Vinted users fined £70 for using 24/7 InPost parcel lockers at Aldi outside store hours

Vinted and other online sellers and buyers are being hit with £70 fines for using parcel lockers at some Aldi stores, including the branch in Garstang.

Those using the second-hand shopping platform were outraged after receiving penalty notices for using the InPost locker service outside of the supermarket’s opening hours.

InPost say the locker service at the Garstang Aldi is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing people to collect, send, or return parcels at any time.

But customers say they are being fined £70 for using the lockers when the Garstang store is closed, due to the ANPR cameras in force on the car park.

The Aldi store is open 8am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Anyone who enters the car park outside of these hours is captured on camera and issued with an automatically generated penalty notice from ParkingEye.

“I couldn’t believe it when the fine turned up,” said one customer. “I rang Aldi customer services and they cancelled it. But it was a shock when it arrived in the post.

“The ANPR will clearly show that you’ve only been on the car park for a matter of minutes to drop off or pick up your parcels. I won’t be using it again until they do something about it. It’s too much worry and hassle.”

Aldi’s 15 minute allowance for InPost users

Aldi said people using the InPost lockers are allowed to park for 15 minutes at the Garstang store in Lancashire. This free parking allowance is in place at all times, including when the store is closed.

According to Aldi, fines should only be issued to those who use the store car park for more than the permitted 15 minute limit, outside of the store’s opening hours.

This free 15 minute drop off/collection allowance was introduced last October, following feedback from InPost users.

Aldi instructed car park operator ParkingEye to increase the free parking allowance to 15 minutes for those using the InPost lockers, allowing more time for collections and drop-offs. Similar allowances are reportedly in place at other Aldi stores.

Anyone that believes they were issued a fine incorrectly while using the InPost locker can contact Aldi or Parking Eye to request a cancellation.

InPost Lockers now at more than 600 Aldi stores

Aldi began rolling out InPost Lockers at its UK stores in 2023 and has since expanded the partnership, with the parcel service now available at more than 600 stores.

The supermarket chain said the InPost lockers would provide convenient parcel drop-off and collection points for customers alongside their regular shopping trip.

At the time of the roll-out Jonathan Neale, Managing Director of National Real Estate at Aldi UK, said: “Reaching 600 InPost Lockers was an important milestone and demonstrates our commitment to making shopping at Aldi as convenient as possible.

“We’re committed to understanding our customers’ lives and continuing to focus on saving them time by making everyday tasks easier to manage.”