Retail park parking- no return within 3 hours

[undertherainbow123]

I know this might sound extremely silly with everything happening in the world but I have been worrying about my silly mistake yesterday.

Went food shopping on our just out of town retail parking, parking by CP parking. 3 hours free parking no return within 3 hours. Parked up did our shopping, went for a coffee at costa next door and then popped over to TK Maxx. In total was there for around 2 hours. We live approx 10 mins from retail park. Got home and realised I had forgotten a few things on my shopping list. Drove back to retail park, quickly ran in, got what I needed and drove back. From driving in originally to drive back for the second time was approx 2.5 hours, so under the 3 hours limited. However, it was only when I got back my husband mentioned the no return within 3 hours. Will we get a fine for returning, we didn’t go over the whole 3 hours. I feel very foolish, expensive mistake to make and £50 is a lot of money to waste, especially when I am on maternity leave and so close to Christmas. Does anyone have any advice? Friends think I will be fine as I can prove I spent money and not dumped my car, plus under the 3 hours. I have kept the receipts. Not used 3 hours drive around the corner and then parked for another 3 hours. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

There is a carpark near me where people receive fines for this all of the time. Ours has a Greggs, a KFC, and an Aldi so of course people go and so a shop in the morning and get a KFC in the afternoon and then they are fined.

And the Uber drivers are in and out all day.

All you can do is appeal if you get a fine. Have you got any proof that you went elsewhere in the meantime? A receipt, google maps data.

The problem is that you did return in two hours.

The carpark near us has a whole Facebook page about it.

I can only see that being a problem if you went over the original 3 hours, which it sounds like you didn't.

The no return rules, as you say, are just meant to stop people driving out of the car park after 3 hours, and then straight back in again to get another 3 hours, which would mean they could park there all day if they wanted to.

It's not supposed to deprive you of any portion of your original 3 hours, and you should easily be able to challenge it if they did try to get you for that. I'm sure I would have a pile of fines if that was the rule as I do this sort of thing all the time (e.g. nip to shopping centre, nip out to get petrol then go back to shopping centre later).

If you were as quick as you say you were on the second visit (let's say 10 mins max), then they are also supposed to allow a grace period, which should kick in if they are mendacious enough to try and claim your second visit was a second parking period rather than within the scope of the first period. But I doubt it would come to that.

It’s in their interests to give you a fine. So I expect you’ll get a fine.

My own experience is that no return within x minutes rules are only applied where people are taking the mick - office workers there all day for example. It depends who owns the site and runs the enforcement though. My 'offences' have been at local Sainsbury or Tesco when I've forgotten the milk or whatever.

Different where there are multiple occupiers and the landlord enforces the car park.

Keep the receipts for the stuff you purchased on the second visit and if you do get a ticket ask for it to be reviewed using that evidence.

If you do get a fine, just point out that one trip was you, one your husband/sister/mother using your car to buy the things you forgot - and show your statement with the 2x supermarket transactions.

This happened to my friend, she appealed and won when she provided the receipts to show she'd returned to buy something else.

They were fine with it and it was very straightforward.

As it is an automatic system I would expect there to be a fine to be honest.
However, if you appeal with your receipts, proof etc you will probably be OK.

I think there will be a fine, but you can appeal. I was fined once when I forgot the clocks had changed, so everything was still shut when I drove into the car park. I left and came back an hour later when the shops had opened. I was fined.

Our retail park is even better, if you have the audacity to visit twice in a week you can get a fine for overstaying for 80 odd hours or whatever the gap is between the days.

If you do get an invoice and want to appeal it could be wise to find out who owns the retail park and contact them to intervene. I had something similar happen and this did the trick. As previous posters have said it is to stop people parking there all day and they will not want to deter genuine shoppers from visiting.

I think the issue you may run into is if the time from when you first entered the car park and the second time you left exceeds 3 hours. Otherwise you’ll be fine

This happens with the retail park near where I live people get fined for coming out and going back in

If you do get a fine (which you might) appeal it and contact the shops you went into as well. Do you have receipts or bank transactions showing where you were at each time? I have done this many times before and always won the appeals as it’s detrimental to the businesses to lose out on custom because of parking issues.

If your first in v your last out is less than 3 hours, you will be fine
If not you will likely be fined.

I was fined for something similar in a retail park but I appealed - stating the times in and out of the car park, and provided receipts. My appeal was granted and the fine was cancelled

Also, a private car park (not council-run) can’t actually “fine” you in the literal sense. They can only provide a Parking Charge Notice (which is not the same as a Penalty Charge Notice which local authorities give out, although they will try to trick you into thinking it is with the typography and language that they use).

A Parking Charge Notice is essentially a warning that the company intends to take you to a civil court if you don’t give them X amount of money; a threat if you will. When you respond with your legitimate reason for them to not do that, they will see that taking you to court would be a waste of everyone’s time and drop it.

@YellowDots this wouldn’t happen to be in a suburb beginning with m would it? 😂

You will likely get a ticket but its a stupid rule and this is one of the reasons it is stupid. If you get one you have two choices ....
You could appeal it with your receipts or go into tesco and ask to speak to a manager and explain what happened and see if they can have it cancelled.
Your other option is to ignore it completely but be prepared for some scary looking letters threatening to take you to court.
This is not going to happen because its not worth their time/costs for one ticket.
Do not pay it and encourage the greed of these scumbags! Spend the £50 on your family! Good luck
Just realised this happened a couple of months ago and my reply may be too late to help in any way.

As noted above, given the OP was in October I think we can assume that either, as I'd expect, nothing happened or it's bean dealt with.

They car park company may or may not be scumbags. Local ones without enforcement are WAY busier when rugger and and are football are being played at the nearby stadia.

Thanks all. I never received anything. I must have been in the 15 minute grace window after all.