The Peel Centre is a large retail park just east of Stockport town centre. It offers a good range of stores including Currys PC World, TK Maxx, and Argos.
There’s also a couple of places to eat and drink; Frankie & Benny’s and Costa.
The Peel Centre is situated on Great Portwood Street (A580 – postcode SK1 2HH), right next to Junction 27 of the M60 (Manchester Ring Motorway).
The car park offers spaces for more than 1,000 vehicles. Visitors should note that it is a pay-and-display car park. Parking regulations are strictly enforced and ticketless visitors regularly receive parking fines.
Alternative parking is available at Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council’s Newbridge Lane Car Park (postcode SK1 2ND). It’s only a short walk from the Peel Centre and rates are slightly cheaper.
Do not park there under any circumstances whatsoever. Excel Parking are lying, thieving scum who go out of their way to issue tickets then send fake legal letters. They are nothing more than an extortion racket
I did receive fine ticket I did pay ticket for 3 hours on 19th September at 11.18 with blue badge at the Range . Right I receive their letter last Friday 4th October to give me short note to pay with 14 days
They are theft bugger and sly rob our pocket I couldn’t phone because I’m profound deaf I asked my daughter to rang to paid off
Blue badge allow over hours!!!
we met some family members at Frankie and Benny’s in Feb 2016, I’m not from stockport and was traveling home from a holiday in Scotland, i was stung by excel for parking there, we parked at 6.40 pm when it was pitch dark, didn’t see any signs for it being a pay and display car park, it turns out the signs that are there are not illuminated and cant be seen at night, appealed the charge which naturally got rejected. will not pay the charge and will go to court if necessary. will never go there again and people need to know about the parking issue. is it any wonder people are shopping online these days and any demise of high street shopping will be down to scumbags like excel
I am a stockport resident and WILL NOT park in any Excel car park if i can possibly help it. They are a total rip off. Paying to shop. What are the stores thinking about.
Visited Toys R Us. Four adults in the car and not one of us saw any parking signs or payment machines. I will never go back and as a Manchester business owner will spread the word to give it a miss.
You can clearly see the signs there are enough of them!
There’ always one person who tries to be clever. Obviously the signage isn’t great, a lot of people have been caught out.
It’s a private car park, you do not have to pay to park on private land, totally different to a council car park. Excel can give you an invoice, but you’re not obliged to pay it. The shopping centre in Stockport is pretty average anyway, go somewhere better, which has free parking!
Unbelievable – WAKE UP PEOPLE – I have to pay to use the shop! No wonder face-to-face retail is fast disappearing. I don’t know any other shopping centre that charges for parking if you’re shopping there.
My wife got a ‘fine’ after stopping at Frankie & Benny’s at 20:15 for a coffee one evening. She did not know the area and the rest of the stores were closed. She won’t be visiting there again and will probably avoid Stockport.
Peel Holdings own Excel Parking and have similar arrangements in Bolton, with the same hard to use machines (but free at the Intu dump in Trafford). You really are made to feel so unwelcome at these places and there are so many alternatives.
I parked here to visit Toys r Us. I was visiting my family and live overseas. It never crossed my mind that the car park was pay and display as I saw no notices. I didn’t even get a ticket. A month later the car hire company have charged me $100. It is a complete scam. I won’t ever visit the Peel Center again. If I was a local I guess I would know but I’m not and I can tell you that it reflects very badly on Stockport.
We have just received a parking fine from Excel of £60 for 46 minutes parking. We are not from this area. It was a dark night and we did not see the signs. This is our fault, we know and we will pay the parking charge. But we will never ever visit this business park again, nor will we ever visit Stockport, unless we are passing through. We certainly won’t ever stop. I feel for the businesses on the site and the employees but if this is how the land owner, with the blessing of the local council, treats its visitors then good luck to it. We will never contribute to them again.
I received a parking fine in peel on 30/11/14 outside Toys R Us even though all parking meters were out of order. I put a note in my windscreen stating this but still received a fine and a second fine 2 days later from Excel Parking. I was just wondering if many more people have received parking fines on this day.
Excel Parking also manage the Car Park at Chorlton shopping centre.
There have been several cases of them issuing tickets illegally. The DVLA have already investigated this company and should do so again.
I have had a parking ticket demand for £160 from CRP passed on by Excel Peel Centre car park. I suffer from MS and had an attack in the car which rendered me unsafe to drive as my foot went into severe spasm. I pulled into their car park and parked at the back.I was extremely distressed and in pain. I had to ease my foot back to its natural position, could not walk let alone drive and pulled off when the spasm subsided. I went straight home and to bed.
I didn’t even think about the ticket, I was more upset and in pain.
I wrote to them and explained. Stupid response sent me a picture of my car and bleated about not showing a valid ticket.
One year on and they sent me another letter, i telephoned and told them to take me to court. I have had another letter saying pay up or they will.
