Parking fine in Mac donalds

bundleone | 22:45 Sun 27th Nov 2011 | Civil

33 Answers

My son took his two children to McDonalds on his access day with them,because he stayed longer than 90 minutes he has recieved a £50 fine, they photo you when you arrive and when you leave.He didn't leave the restaurant at all, is this legal?

Wills

next of kin

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AlBags

BUT .. and a very big but ..
They are never displayed in such a way as a parking charge .. that is a typical car park notice.
They don't do that. They are far more devious.

AlBags

(and my comment DID refer to a case reported by The Telegraph .. practically identical incident.

bundleone

Question Author

Thank you all for your answers,especially albags

dzug2

There are those who believe the Oldham case was a set up

I'm surprised that knowledgeable ABers recommend paying when knowledgeable people on most other sites say they are unenforceable

TheShakeperian

I repeat , THIS IS NOT A FINE ! it is a parking charge from a private company.
To enforce it the parking company needs to get a county court judgement against the driver , not the registerd keeper if that is diffrent.
The cost of getting a judgement is over £1000 and the chance of success is very low, even if they do win the case the cost awarded against the driver will be MUCH less than the cost of bringing the case. The parking company will not take you to court it is just not worth it.
Ignore the letters you will get, they stop once they realise you are not going to pay.

AlBags

I agree ..
And if they do pester you for a while .. admit staying for the 3 hours+ .. make sure it is in writing that you were in their availing yourself (and paying) for their services, with your children .. and offering them £5 in full payment as a reasonable excess charge.
Damned if I would shut up and pay.

bobbie22

I have gone off the point, I know, but are they actually allowed to take your photograph, and that of your children?

bednobs

yes

New Judge

To address the photo query, anybody can take a photograph of anything or anybody (including children) in a public place or in a private place with the consent of the owner of that place. (There are some exceptions covering such things as defence installations. There are also some presumed provisions in Section 44 of the Anti-Terrorism Act but many of these are gradually being ruled out of order).

Back to the substantive question: I have just returned from my local Tesco. Bold notices throughout the car park say “You may park free of charge for up to three hours. When parking you agree to pay an excess charge of £75 if you remain for more than three hours in one visit.” Straightforward, plain and simple. And easily recoverable at law as explained by Chris. Suggesting that one pays a “reasonable” excess fee of one’s own choosing is rather like eating a meal in a restaurant to the tune of £50 and then suggesting you pay a “reasonable” price of a fiver when the bill is presented.

Eve

Happened here locally...

http://menmedia.co.uk...eft-mum-with-400-bill

-- answer removed --

jd_here

My daughter spent over 2 hours in a McDonalds recently, heaven knows why!, and she also received a parking fine. She wrote to the company explaining that she had been in the place the whole time, catching up with an old friend, the fine was quashed. Good luck.