A driver has been handed a hefty fine for eating his McDonalds in a Starbucks car park that was located by the fast food restaurant. He received the fine despite never actually leaving his car whilst he ate it.
This turned out to be a much more expensive drive-thru experience than Bob Spink intended. He was left shocked when a letter came through his door issuing him with a £100 fine for using one of the parking bays outside Starbucks for a "mere" 16 minutes.
Bob and his girlfriend parked in the coffee giant's car park when they failed to find a spot outside of McDonalds. Thinking they were doing nothing wrong, the pair then ended up with the fine, reports Wales Online.
Bob took to social media to share his parking fine and said he "had not realised these penalties were a thing" and as a result was left shocked when others mentioned similar experiences. As a result, 50-year-old Bob has vowed to "not go anywhere near a Starbucks ever again".
"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," he said.
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.
"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."
People commenting on his shared image of the parking offence also told similar stories. One said "it's shocking they are allowed to do this", while others said it was a "lesson learnt the hard way" and conceded to paying their own fines.
Starbucks uses National Parking Enforcement LTD at its branch located in Fabian Way. The parking company is located in Borehamwood and is criticised in reviews on Google as a "horrible company only looking to take innocent people's hard earned money". It has a one star rating.
Starbucks acknowledged that the parking offence notice was the responsibility of National Parking Enforcement Ltd and declined to comment further. WalesOnline has approached National Parking Enforcement Ltd for comment.
