One angry customer got a £100 ticket for going TWO SECONDS over the ‘grace period’ allowed by the private parking firm
People using ‘24/7’ lockers in the car park of The Range in Newton Abbot are getting £100 fines just for driving in to pick up parcels when the shops are shut, it has emerged.
One angry customer got a £100 ticket for going TWO SECONDS over the ‘grace period’ allowed by Lancashire-based private firm Parkingeye.
The Range says it is talking to the ‘small number’ of customers who have been fined and Parkingeye says its grace period gives users plenty of time, but the town’s MP has condemned private parking firms for ‘outrageous’ practices around the country and pledged to press the government to speed up regulations.
“It is just outrageous,” said Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley. “I fully condemn this behaviour.”
The early-morning parcel poster shared her story online, saying she was ‘fuming’ after receiving a parking fine for being 10 minutes and two seconds in the car park out of hours. Her ticket shows her entering the car park to collect a parcel at 07.41 and 15 seconds, then leaving again at 07.51 and 17 seconds.
“I was using the post lockers as a number of people do,” she said “I can only assume Parkingeye don’t realise the post lockers are there. I have appealed, as how else are you supposed to use the lockers?”
Another said: “These postal lockers are ideal in the run-up to Christmas where you might not want loved ones spotting packages as they are delivered. They are advertised as 24/7 access, which is ideal for those with busy lives.
“However, anyone wanting to use them 24/7 is in for a nasty surprise.”
The car park at the Range in Kingsteignton is open from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 10am to 4.30pm on Sundays. But there are Parkingeye signs which say ‘No parking outside of these times’ and a warning that failing to comply will result in a £100 charge.”
One of the signs is right beside one of the ‘24/7’ lockers. Companies using the lockers on the site include InPost, DPD, UPS, Evri and Royal Mail.
Evri says on its website: “We have a vast network of lockers, each one available 24/7.”
Mr Wrigley raised the issue of private parking firms during a parliamentary debate earlier this year.
During the debate he said he had spoken to a ‘whistleblower’ who used to work for a private parking company, and had heard a number of complaints from people in Newton Abbot.
“They have created a culture of “charge first, think second” and their default position is to refuse appeals,” he said, adding that it was an industry ‘based on outrageous practices, charges and threatograms’.
However, he advised anyone getting a ticket to pay up.
“If you don’t pay quickly it turns into thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds,” he said. “It mounts day by day,
“It is an absolute outrage.”
A spokesman for The Range said the company worked with third party parking companies to manage its car parks during and outside of trading hours to ensure parking was available and safe.
The spokesman added: “While we typically advise that parking is not permitted outside of store opening hours, there is a 10-minute grace period for customers using parcel lockers and we are working closely with the locker providers to ensure that this is made clear to customers and parking companies alike.
“We have been contacted by the small number of customers who have used the locker service and received a parking fine and are liaising with them directly.”
A Parkingeye spokesperson said: “The car park at the Range is monitored by ANPR camera systems to prevent parking for long periods of time and abuse of the parking facilities, while providing motorists with clear guidance on how to use the car park responsibly through the 14 prominent and highly-visible signs on site.
“All motorists visiting the postage locker facilities at the car park outside of working hours are provided an automatic grace period, ensuring that they have sufficient time to access the service when the store is closed. The motorist in question parked at the facility and overstayed the granted grace period, which resulted in receiving a parking charge.
“Parkingeye operates a British Parking Association audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their parking charge. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing."