£63 cup of tea at BP service station.

[CatOnAMushroom]

Just returned from (what was suppposed to be a cheap camping) holiday to a £60 fine for parking at a BP petrol station for 49 minutes for a break on a long journey in torrential rain.

I always check when parking in car parks, on roads etc but I never thought to check for parking rules at a petrol station ☹️

If anyone is going on holiday this week don't overstay your welcome at a BP service station

I've heard of this before and as you seem to know there was a limit signposted. I wouldn't park at a service station for longer than a few minutes - I'd move my car if staying for coffee.
There's a petrol station near me which has a mini Tesco and coffee station, it's also next to a veterinarian practise and I bet there are people who park and go in there. So they need limits and actually 30min seems more than enough.

Lots of petrol stations near me (SE) are doing this
a big part of it is they know hgv drivers have to have a minimum 45 minute break so they catch a lot of drivers out with this
if your charging or washing your car you can go in and give them your registration number and they can override the charges

I only realised there was a limit today.

Thank you for the warning! I’d never think to check for such a short limit at a place like that. Sure, I wouldn’t think I could stay for hours, but less than an hour seems extreme.
Definitely try appealing. Tell the truth of the situation and that the rain was so torrential you were worried about safety.

I once got a fine in travelodge, for not putting the permit in the wondow, even though my reg was loged with reception.

I sent that letter from MSE and never heard from them again.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/parking-ticket-appeals/#howto
You could try that OP.

There we have it - the classic “are you [insert other person]” because you can’t handle someone correcting you and challenging your incorrect advice.

🙄

No, it's a long drive away from me unfortunately. I can see a sign on Google street view (though not where I parked as I parked behind the building and the sign is on the other side where I didn't go past)

This is absolutely not true.

The "30 minutes only" sounds like money-gouging to me, especially as there's a Starbucks and they know folk are likely to go over - in other words they've taken over someone else's car park and seen an opportunity

Since there were signs which you (understandably) didn't notice I'd probably do what you're doing and pay through gritted teeth, but it was good of youj to mention this for the sake of others who may get caught

Please do NOT do this @CatOnAMushroom ALWAYS pay and then appeal later. Don't fancy your chances though. It said 30 minutes and you stayed 49.

I have always immediately paid my parking fines even if I thought there was a slight chance I may be in the right. Not worth the hassle and escalating costs/legal fees etc.

Suck it up and pay it - and LEARN from it.

That sucks! What a kick in the teeth after braving a camping trip in this weather..

Was it a lovely cup of tea? Please tell me it at least came with a saucer and a couple of biscoff? 😬

I agree 30 minutes is a too-short time though. Even 45 would be better.

Yes mum🙄

Biscoff! VOM! 😬

Maybe time to read the thread....

OP said "I always check when parking in car parks, on roads etc but I never thought to check for parking rules at a petrol station".

Congratulations on making a post befitting for the mumsnet passive aggressive thread.

Oh I see a sarcy rolly eyes emoji.???

Well if you only wanted people to respond who were going to agree with you, pat you on the head and say yes yes dear you ARE correct, and those mean and nasty car park fine people are WRONG...' then you should have said...

The tea was OK. No biscoff sadly. Camping was mainly wet and involved a lot of mud but we still had fun with friends (when the kids weren't whining and trying to kill each other in a tent)

Outdated advice

Absolutely do!

YOU stop giving incorrect advice. Telling the OP to NOT PAY A PARKING FINE and then appeal and appeal and appeal until they give up, is the most stupid piece of 'advice' on this thread.

I'm with you, OP, I'd just pay it. Life's too short to waste your energy on these things and you did break their petty, stringent rules, after all. Just never use BP service stations again. If enough people boycott them (or just fill up on petrol and stop for coffee elsewhere) and it starts hitting their profits they may have a rethink. People who are smug about getting away without paying because they can afford to risk it costing more if they lose an appeal really annoy me. These things can be a really big deal if you're on a low income, so thanks for highlighting it so people can avoid getting caught out in the first place.