Picking up at airport wrong place issued on the spot £100 fine

Noble101

Hi, I went to pick up a friend who is French and unfamiliar with the airport they landed at. They had been dropped off there once before by me. As they had already landed and through security he was chatting via text with my daughter in the passenger seat as I was driving. I thought (it was 1.30am) it easier to pick him up at the terminal building where I dropped him previous time. Told him to stand outside.
 I followed the route around to there only to find once there even though he immediately got in the car that it was drop off only.(You can not reverse out of here at all you have no choice at this point) Not easy to read signage drive and talk to my daughter to instruct him where to wait. 

I was approached by a man in a Hi Vis jacket who stated did I know I was in drop off only zone. I said well I do now, I explained I had been here before to drop off but didn't realise I couldn't pick up. I apologised for being human. He then asked me to look behind me at a sign that said and I don't have the exact wording that there was a £100 penalty to pick up and was that ok? I said no not really but there is no choice is there? He then suggested I could leave.

I then went to the payment barrier where it duly charged me £100 to leave. 

I paid as I had been on the go since 6.30 am it was now 1.45am and thought I would deal with it when I was alert and able to find out some more information about how I could appeal given that I was given no documentation or even offered to pay less for immediate payment. I can't seem to find that many similar cases online and the drop off/pick up seems more of a grey area than a parking ticket. 

So does anyone have a link to any information with regards to how I can go about reclaiming some if not all of this penalty charge?

Half_way

Your big problem here is that you paid to get out, and that could be seen that you accepted the charge.

 Where is this airport?

What was the charging mechanism? - how did the barrier know you picked up?

Coupon-mad

Never heard of this.  Name & shame the Airport and who exactly does your card payment record show the money went to?

B789

This is the equivalent of being clamped. Surely this, if it actually happened as described cannot be legal.

Noble101

Hi, this was at Manchester Airport. I have written and they have now offered to refund some of the money. They say that there are signs to warn you of the charges however the information re the fine is too small to read when driving and in fact the sign has too much information to read when driving at all.  There is a large sign behind you once you are in this zone but you are also not allowed to reverse. I was advised of the charges by a man in a high vis jacket. KI am looking for the laws around these kind of zones. It is not as clear as parking. 

Noble101

Coupon-mad said:

Never heard of this.  Name & shame the Airport and who exactly does your card payment record show the money went to?

This was Manchester airport and the money went to Manchester airport group directly. 

YankeeBrit

Noble101 said:

Hi, this was at Manchester Airport. I have written and they have now offered to refund some of the money. They say that there are signs to warn you of the charges however the information re the fine is too small to read when driving and in fact the sign has too much information to read when driving at all.  There is a large sign behind you once you are in this zone but you are also not allowed to reverse. I was advised of the charges by a man in a high vis jacket. KI am looking for the laws around these kind of zones. It is not as clear as parking. 

What exactly have you written? Who did you write to? What was their response and how much did they offer to "refund"?

How did the machine at the barrier "know" you had just picked up and not just dropped off someone? There was some human intervention at this point and ou were conned. This was exactly the same as if you had been illegally clamped.

Umkomaas

Surely this offends against parts of consumer law?  Just snatching £100 from your card (with seemingly no consent?) to allow exit?  Can't be lawful.

Noble101

YankeeBrit said:

Noble101 said:

Hi, this was at Manchester Airport. I have written and they have now offered to refund some of the money. They say that there are signs to warn you of the charges however the information re the fine is too small to read when driving and in fact the sign has too much information to read when driving at all.  There is a large sign behind you once you are in this zone but you are also not allowed to reverse. I was advised of the charges by a man in a high vis jacket. KI am looking for the laws around these kind of zones. It is not as clear as parking. 

What exactly have you written? Who did you write to? What was their response and how much did they offer to "refund"?

How did the machine at the barrier "know" you had just picked up and not just dropped off someone? There was some human intervention at this point and ou were conned. This was exactly the same as if you had been illegally clamped.

I wrote to the airport customer service and complained that I was not given any other options but to pay. They have offered me £40 back meaning they get to keep £60. It was a warden in a high vis jacket who came to me it was all verbal he advised me I was in the wrong place to pick up and asked me to look at a large sign behind me the slots are at an angle facing the terminal the sign is behind you. He advised me the fine for being there was a £100 and was I ok with that I said no not really but do I have a choice. He did not advise me I would be charged as I exited or offer any alternative I have been left feeling I have been rinsed. This was the early hours of the morning the airport website claims staff are there to direct and assist with such matters but there wasn't anyone. Once you are in this zone you can not reverse there are signs saying this. You can not read the signs as you are driving not able to stop you are basically stuck and in the hands of whether you get a sympathetic member of staff. 

Noble101

Umkomaas said:

Surely this offends against parts of consumer law?  Just snatching £100 from your card (with seemingly no consent?) to allow exit?  Can't be lawful.

This is what I am trying to find out what laws have been bent here. 

YankeeBrit

Who did you "speak" to at the barrier? Was it by a speakerphone? How did they collect the £100? Was it an automatic barrier and if so, how was the money paid?