able to park for free. Fortunately where I come from this is the case hence the confusion.

Barrington. We are not connected with the Peel Centre in any way, shape or form. We are a travel site. We provide information on what there is in the North West and a place for people to express their opinions, which you are doing. The policies of the Peel Centre are their own. Nothing to do with us.

After entering the Peel Centre car park and finding a space near Toys R Us. I ran in pouring rain from one machine to another. Finally I gave up and went into Toys R Us for 5 minutes to exchange a faulty toy.
I found to my horror a horrible man placing a fine on my car. I tried to explain to him that the machines were not working and you are correct to guess
the jobs-worth wasn't bothered. In fact he went out of his way to belittle me in the car park for not gaining a ticket.
I tried the same with EXCEL customer services and because of the time delay in coming back to me they fined me the full £100.
A note to the editor... how many people have taken the time to correspond about this issue. Ask yourself can this be ignored??? You are doing your landlords no favours alienating the public.

I too parked at the Peel Centre on a SUNDAY afternoon, I did not have any money to put in a pay machine until I had been to an ATM, which not being local, had to go and find first, on returning to my vehicle with the cash via getting a note changed for coins found myself with a fine for £100.00 /£60.00. That's extortion!! Sorry Editor you may be bored of these posts, but If you want feedback on this site regarding people's Stockport Peel Centre shopping experiences then I have to say mine was one of feeling mugged!! Never to return.

Parking fines at the Peel centre do not happen because we are dumb!! I have never been to Stockport before but visited Hobbycraft today and NEVER saw any signs that were visible regarding pay and display. The one at the entrance was so small that I REALLY did not see it. A fine for £100. This is a sham.

To finally put the parking arguments to rest.
Excel is a Private Parking Company their Parking Notices are invoices not fines (the fact that that look like PCN's is illegal and unethical).
They have no legal right to fine you and they will write lots of official looking letters to scare you, even threatening to bring in bailiffs and take you to court. This is harassment from a private company and you can take them to court for it.
Do not pay these people anything, it is a scam and nothing more.
The Peel Centre should be ashamed of its self letting these low lives in.

Just thought I should say that borders has shut down and has not yet been replaced.

Stop moaning about parking at the Peel Centre. I've got 3 kids and I'm so forgetful but remember to get a ticket because I'm not dumb enough to think every car park is free no matter where it is! It's 50p for 2 hours which isn't bad and I don't blame the businesses as people will park there for free and shop in the town centre so no wonder there's a charge. For those of you saying they are going the Trafford Centre from now on, then go and shop at a highly priced, stuck up shopping centre. People there think it's some sort of status symbol shopping there and need to get the stick out of their ass!

Forgot to say. I can believe that the Excel parking attendants are pretty vile - never got a ticket but I had the misfortune of asking one of them directions once. I was grunted at as he walked past me. He had not been to charm school.

It's all a bit miserable here isn't it? The Peel Centre is fine - Borders is a big loss but what is everyone moaning about parking for? It's not expensive to park there at all. To say there is nobody there is a joke - unless you go at 9 am on a weekday it's always busy. The shops are what they are for a retail park.

Forgot to pay for a parking ticket as I was rushing. Spent 400 pounds in the JJB shop and came out to a 100 parking ticket, 60 if paid in 2 weeks. I never realised you had to pay for parking when you spending money in the shops. No wonder it's dead most of the time. Going to Trafford Centre in the future.

I went to the Peel Centre for the first time last week. I saw the signs for parking. It isn't that hard. If I park somewhere new for the first time then I check to see if there are any signs to say if parking is free or not. Anyone with half a brain does this. Parking is also free for the first hour and a half in one of the parks. I agree Excel are a set of rip off merchants but no one has an excuse when they say they got a ticket for not adhering to their rules.

Gill, I'm not trying to censor this page by saying no more comments about the parking. We are not the management of the Peel Centre and can't address the issue.
All I'm saying is repeating the same point over and over again isn't adding any value to the information on this page.
Everybody knows about it already.

The editors comment regarding no more messages over parking is silly, why not address this issue and get it highlighted. Isn't that the whole point of the web site?
I had the misfortune of visiting Hobbycraft at the Peel Centre on Saturday for the first time. No surprise I also did not see the signs to pay and I wasn't looking for them. It's a retail car park as long. As you are shopping on there I see no reason why shoppers should pay. This is a money making scheme. I am writing to all the local press about it and Stockport MBC. Legalised robbery and why have they got away with it for this long. The signs are pathetic - unclear and not highly visible - which suits EXCEL, they do excel at theft from innocent and unaware shoppers!! I am furious.

