Fill Up , Coffee and a Parking Ticket at BP Gatwick

Joe65_2

Visitors to BP Petrol Station at Gatwick North Terminal might end up getting more than they bargained for ...

Check it out...
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=14193&st=0

Wayne3765

No sympathy from me if they're parked alongside the pumps , I remember once I was at Heathrow petrol station waiting to fill up with fuel and I got blocked in behind a car parked alongside the pumps for over 5 minutes until I got the chance to move to a different pump.

The driver eventually came out and had been using the toilet , with no consideration for anyone else trying to use the pump he had taken out of action for at least ten minutes.:mad:

Moaning about a few minutes may seem a bit OTT to some but if I need to do anything else but pay for fuel then I'll move my car away from the pumps first if the garage is busy.

pompeyrich

Thanks for the warning Joe, hope the pressure from the pepipoo members stops this rediculous situation.
If you were blocked in for over 5 mins, then had to fill up, queue to pay and maybe browse around the shop, or use the loo, you too were probably close to a £150 bill Wayne, whether you moved your car to another area or not.

hjb123

I dont really completely get where the guy had been parked. Had he been parked right next to the pump where he had filled up - ie. not moved his car after filling it? If so then yeah he should get fined if he was blocking other people from using that pump

zappahey

If you read the thread on pepipoo, it's more than 20 minutes on the site, including the marked parking spaces. So, if you fill up, pay, have a coffee and a bun then you're likely to see a ticket.

Altarf

zappahey wrote:

If you read the thread on pepipoo, it's more than 20 minutes on the site, including the marked parking spaces. So, if you fill up, pay, have a coffee and a bun then you're likely to see a ticket.

Or more likely, park up have a coffee and a bun waiting for the person that you are picking up's flight to arrive so you can avoid paying the BAA short term car park rates.

[Deleted User]

Strongly suggest people read the FULL thread in the PePiPoo website forums.

Customers are being photographed as they enter and leave the forecourt and their stay timed... Many of the people being fined are genuine BP customers who have innocently stopped to buy and pay for their fuel, parked up in one of the marked bays, used the loo, bought some food and drink in the Wild Bean Café and sat in their cars to eat the food before continuing their journey, unaware of what is in store for them!! Try doing all that even if you haven't got kids needing the loo, or have been stuck waiting in the queue to pay when a credit card verification phone call is being made and see if you can shop with them in under 20 mins!! Are people going to be tempted to eat and drink whilst driving to avoid the fine?

I'm boycotting all BP garages in support of all those who have been enticed in by BP's marketing and radio ads only to end up with £150 fines for the pleasure!! :mad:
The press are finally picking up on this - see 31st Oct 2006 icsurreyonline article: "Customers fined by petrol station for parking too long"

pianeet

i agree it is totally wrong but i am sure there is a macdonalds next to the bp station at the north terminal,would it not have been easier to wait in there

[Deleted User]

The McDonald's cameras might well pick up the fact that you were using their car park but not their facilities and thus as a non-customer you could be fined £125 anyway! This is because there's apparently much the same system in place at the McDonalds, but with 45 minutes to eat and use their loos etc, with the threat of a £125 'PCN'. I personally don't know the sites in question but it's been commented by members of the PiPiPoo forum thread that the McDonalds is right along the edge of the BP forecourt with no separation whatsoever, and that vehicles exiting the BP use the same exit. The entrances apparently aren't common but are adjacent.

PePiPoo members say that anyone in the area would be better off to go to the Tesco store just around the corner, where they can buy food and use the loos with with 3 hours worth of free parking!

By the way, a "PCN" issued by a local council or those acting on it's behalf stands for "Penalty Charge Notice" that has many rules and regulations that have to be adhered to for it to stand up in law. In this instance a private company are issuing what they call a "Parking Charge Notice" which is ostensibly an invoice for money without the customer having full understanding of the terms and conditions. Interestingly new signage has gone up after people started being fined!!