I am NOT paying. This surely pleads exceptional circumstance as I have not ignored them. Total and absolute idiots.
I was passing by and saw Toys R Us. I saw no visible signs for parking. I got a £60 fine a few days later. I won’t pay. I will not return here. It’s absurd because I’d pay the £1 or whatever but there are no clear signs you have to pay! If I see Excel in any car park I won’t go there. Cowboys!
How come these scum can introduce high technology to identify you through your registration but not a machine that gives change. It’s £1.30 for 2 hours now. Rip-off Britain.
It’s a good point my friend.
Just parked here today in my motability car (blue badge holder) to go to toys r us. Upon leaving the peel centre my carer noticed that it was pay and display even if you have a blue badge! Was only there for 15mins, probably cost more than my grandsons present!!!!
Hello John. I am a motability user too and went into this car park on 1st September with my grandson; parked right next door to Toys r us with blue badge (as I do in my home town Toys r us) and left none the wiser that I had to pay – no-one pays in the Tous r us spaces where I live. There was no sign on the wall where I parked and I did not see any signs anywhere. This morning I got a parking ticket for 1st September – it is now 31st October?
I have just spoken to my elderly neighbour and he told me he had to pay a £70 fine for parking outside Toys R Us in Stockport. Even though he has a blue badge and it was displayed prominently they still said he should have bought a ticket. I really think that this company is out of order and are ignoring the normal rules relating to disabled people. Stockport Council should intervene.
Excel only manage the on site parking at the Peel Centre. They are not the land owner. Therefore any ‘penalty’ charge that they may issue is technically an invoice and if you do not accept the terms of their agreement then the invoice is in dispute. The best way to resolve such a dispute is to let the county court make a legally binding judgement. It is for Excel to take the matter to court. This they will avoid as most likely they will lose. Their preferred route is to use a plethora of debt recovery companies who will try and scare you into paying. But legally they are completely impotent and they know it. Just ignore all ‘enforcement’ attempts and eventually they will get the message and cease with their fruitless attempt.
Remember a landowner can charge for using their private land. This is legally fair and above board. But if they contract out the management of said land to a third party, it is not actually lawful for that company to chase you for the money. If you do pay up, it will be seen as you accepting the invoice (PCN).
We used the car park at the Peel Centre to do our Xmas shop at Toys R Us like we have done for the last 3 years and have never paid parking there so you can imagine my surprise when I received a parking fine for £60. With all the hustle and bustle actually getting into the car park I can honestly say I never saw any signs to say I needed to pay to park there and as I’m from Oldham I’m not familiar with the area. Then to make matters worse, due to an error with toys r us staff we had to return the following day and have got another fine. So 2 in total! I will not be paying these cowboys a penny and will make sure I don’t ever visit again.
HI,
The same thing happened to me. Can I just ask how things turned out for you? I have had my initial appeal rejected and now wondering if I should appeal via the IAS route offered as this seems to be a waste of time?
Thanks.
Having stopped the car to let a passenger out to quickly collect a purchase from Toys R Us, whilst remaining in the vehicle, I have found myself issued with a parking notice in the post, thanks to their ANPR money making system, where they record your registration number and then search the DVLA database for your address details.
There are so many excellent shopping facilities nearby, where the parking is either free, or not enforced in this intrusive manner. I’d recommend the Trafford Centre or John Lewis at Cheadle over this place any time. And now thanks to this debacle, I can personally guarantee not another penny will be spent in this retail park ever again.
Why do you think so many of us abuse blue badges
ADVICE PPL parking is not free anywhere. if you work on this premiss youll not recieve any fines for being skinflints rather than pay 50p for parking
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.
I will no longer visit the Peel Centre due to the practices of Excel. Daylight robbery.
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.
This is not the case anymore – I read reviews stating not to pay and now my parking fine is £254.72 and I have a county court judgement CCJ I’ve had to pay the full amount to have it removed –
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!.
£100 fine is a joke
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?
Rubbish! I PAID for a ticket and still got a fine because when I keyed in my reg no the machine malfunctioned. Still gave me a ticket. It’s a scam
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!
Out of order mate..I paid for a ticket and STILL got a fine. I’ve got every right to moan. They can whistle for it…but Stockport will lose my trade and that of anyone who I tell about it. Great for business not…
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 number of people saying the same thing does add value. It adds weight to the argument and comforts those who are also caught out by the same tricks know that it’s the work of an unethical company, not just their own mistake. Excel parking being allowed to continue using illegal and unethical means to extract money through insufficient signage, rude attendants, and threatening letters is what doesn’t add any value. It is about time that local authorities took them to task, and the brands that have stores on the business estate disassociated themselves with such companies by moving their stores elsewhere.
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?
But the parking charges are inadequately signed. £100 to park because they’ve ‘fined’ you is not reasonable – as the courts have ruled in previous cases.
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?