'I was fined almost £200 over 20-minute parking limit at McDonald's in Walsall'
Watch as Ed Chatterton discusses the near-£200 parking fine he received for taking more than 20 minutes to eat his food at a Walsall McDonald's restaurant.
Ed Chatterton, 42, was slapped with the hefty bill for eating his £7.19 chicken selects meal too slowly at the branch off Wisemore in Walsall on July 25.
He's now been threatened with court proceedings despite receiving no notification of the fine in the post - until debt collectors got in touch last week. The letter from debt recovery company Trace said the original fine of £60 had now risen to £170 and he now faced possible legal action for failing to pay.
The married dad of two said he didn't realise there were restrictions in place which means there is only 20 minutes' free parking at the branch. And he says it took him 10 to 15 minutes to get through the busy drive-thru, giving him around five or 10 minutes to eat his meal in his car.
Ed was also left shocked to only learn of the fine when Trace wrote to him to say he now owed almost £200 for staying 14 minutes over the limit.
Ed, a journalist from Aldridge, said: "It's the most expensive McDonald's I've ever had. You don't mind paying £170 for a slap-up meal in a fancy restaurant with the family but this was just for some chicken selects, fries and a milkshake.
"I feel 20 minutes is an unreasonable timeframe in which to expect drive-thru customers to eat their meal within - you can easily be queuing for that time. You would assume you would be allowed to park in a McDonald's car park whilst eating a McDonald's. If it was any other car park I would usually check what restrictions apply but I've done this at multiple other branches with no problems before.
"I've been back and there is signage up elsewhere in the car park but in the area where I parked up there wasn't. So the clock is ticking as soon as you enter the drive-thru; the only way around it is to go inside to put your registration details in, but when you're having a drive-thru you wouldn't know this.
"But regardless, I would have still paid the £60 fine if I had received the penalty charge notice in the post - but I didn't get anything from them. The first thing I knew about it was when this debt recovery firm wrote to me last week to say it had now risen to £170 and saying I could be taken to court. This is steep and over the top considering I wasn't given a chance to pay the original fine on top of having to get served, pay and eat all within 20 minutes.
"Ocean Parking have said my vehicle details might not have been up to date, and we did move house a couple of years ago, but we did inform the DVLA of our new address and it's on my driving licence.
"Also the debt recovery firm managed to post a letter to me with no issues - so obviously the correct address is out there. Their letter also states it was sent on September 19 but it didn't arrive until two weeks later saying I had 14 days to pay up. So they claim this letter has taken a fortnight to arrive just at the exact time when the limit for paying is up.
"It's just another example of these unscrupulous firms using bully-boy tactics to sting motorists and I just want others to be aware."
McDonald’s statement
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We have parking restrictions in place at a number of our restaurants, with a time limit to ensure there is adequate parking for all of our customers. At this restaurant the time limit is 20 minutes, and we make this clear to our customers through signage in the car park and inside the restaurant. If a customer feels 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.”
Ocean Parking statement
A spokesperson for Ocean Parking said: “After reviewing this case, we can confirm that a PCN [penalty charge notice] was issued on July 30, as the vehicle was at Wisemore Central in Walsall on July 25 and did not make payment or use the provided exclusion tablet during their 34-minute stay.
"The Notice to Keeper was sent on July 30 to the DVLA-registered address, followed by a Reminder Notice on August 27.
“We have proof of postage for both letters. In the absence of any response or payment, as is standard process, the PCN was referred to Trace for debt recovery on September 11, who contacted the driver directly.
"It is possible that the driver’s details were not up to date with the DVLA, as correspondence was sent to their vehicle's registered address. Ocean Parking’s process ensures that letters are sent first to the DVLA-registered address, with alternative searches being conducted by our partners, at a later stage, if no response is received.
"We continue to encourage drivers to observe venue time limits and, when necessary, make use of number plate exemption tablets when staying longer.”
