Shoppers' anger at £110 parking fines for staying over 3 hours at Kingswood
SHOPPERS have spoken of their anger after being hit with parking tickets after visiting a popular retail park.
The £110 fines, from the enforcement company ParkingEye, have been sent to drivers who have spent more than three hours at Kingswood Retail Park.
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UNHAPPY: Duncan Stewart, whose wife Tarnya received three parking fines after shopping at Kingswood Retail Park. Picture: Simon Kench
The company claims enforcement of the limit has been stepped up after an increase in drivers using the parking spaces as a "park and ride" for the city centre.
The letters sent to drivers warn a debt collection company will be instructed if the fine is not paid.
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Tarnya Stewart, 46, received three parking tickets after shopping at the retail park on December 16, 22 and 29.
Two have since been overturned after Mrs Stewart sent in sales receipts totalling hundreds of pounds.
She is awaiting the results of a third appeal.
She said: "They say the fine is £50 if it is paid within 14 days and after that it goes up to £110.
"The letters were all quite intimidating and threaten court action or getting bailiffs involved if the fine wasn't paid.
"I think that would make people just pay up when they shouldn't have to.
"I spent well over £1,000 on my visits there. There are ten stores so you can easily spend more than three hours there.
"I have been using the park for years and have never been fined before."
A spokesman for ParkingEye said: "The retail park was suffering lots of abuse from motorists parking within the car park, but not shopping within the stores.
"As part of the management of the car park, we operate an audited appeals process, as per the British Parking Association's guidelines, for any motorists who would like to appeal any parking charge they receive."
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Comments
by MrsAngry
Saturday, September 01 2012, 3:56PM
“I've just received a parking charge notice from ParkingEye at Kingswood Retail park and I'm furious!! It's just revenue generation and the honest, hard-working shops in the retail park will be the losers because I will NEVER SHOP THERE AGAIN EVER!!! It's not just that I was photographed going in and out and the DVLA are allowed to send them my personal details, but who is to say that the times they quote me being there are what they say they are. Maybe I walk around with my head in the clouds but I have been going there for years and didn't particuarly notice the signs, they must be relatively new. I went in several of the shops there and purchased goods, and often nip in to Asda as well for a bit of food. I wasn't using it as a car park to go into Hull. I am an honest, hard-working person. I pay taxes and don't earn a lot of money. I never break the law and try to support local shops. So I am gutted that I now have to pay £50 for nothing more than parking somewhere that is FREE for a few minutes more than I should have - what has this country come to. I would rather give this money to charity than line their greedy pockets - I think it's absolutely OUTRAGEOUS. Conversely I received some goods in the post this morning at the same time as the parking charge. I ordered them online yesterday and received them in the post this morning. That's what I call excellent, British service, not stealth tax, revenue generation for lazy management companies who charge extortionate amounts of money for doing NOTHING AT ALL except picking on people who are not so good at time management. Maybe the shops there don't care but I for one will go somewhere else to shop from now on, so I hope PARKINGEYE are pleased with themselves because they are driving away genuine shoppers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mrs Extremely Angry”
by Mark, my words
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 10:23PM
“@ Supa-shopper
Hang on, you got fed up of paying parking charges in town, so drove 140 miles round-trip for free parking and the same shops but more expensive?”
by Bobby D, Hull
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 9:35PM
“These tickets are not subject to the road traffic regulations. Basically if you get a ticket at a private car park the company is, in effect, alleging breach of contract. This comes under contract law and not the road traffic act. I reckon if you all appeal then you'll all get off. The letters are intentionally threatening in order to get you to pay without going through the courts. DO NOT PAY and then go through the courts or you are admitting liability.
Trust me it's not in the firms' interest to pursue you through the courts when they're likely to lose. How can they prove any of you were not shopping all day? I don't keep my receipts, it's not against the law to throw them away. It's their word against yours.
There are many websites which can guide you through beating these cowboys.
WAKEY WAKEY.”
by linda, hull
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 8:22PM
“I have stopeed going to Kingswood Retail Park in the run up to Christmas - its impossible to park - now I know why .
If it clearly says 3 hours why would you assume you can stay longer ??”
by Dingle, Dongle
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 7:42PM
“How hard is it to understand three hours? Shops won't be sympathetic to people who whinge about this, they'd rather have twice as many customers because people don't dilly around in the shops.
Also, is Ms Stewart shy? Why did her husband have to hold the tickets? Maybe he feels guilty for buying her a watch that doesn't work properly.
I look forward to the updated story should the third fine get taken back.”
by stephen, hull
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 7:36PM
“Why even bother with the hassle of shopping at kingswood ? Much better to carry on up the A1079 to York where you can enjoy hassle free shopping at Monks cross or Clifton moor. Its the same shops and plenty more besides and they have been designed with several entrances/exits so not just a bottleneck ! Ok it may be a bit far for odd item but if you enjoy hassle free shopping its really not that far”
by darren, not at kingswood retail park
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 7:00PM
“fantastic voyager
i think you have had too many shandys”
by Fantastic Voyager, In The Pub, Having A Grand Time.
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 6:39PM
“Surely, someone who can afford to spend "...well over £1,000..." wouldn't bat an eyelid at a £50 parking ticket?”
by Supa-Shopper, Hull
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 6:32PM
“As lots have said on here, loads of these firms are just on the scam. Sure, she parked longer than she should have but £110? It's not far off those robbing clampers on Princes Ave. £250 to clamp you, £180 to tow you away...
I got fed up of paying a fortune to park in Princes Quay and St. Stephen's last year - so most of my Christmas shopping was done at MeadowHell - easy and free parking, loads more shops.
This Christmas, I got every single thing online. No mucking about in the shops, everything delivered and wrapped by the first week in December.
And I didn't once have to go into the city and fight my way through queues and crowds of chavs and pram-faced teenagers.”
by darren, not at kingswood retail park
Tuesday, January 25 2011, 6:24PM
“parkingeye are as bad as wheell clampers. i was going to go there on saturday to do some shopping at comet then have a bite to eat and then go book my holliday at the travel agent but now i will go elsewhere. come on shop managers have a word with these robbers called parkingeye. also who decided to install those stupid posts and bump near comet, why would they put them there as nobody can speed there.”