£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

Just warning people on here so they're not caught out (and having a moan at the same time)

You're welcome!

This. ^ Outdated and STUPID advice from @hahahahahahahahahah . The thing will just escalate and will cost the OP FAR more money than just paying the bloody fine!

OK fairy nuff. Thanks for the warning. At least people will be more vigilant now, and will look to see how much time they have when pulling into service stations... But yeah, I would pay the fine if I were you. You did stay too long, and they are not going to believe stories of heavy periods and toddlers having projectile shits. They've heard it all when people try to get out of a parking fine. At the end of the day, you stayed almost twice the parking length allowance, and need to pay.

I’m in a similar position. I’ve never been caught out before as I’m usually so careful. In my case there was another driver in the car so I don’t know if that will be good grounds for appeal, we will see.

.

And it's appreciated, from someone who could easily have been caught out.
There's always some MNers who feel the need to put boot in. Not sure what the attraction is in being like that 🤷‍♀️

I would appeal to BP to appeal in turn to Euro car parks to waive the fine.
Lay it on thick, but be calm and polite.

Due to circumstances (torrential rain, not seeing the parking sign, medical reasons, time to make and consume your purchase, assisting your children etc. etc.) you are sorry that you overstayed the 30 min limit by 19 minutes.

Stress that you are a loyal BP customer, and you are pleased that BP are moving away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources and charging services for electric vehicles.

£60 is a big fine for you to pay at this time (would have to pay in many small instalments due to your financial circumstances) etc.

We’ve followed the advice on MSE and successfully appealed these sorts of parking fines.
One thing that is always worth doing is contacting the petrol station and asking them to get the fine waived due to dangerous driving conditions, health, being a parent etc. They are the ones who have the contract with the parking company.

I would appeal. They can only say no. You could go heavy on the weather making it difficult to read any legible signs.

Do you have your receipt for the coffee and snack? If you send a copy in with your appeal as well it might help.

Ah, so you were billed for using the services/parking for longer than you should. I guess just pay up and then don't repeat again?

I wouldn't think to look for parking restrictions in a place like that either, OP, particularly if I wasn't planning to stay for hours. I think 49 minutes for a bite to eat and to use the facilites, maybe a quick mooch in the shop with a child isn't unreasonable at all.

We have always ignored these "private car parking fines". I once got fined for popping over the road from a multiplex car park to get some cash even though we spent two hours in the cinema and another hour in a restaurant on the same concourse. The sign apparently said you could not leave the complex. My husband had similar to you in that he was parked in a service station bay in heavy rain for 10 minutes more than the time allowed. They can take you to court but they rarely do. I would write and appeal.

You can only park at Motorway services for 2 hours without paying extortionate fees

Even if there's a >90 min wait for EV charging and 30 min charging time.

My car broke down at a motorway service station last summer and the AA were going to take up to 5 hours to attend. It is really difficult to find out how to pay a parking fee to avouid the penalty charge if you know you're going to be there for longer than 2 hours. Fortunately, the AA got there within 90 minutes and I was back on the road before the 2 hours was up. (There was the additional complication that the AA app wouldn't allow you to enter the northbound services as a location: they only allow you to break down on the southbound.)

This really does need to be sorted out. There are lots of possible reasons why someone might be unable to leave a service station within 2 hours. Service station operators discourage people from following advice to rest on long journeys. I understand that they need to prevent people from parking all day while they travel to a meeting/football match/etc. in someone else's car, but there must be a way to deal with genuine need.

I'd appeal it - explain there as heavy rain, you had DC with you, you needed a break and it was the sensible thing to do.

If the signage was on the opposite side of the building, that could be helpful in contesting this. Generally, for companies to be successful, they need to be able to show they've got signs where everyone will see them. All the health issues (depending on how much the OP wants to disclose, of course) are helpful too, as they don't want to be seen to be penalising people with disabilities. Documentation from the cafe, like receipts is helpful. It's certainly possible to challenge these things successfully, even after the changes in 2015.

Wow this country is depressing.

Fuck sake, just appeal.

Do you feel high and mighty after your nasty comment?

30 mins is ridiculous, I feel for you OP!

Actually they do accept valid reasons like this. The one thing they don’t want to do is get a reputation for treating customers badly otherwise people won’t stop to use the shop etc.
We’ve successfully appealed a number of these fines / helped people to do so exactly on these sorts of common sense grounds.

It would be a great headline - Evil capitalist oil company fines mother for not wanting to drive her children in dangerous conditions

Europarks, says it all... my DP got a fine for not purchasing a ticket quick enough in one of their car parks.

They have realised that lots of people are parking up to drink the coffee and eat the food they sell. Then others drive in but don't stop because they can't park. Try Emailing [email protected] or calling 0800 402 402 explaining the problem. Don't exaggerate, but explain. Ask them if they can cancel the ticket and if they are willing to cancel the ticket. Tell them that you love BP but will need to look for other filling stations for your petrol and coffee needs if the fine can't be waived on this occasion.

If so, great. If not, appeal. Write a simple thing about how the signs weren't visible, perhaps due to parked vehicles. You don't know why they weren't visible because, by definition, you couldn't see any.

If the appeal is denied, you can decide whether to pay the money or wait to see what they do. Personally I'd pay, and let BT know via the above channels that you will be going elsewhere from now on. They won't probably care, but anyway.

The best advice on this thread has been a bit hidden - tell someone behind the counter that you are about to spend £££ on coffee and treats but only if they take your reg number and enter it on their system as an allowed reg number. They'll nearly always do this if you ask.

If you are taken into motorway services on the back of a breakdown truck the cameras shouldn’t catch you they should catch the trucks number plate
always worth taking a photo of your car on the back of the truck might help if tickets do appear
or go into the services find the manager and they will put your number into the system so you don’t get charged