Last year I went to the Toys R Us at the Peel Centre and forgot to get a ticket (assuming that most retail parks are free-parking and didn't know about the sharks at Excel Parking). Due to some postal issue, I didn't get my fine for a few weeks and when I appealed in writing, they rejected it. In the end, after a few letters I decided to quit while ahead and paid 120 pounds or so to avoid a court appearance which I may have lost.
Ok, it was my fault in the first place so I would have had to pay a fine. What's annoying is the fact that I should have only paid 30 pounds, not what they charged me. It's another sad part of life, people preying on your hard-earned cash.

If you've got any brains, park in Tesco, walk across and do the shopping without giving excel the joy of your money and maybe do some shopping at Tesco?

It's a waste of space, several shops shut. Another, Borders, is going. Same old tired shops. Plus parking fees. Stockport-- wake up!! I like you but you're falling behind.

It's like shopping in a ghost town. The stores are empty with lots of stock but no customers. They've all got the same boring stock as every other place except the one you want. Unless all you aspire to in life is a huge chav telly. The Trafford Centre is much more varied and pleasant. Stockport needs to think about itself.

If you don't see the signs it's your own fault. The signs are all over the car park. If you're only there for a short time you can park in the PC World car park free for 1h 30mins. The pay machines are all over the car park. It's a pay car park to stop people parking there and walking into the town centre. You have to pay in every car park in the town centre. If you don't pay and display and get a fine then it's your own fault.

That's really unfair on the Peel centre. It has a great New Look and a Toys R Us and Next. The parking's fine and reasonably priced. 20/30p for 2 hours?

I find the comments about the parking very useful. I would actually like to hear more of peoples' stories.
I haven't been to The Peel Centre before and will certainly avoid it after reading the issues people have had. I also agree that 'pay and display' on such a large parking site is ridiculous - either help people by using a 'ticket on entry' machine, or simply don't charge.
It sounds pathetic and unfair to people that are obviously going to spend their money in the shops.

No more comments about the parking please. It's been said enough already and doesn't add any value.

My parents, went to Argos at the Peel Centre in Stockport, my mum is a blue badge holder but knew she had to get a ticket when parking on there. They went to the ticket machine upon parking and came back to put the ticket in the car to find the car park attendant in the process of writing a ticket out, whilst they were actually at the machine getting one!

I visited Hobbycraft on SUNDAY, first time ever at the area, too busy trying to avoid the drivers who don't look where they are going to notice that there where small signs saying pay for car park. Was in Hobbycraft for 20 minutes and got a ticket. 100 pound if not paid within a week. Disgusted, nobody charges to park on a Sunday. except Peel! I will never go to the Peel Centre again.

I visited Argos to take something broken back. I forgot to put a ticket on my car due to stressful child. I had to wait 17 mins in Argos whilst they decided I was not entitled to a replacement as I needed to take all the goods back as a package. When I returned to my car I found a parking ticket, to my horror I went to find car park attendant at the ticket machine only to find out it was someone trying to get a ticket from an empty machine?
I appealed in writing against the ticket, but no joy. I refuse to pay it and will go to court if necessary as the car park firm excel are stinging vulnerable people like my self. I am a one parent family trying to bring up to children without any benefits. Why does the peel centre not have a car park barrier where people can not forget to pay. Who would risk 60.00 fine and not pay on purpose.
I will never visit peel centre again and look forward to seeing this firm of car park sharks in court they sit there in a little office watching people who do not pay then they pound on you.
Mrs S P Clare
8 Colonial Road
Stockport
Sk2 6PJ

I don't visit the Peel Centre often - in fact 3 times in my life. Finding your way around the numerous roundabouts and the right entrance makes it impossible to notice the pay to park signs! I have never paid and my last visit resulted in a parking fine of 60 pounds for a maximum of a 30 minute stay. What makes this worse is that the ticket was issued no more than a minute after I left my car! Surely ticket inspectors have morals? They must have been watching and waiting for me to leave so that they could fine me. Am I just asking to much for common sense to prevail?

Because I work full time I only try to go into Stockport after work, and I avoid the centre at weekend because of the sheer number of people and traffic. However just recently when I came to do some late night shopping up near Toys R Us, beside being surprised, like many other people that I know and work with, that we still have to pay for parking after 6.00pm at night and the number of payment meters that are not working. The other night I parked up outside Toys R Us and the 3 nearest meters were not working and everyone had to go down to the meter near the 'Next' Store to get tickets. A few people resented having to pay. You cannot be bothered to have the meters working, especially in bad weather and in the dark (women on their own!). However, we all did pay as we knew you would fine us for not having tickets, no matter what.

It really puts me off shopping in Stockport, which is a shame as I love it and I love the Market. I was born in Stockport and lived here all my life, and I prefer shopping in Stockport to the Trafford Centre or Manchester. Maybe a re-think is needed?