A man who paid £35 to charge his electric car while having lunch at a McDonald's later received a fine for £100. Amar Tanna, 36, drove to the McDonald's and found the branch's car recharging station was being used, so decided to eat his lunch first and then charge his car afterwards.
He said: "The rate they were charging was extortionate as it was - twice the cost of electricity I'd paid before while charging my car. But I needed to charge it up or I wouldn't be able to get home."#
But Amar didn't realise that the limit for staying in the car park is 90 minutes - even if you are using the charger, reports LeicestershireLive.
After charging the car Amar drove home, then got a fine for £100. Customer services executive at InstaVolt Katherine Binks told Amar: "Unfortunately the parking restrictions are managed by a third party, which means that the existing parking restrictions still apply to our customers even when using our charging stations." She added that InstaVolt's signage at its stations stated "that existing parking restrictions still apply".
She said that this was also outlined in its frequently asked questions (FAQs). Ms Binks added: "We appreciate the inconvenience caused by these fines and have supplied you with a ‘Proof of Charge’ letter containing your charging details to help with your appeal, should you wish to appeal the notice.
"We hope your appeal is successful and if you require any other information, please let us know." However, Amar's appeal was not successful - and he must pay the fine.
He said: "I also wrote to McDonald's but the trouble is they have a separate parking company dealing with enforcement. I don't think I'll get much of a response [from the parking enforcement company]. The parking company are the usual kind of business - hard to get hold of with a one-page website."
Amar Tanna was hit with a £100 parking ticket
McDonald's responded to Amar in a letter, which reads: "As a company, putting in place enforcements within our car parks is only done after careful consideration and very much as a last resort. Primarily, we use parking measures to ensure there are spaces available for our customers’ vehicles, as well as to deter unwarranted or unreasonably prolonged usage of the facility.
"I can confirm this parking area is managed by an independent company who are responsible for monitoring the car park and taking details of registration numbers. The regulations and signs at the restaurant clearly state the policy and the relevant charges.
"I trust you will appreciate that in order to maintain a consistent approach; we have to adhere to the guidelines in place regardless of whether you were in the restaurant for the duration of the stay or not. As such, in a situation such as a clear contravention of parking regulations, we are unable to deal with any specifics or cases on an individual basis.
"Suffice to say, if a customer contravenes the clearly displayed parking regulations, they will receive a ticket." Coventry Live has attempted to contact the parking company, Civil Enforcement Ltd, but they required us to enter a parking charge reference number.
