A driver has been slapped with a £100 fine for eating his McDonald's meal whilst sitting in the Starbucks car park next door. Furious Bob Spink has vowed never to go near the multinational coffee shop again.
Bob visited the fast-food chain with his girlfriend in Fabian Way, Swansea, but was unable to find a parking space. Instead, they decided to use one of the bays located outside of Starbucks and stayed for a 'mere' 16 minutes, according to WalesOnline
He was left shocked when he discovered a letter through his door which informed him of the £100 fine. Taking to social media to speak about the parking charge, Bob said he didn't realise that these penalties 'were a thing'.
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It wasn't long until other people mentioned similar experiences that they had in relation to being fined. After the situation unfolded, the 50-year-old has vowed he won't be going anywhere near the Starbucks ever again.
Bob said: "We had only bought a £12 order from McDonald's and the car park was entirely full so we parked in Starbucks to eat as there was plenty of space. It just feels like legalised theft, I haven't done anything wrong legally."
In the letter, Bob was told that if the fine was paid within 14 days, the fine would be reduced to £60 which he has done to avoid being charged more.
The letter he received told him that if he paid the fine within 14 days it would be reduced to £60 so he did so to avoid the bigger charge. Bob said he was 'baffled' by the situation and said it wasn't something you could just ignore.
He said: "I was baffled by it, we have just moved here and it's something you can't ignore as it only gets worse and increases the fee. I shared it in the hope of making people aware and steer clear of the chain.
"We hadn't even left the car, the premise of a car park is to invite people in and it just feels like a con and I don't understand what they are trying to achieve and it doesn't look great for the chain to use a parking enforcement with such tactics."
On Bob's image of the parking offence, some people said it was 'shocking' that they were allowed to do this. However, others said that it was a 'lesson learnt the hard way'.
The Starbucks branch in Fabian Way uses the National Parking Enforcement LTD. On Google reviews, it has a one-star rating with people saying the company is 'horrible' and is 'only looking to take innocent people's hard earned money".
Starbucks acknowledged that the parking offence notice was the responsibility of National Parking Enforcement Ltd and declined to comment further.
