A father who was hosting his daughter's birthday party at McDonald's has been hit with a £100 parking fine after parking outside the branch for 107 minutes. Nick Forrester and his mum were both penalized for exceeding the 90-minute parking restriction by parking for 107 minutes while they were inside the restaurant.
Nick had taken his daughter Sadie and her friends to the nearby Just Kidding before stopping at McDonald's for a birthday meal.
He says he has decided to boycott the branch and expressed his disappointment with the situation. He contacted McDonald's to speak with the manager, but was told to appeal through Parkingeye, the car park operator.
Nick described the situation as "ridiculous" and said 90 minutes is not enough time for a relaxed meal in the restaurant, reports StokeonTrentLive.
He said: "We pulled onto the Maccies car park after being at Just Kidding and got out of the car. We went into Maccies and it took ages to choose. We managed to get out, got into the car, drove off, and we thought nothing of it.
"A few days later, my mum rang me and said she had got a letter saying we had overstayed. Straight away I phoned Maccies and asked if we could speak to the manager.
"After a conversation, we found out that we had to appeal through Parkingeye. But what a load of rubbish - it is ridiculous.
"Sadie lost her mother to cancer in 2019 and now she can't go out for a meal with her friends. They can check the CCTV and they will see that we were in the restaurant. I know McDonald's can overturn it but they won't.
"We were eating in the establishment. It is a relaxed environment and 90 minutes is not long enough. They are driving people out of the city with this.
"They have got no compassion. It is disgusting how they have treated their customers."
McDonald's responded by stating that they have signs in their car park indicating the 90-minute parking limit and encouraged customers to appeal through the third-party contractor, Parkingeye, if they feel they have been wrongly fined. Parkingeye stood by their decision, stating that the PCNs (parking charge notices) were issued correctly as the motorists had parked for 107 minutes, exceeding the allowed time.
They also mentioned that their appeals process is audited by the British Parking Association and motorists can appeal if they have mitigating circumstances.
A McDonald's spokesman added: "If a customer feels that they have been wrongly ticketed, we would encourage them to get in touch with the third-party contractor who issued the ticket by way of appeal."
Car park operator Parkingeye stands by its decisions.
A Parkingeye spokesman said: “The car park at McDonald’s Festival Park features prominent and highly-visible signs providing information on how to use the car park responsibly. This includes guidance on how McDonald’s customers have a maximum stay of 90 minutes. The motorists correctly received parking charge notices (PCNs) due to each of them parking for 107 minutes. Our records show that both PCNs have been paid without appeal.
“Parkingeye operates a British Parking Association audited appeals process which motorists can use to appeal their PCN. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing.”
