I charged my electric car at the 24-hour Mer EV charging station in my local B&Q car park.
I then received a £100 parking charge notice (PCN) from the car park operator, Ocean Parking. It said no parking is allowed on the site between 9pm and 6am.
There were no signs on the EV charger explaining this, but Ocean has rejected my representation. Mer apologised for the “inconvenience”, but it will not help.
DT, Redhill, Surrey
This is one of the most farcical parking disputes I’ve come across. Mer’s website advertises the EV charger as a 24-hour facility. Signs at the entrance to Redhill retail park state, in large letters, that free parking for up to two hours is allowed. Smaller print beneath this says that terms and conditions apply.
It’s these terms and conditions that Ocean is relying on, and they are not printed on the entrance signs, or on the sign behind the EV charger.
The latter notice bears a line, in a tiny font, obscured by the cable frame, advising drivers to check any parking restrictions. These restrictions are detailed on separate signs around the car park.
I began with Mer. It was defensive, insisting that the sign on its charger was adequate, but admitted that the 24-hour promise on its website had caused “confusion”. It has now amended the website. Ocean’s defence was that it had no idea that the charger was in operation until I got in touch, and it had therefore assumed you were merely parking.
This is unconvincing. You had detailed in your representation that you were using the charger at the time, and Ocean’s rejection letter stated users of the charger are not exempt from parking restrictions.
I jogged Ocean’s memory, but it doubled down. “We maintain that the parking charges were issued correctly under the published conditions,” it said.
“However, given that signage in the immediate charging area only met the minimum standard, and Ocean Parking pride themselves on exceeding that, we have taken a pragmatic and fair‑minded approach: all outstanding PCNs relating to that specific location were cancelled, appeals were upheld, and refunds were offered to motorists who had already paid.”
In Leicestershire, CH is also caught in the tentacles of a private parking operator after stopping on a road in a business park to drink a cup of coffee. He was slapped with a £100 PCN by Euro Parking Services for parking on “double yellow lines/crosshatched bay” in a “restricted area”. He appealed and was asked to provide evidence that the restrictions were invisibly advertised. So back he went to the site to take photographs.
EPS’s response was to fire off another £100 PCN. The CCTV photos attached to this second PCN show him craning to snap a tiny sign, with tiny print, mounted on a pole at least three metres (10ft) high. The photos also show that there are no yellow lines or hatchings on the road.
EPS is a member of the trade body International Parking Community (IPC), whose code of practice requires signs to be conspicuous and legible. Member firms must also allow drivers a five-minute grace period to check for parking restrictions.
The sign in EPS’s own photos is manifestly not conspicuous nor legible, and its PCN confirms he was on site for 75 seconds, yet EPS refused to cancel either PCN.
EPS relented over the second charge when I questioned it, but insisted on upholding the first. “We recognise that drivers need to be able to read and, if necessary, photograph signs in order to submit a representation, and it is not our policy to penalise motorists for doing so,” said the firm which had done exactly that
We are reviewing the signage at this site to ensure that it is clear, legible and appropriately positioned for all drivers,” it said.
CH can appeal to the IPC, but if he loses, he also loses an early payment discount of £40.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually.
Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.
