Hi
Managed to overstay in a McDonald’s car park the other week and have received a parking fine from the company that runs the car park.
I was 16 mins over and not noticed the signs as I left.
I’ve had a quick look around and it seems that I can choose not to pay as I it’s not a legal fine - like one issued by the council for example.
So thought I’d ask what others have done in these situations. I’m tempted to just leave it and if they chase me, tell them that the manager at the McDonald’s said he’d get it waived (I was actually a paying customer when it happened).
Any advice or experience??
Sadly the government legitimised this tacky “business” some years ago and so these ‘parking charges’ are enforceable subject to the appropriate conditions being satisfied. Ignoring is definitely not the best advice these days.
This forum is usually mentioned as being a best resource:
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=60
This happened in Edinburgh to me and a friend of mine. He foolishly locked his car keys in his boot and we had to wait for the AA to arrive and rescue the keys. Most car parks have a three hour limit, which is normally long enough to eat some burgers. I'd check how long the limit was in your case.
I also wouldn't advise ignoring this. You'll simply be storing up future hassle. My friend and I wrote a polite letter explaining why we were in the car park for the length of time we were, and the company waived the fine. Polite engagement might work in your case.
Good luck.
Simple, you overstayed your welcome, you pays the monies.
Ignore it
Pay the initial reduced fee and forget about it.
It can be enforced.
Agree, just pay up.Originally Posted by ~dadam02~
Have a watch of this guy, and follow his advice.
Ignore this
Do this.
Whatever else you do, do not ignore it - that advice is long out-of-date and based on legislation which has changed. Worst case, you could end up with a CCJ against you.
Also, it not a "fine" - a fine can not be issued by a private company. It is an invoice.
As well as Pepipoo (which is probably the best resource out there), there's also a forum on MoneySaving Expert which offers good advice - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/parking-tickets-fines-parking
You might be lucky and find that the signage at the car park didn't comply with regulations. Otherwise you may just have to pay, especially if you did overstay the allotted time.
If you don’t pay, in time you will have a letter from a payment enforcement company.
How much are they asking for? If it's less than £100 I'd pay it and move on. Yes it's rubbish, yes it's giving in to them, but why spend any more of your time over it.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
If you still have your proof of purchase from Macdonalds on the day concerned it could well be worth genuinely contacting the manager although the being 15 minutes over may be a stumbling block.
If no joy, follow Old Oaks advice, pay, and move on.
Last one I had I overstayed by 8 mins. Signage was all there 45 mins free and a a couple of pounds upwards after the initial stay. My fault. I just paid the reduced fine. I should have read the notices
You could ignore it. It would be passed from different “agencies” which are usually the same company operating out of the same offices.
Letters you receive will get more and more threatening.
The only time you will need to take action is if they issue Court proceedings. That may do. They might not.
There was a lively discussion on PH about whether covering your plates on private land is legal. I do know that damaged vehicles on a trailer often have their plates partially covered for obvious reasons.
Used to be the case, not anymore. Ignore it and you might even end up paying a grand by the time it's done.
I've had this a couple of times - with both hotels and retailers.
IME - Do not ignore it - contact the tenant - & dispute the invoice.
Often it is subcontracted & they can waiver any charges.
On a few occasions (where it is clealry an error) I've contacted the management of the hotels and retailers & they've successfully cancelled the charge on my behalf.
z
Why would you do that? Scummy behaviour.
They can get it by chassis number via DVLA - stop engaging with the PH numpties.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
I think we can say that you only really have two options:
1) Dispute the charge and hope you win
2) Just pay the lower charge and accept they got you
I'm not engaging with anyone apart from you nimrods lol. Merely pointing out that there was a discussion about it
OP, how long were you allowed to park there before it became chargeable?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
The law regarding these parking penalties differs in Scotland, where such are unenforceable and the advice is not to respond or engage.
In England and Wales they are enforceable so respond ASAP by either paying up or pleading your case, including evidence of your expenditure in the associated shop or restaurant.
As well as peppipoo there are some great Facebook groups that help you escape these parasites.
Well done, very useful for the OP.I'm not engaging with anyone apart from you nimrods lol. Merely pointing out that there was a discussion about it
I don't think that's correct:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sk...rules-10824143
One hour.
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions- I think I might just have to accept that I overstayed and pay up.
It annoys me that there is no way to extend your stay - for example there is a Costa that I visit that allows you to park for 90 mins, but if you need to extend it you just type your reg into a screen by the till.
This instance was near Heathrow and I can understand why they restrict it to an hour as otherwise it would be full of taxis waiting for their next call to the airport.
In fact I was waiting to collect someone from the airport and their baggage was delayed massively. Only reason I overstayed.
Anyway, that’s £60 well spent!
If it was at a McDonalds, isn't it fair to limit time for their customers (no one could spend more than an hour could they)? I get the Costa thing, as people do work from coffee shops. Apologies if misunderstood the car park use/location.
