To think Roadchef are taking the piss

[DanglingChillis]

I've just received a £90 fine for staying longer than 2h at Annandale Service Station! A fine from the local council for a real parking offence is cheaper than that. I'm not sure why they think it is a good idea to slap an extra charge on families who have already spent a small fortune in their bloody service station. Because the people who are hit by this are families like us with small kids, including a baby that is BF and in nappies (and there is only one nappy change facility which you always have to queue for).

Our local supermarket have a charge if you spend longer than 3h in their carpark but at least there there is somewhere else customers could go, but in a service station all you could possibly be doing is spending money in the service station.

Someone will be on shortly with better advice but all I know is don't pay it. It is totally unenforcable, as I understand it. I believe there is a proforma letter on a website somewhere, maybe moneysavingexpert?.

Don't pay it!

Don't pay it. Don't appeal. Don't contact them at all. It's not enforceable. Just ignore it. More info on money saving expert but I can't link as on phone.

Google pepipoo, whole site dedicated to various parking fines. Helped me successfully appeal against one I had. I think their advice is to wait until you recieve a 'notice to keeper' and take it from there.

The fine is unenforcable, so don't pay it. The carpark is private and.
if I were you , I'd never set foot at one of their establishments again!

Don't appeal. That will give them your details and make it easier for them to harass you. Just ignore it completely.

Google it as there is a site dedicated to this.saw it a few months ago and sure it said that its not advisable to ignore them anymore (dont mean pay it though as its not a council one)see if i can find the site.

Is the law the same in Scotland though (since that's where I was parked?).

i can understand why they have the time limits as service stations as good meeting places for car sharing long distances so the car park would end up full of cars whose owners are elsewhere for the day and no one would be able to park to actually go to the service station.

Northern yes thats the site i was thinking off!

Its not enforceable don't pay it! Ignore as soon as you make contact they will hassle you

Ignore it. Car fine companies are a blight on society and anyone who works for them is a total disgrace.

They pray on old and vunerable people who accept the total guff they put on these " invoices".

OK, I won't pay. But do I have the time and inclination to write to explain why? Everything on Money Saving Expert is about the English System. I'm tempted to appeal based on the fact that they appear to be charging me under English Law but my 'offence' was in Scotland. Since it costs the company money to go through the appeals process I quite like that option. That and the unreasonable charge (they are charging me £90 for 30 minutes parking in a carpark that was not overcrowded so no loss of income for them) and lack of clear signage (although I don't have evidence of that and am not driving back to Scotland to get that information).

Don't bother writing. They will rob ably send a series of increasingly snotty and threatening letters demanding more and more money and prophesying direr and direr retributions. Ignore, ignore, ignore. They are lying, greedy, money-grabbing scum.

and lack of clear signage (although I don't have evidence of that and am not driving back to Scotland to get that information).

Entrance to services - I don't think you can argue that.

Most motorway services car parks do have signs stating a 2 hour maximum stay. I get to see quite a lot of them, and visit Annandale Water services fairly often.

I'm tempted to appeal based on the fact that they appear to be charging me under English Law but my 'offence' was in Scotland.

This is a breach of contract law rather than statute law, and a contract doesn't have to be governed by the law of the country in which it was initiated.

WMittens, It's not really possible to read that entire sign as you drive past though is it? You might catch the 'free parking' while you watch for traffic on the roundabout but you're not going to stop and block the traffic to read the small print.

It's a very different situation to e.g. my local supermarket which gives customers 3h free parking and then charges. You can imagine someone parking for free at the supermarket then walking over to the town centre (10 mins away) to spend the whole day there. What could you do at a service station except use the services? They are only going to catch families or people with disabilities who take longer than the designated 2h, prechildren DH and I would have been in and out of there in half an hour, now we have a toilet stop for everyone, including a half hour wait for the single babychange facility, sorting out food for three children, BFing the baby, another half hour wait to use the single babychange facility, then queuing for the toilets for the older two etc etc. I would love to take less time at a service station but it's very difficult these days.

The Scotland/England difference does matter, the appeals system only applies to England.

You might catch the 'free parking' while you watch for traffic on the roundabout but you're not going to stop and block the traffic to read the small print.

The "2 hours" bit is in exactly the same sized font (and bold) as the "Free Parking" bit, i.e. massive. It's the largest text (and in the highest contrast colours) on the sign.

A court would assess whether the operator has taken reasonable steps to inform you of the 2 hour limit to free parking; that sign would constitute 'reasonable'.

The Scotland/England difference does matter, the appeals system only applies to England.

As I said, this is a tort under contract law, not an offence under statute law. It could be governed by the contract law of Bulgaria or Turkmenistan if that is what the contract states; however, given that Road Chef are a company limited by guarantee in England, chances are that English contract law applies.

What could you do at a service station except use the services?

If you've got a caravan, you could park up and stay there for free without any limit.

Some people conduct business meetings or interviews at services if it's a mutually convenient place to meet.

Just ignore it. Don't engage with them at all. They'll send you lots of letters saying that they are 'reserving the right' to take you to court and increasing the fine. Ignore those too. Its not enforceable.

Google some of the parking fightback forums and you'll get some more detailed advice on there.

I think you should get a £90 REWARD for spending over 2 hours there and not going crazy

Not to mention the likelihood of getting served within 2 hours at the cafe.

I drive this way quite often and won't be visiting Annandale Water again now. Tebay is the best and is also conveniently 124 miles from my front door, i.e. two hours.

Those telling you it is unenforceable are wrong. The company can take you to court for the money. They used to have to prove who was driving a car but that changed last year so now they can take the owner to court irrespective of who is driving.

They can take you to court and would probably win whether they do is another matter.

You'll get scores of letters - ignore all. Followed by ones offering a deal to pay a reduced amount. Keep ignoring & eventually they'll dry up. Peppipoo as someone mentioned earlier is the website with all the info.

Don't pay and don't worry about it either. I have ignored tickets from Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury and station car parks. Nothing happened at all. No letters, nothing. It is all a scam.