Parking enforcement companies operate on one of two models. Some charge the landowner for the service, others provide it free in return for keeping the fines. Most operate on the latter model, it is very unlikely to go away by ignoring it...
It looks like you may have already made your decision. A couple of years ago I disputed a parking charge on the basis that it wasn’t a fair amount to charge me for a 25 minute over stay (basically, the parking company has to prove that their clients, in your case Mcdonalds, lost out to the sum which you are being charged. The costs of running the car park, parking wardens, anpr cameras etc are not included in this amount). I eventually won my appeal and the charge was cancelled.
If I were ever in the same position again I would almost certainly just pay the reduced charge whilst you can. It’s just not worth the months of hassle and case prep just to avoid a £50 charge.
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Last edited by Bobbyf; 27th December 2022 at 15:19.
I challenged one a few years ago. The fundamentals of the charge is that the parking people have suffered a loss. I asked for their business model & how they calculated the loss. They refused to provide it on the basis that it was business confidentiality & therefore the appeal went in my favor.
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I think that might have been the case before 2012 as the only argument these people had was breach of contract with damages for loss suffered. There’s no such requirement now to demonstrate any loss (and there isn’t any in the majority of cases, I’d imagine).
First thing I'd do would be to contact McDonalds HQ with an appropriate sob story and ask them to interject. Nothing lost by trying. My mother overstayed in Tesco and their HQ cancelled the ticket for us, with no need to engage with the parking company leeches at all.
If no luck there, and on the basis you did actually overstay, I'd just pay it.
I was aware of that case yet believe my point remains valid. To my knowledge it remains the first and only successful prosecution in Scotland and was only pursued because the driver had collected over 200 parking penalties in the same spot. The irony in the case was that she could have requested a free parking permit through her father. Link to the court summary finding
If you've decided to pay it, that's your call. I can see how for some people it makes sense to just pay up and move on.
If you change your mind and decide to challenge it, your first call should be to the McDonalds and the manager there (if you can find one) if you have proof you spent money there. They can get the parking company to cancel the charge even if they say they can't. If McDonalds route is unsuccessful get yourself registered on the Pepipoo forum mentioned earlier and start a thread without giving any real detail i.e. don't give your name, redact any photos, ref numbers etc from any documents you post there and follow the advice of the friendly people there who will help you.
If you try the McDonalds and/or Pepipoo route you may end up paying it anyway but at least you've tried?
edit: thinking about it... if it's a McDs near Heathrow, there may already be history on the Pepipoo forum about others who have overstayed there.
Because it is about 60% of a weeks pension and therefor a heck a lot of money.
Thanks for that. Very interesting. I wasn't aware that was the only successful prosecution. Its the one I always remember though, probably due to the amounts involved.
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Why are the parking people always referred to as leaches/parasites?
At the end of the day the OP parked at McD (as apparently many do) to avoid airport parking fees - who exactly are the parasites here?
Perhaps because until the law was changed 'scummy' thugs often connected to criminal gangs were running wild around the cities clamping indiscriminately and charging hundreds of pounds to release. DVLA were complicit in this dodgy dealing by supplying names and addresses of clampees.
Parking control was like the wild west and I don't think the stink has gone away yet.
Put simply, because the penalty doesn't match the crime. No common sense leeway or human compassion is applied. The only way they make money is if you overstay, so they do the bare minimum required by law in most instances to inform you of the conditions, then use automated camera systems to rinse as many people as possible. Generally they make it next to impossible to speak to anyone whilst relying on bully scare tactics and threats of bailiffs to get their way.
I have no issue with parking tickets applied by the council incidentally. I have an issue with parking tickets applied by a private company, for a made up amount to line their pockets, because someone overstayed 15mins eating their Big Mac waiting for a minor luggage delay. Just my 2 cents.
Exactly. Shameful that it's still not properly regulated.
Exactly. Shameful that it's still not properly regulated.
Pity some cannot time their parking maybe need a new watch?
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
If only there was a choice in where to park, and we weren't forced to park in these nasty establishments. Tis a cruel world.
And there are not many phones that do not have an alarm setting
Equally bad in my opinion and I suspect there are revenue targets.
Very droll. Overstaying is certainly not the only way these scum use to levy penalties via spurious conditions and the appeals process is a sham.
To be fair, I used the official appeals process and although it took a while my case was heard by the independent arbitrator who agreed that the Penalty Charge I received was excessive (£200 for a 25 min overstay when £6 would buy you 24hrs in the same car park) and found in my favour.
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And yet, I bet the same £200 fine still exists for anyone who overstays by a minute, even though the independent arbitrator has told the parking leeches it's excessive. And more often then not, they'll bully people into paying it.
Indeed. We were charged with a penalty despite buying a ticket because we did not buy the ticket quickly enough for their liking - the car park was full upon entry and we had to wait a few minutes for a space to become available. Their internal appeals process found in their favour but one of the Facebook advisors helped us beat them at the popla appeal.
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