Parking Eye - Costa will not cancel

Viyella1

Hi 

I'm looking for some advice on next steps please - 

Received a Parking Eye PCN for £100 as I overstayed at a Drive Thru Costa by 20 minutes.

After reading a few success stories on here, I thought a quick and simple email to Costa Customer Services would be enough for them to cancel it (because it seems like every other retailer will just cancel it). 

Unfortunately for me, that doesn't appear to be the case. I've expressed my displeasure of receiving this fine, but they have now come back to me twice that they are unable to do anything. 

Their responses are below

I suppose it is kind of my fault for not seeing the signs within the store to enter my vehicle reg plate in, but a £60 fine for not doing so is pretty unfair and disgusting. 

Any helps or advice on pressing Costa on what to do next would be appreciated

Thanks 

1st response

We do completely understand your frustration but we can confirm that Costa hasn’t any control over the car parking fines. The car park is operated by a third party parking provider and unfortunately we have no control over the time limit imposed or the parking charges and cannot influence any parking fines that have been given out. Parking restriction management is extremely common in retail areas and regardless of whether the car park was used to visit a Costa store, or any other retailers, there is no exemption from these restrictions if the time frames have not been adhered to.  The responsibility will always be with the driver to ensure they are familiar with the terms and conditions of the car park and to adhere to the terms accordingly.

There is a sign near the tills  explaining how to enter car registration details if customers wanted to stay longer. Also there are signs in the car park.

If you have extenuating circumstances relating to your parking fine and you believe you have a genuine reason for an appeal, we strongly advise you follow the instructions detailed on the PCN without delay to prevent the parking fine amount from increasing.

We understand your frustration, but we do not have any influence in getting parking fines cancelled.

We are extremely sorry that we cannot be of any more help in this instance and trust you will take up your appeal directly with the parking provider. 

2nd response 

Costa, like many large retailers, have a number of our stores and Drive-Thru’s which are located within or alongside privately owned carparks. Whilst the carparks are open for use by Costa Coffee customers, they are owned and operated by a third party, who manage the Terms and Conditions and determine how long a car can be parked there. We do not control the Terms and Conditions or subsequent charges and fines set by the third party.  We are extremely sorry but we simply don’t have any influence to ask for these fines to be cancelled.

 

Please also be informed due to GDPR regulations, we are unable to engage in discussions regarding any other case. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the Parking Provider is the entity responsible for cancelling the PCN. Therefore, we have received advice to inform our customers that they must adhere to the Appeals process should they approach us.

 

Once again, I am really sorry but we cannot assist any further with this case

3rd response

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself, my name is 'X' and I am a Costa Customer Service Team Leader.  Your case has been passed to me by way of escalation as we believe you are unhappy with our response relating to the parking fine you received when visiting the Costa store in 'X'.  Upon checking, unfortunately it transpires your fine occurred because you did not enter your vehicle registration details upon your arrival to the store and therefore, stayed over the time limit.

 

Please be advised that at this specific store, there are 8 signs in the car park informing customers of the terms and conditions of their stay. The tablet to input your registration into is located at the till point where the order would be made. This also has a sign to inform customers that they can extend their stay from 90 minutes to 3 hours.

We completely understand how upset and frustrated you are with the outcome, however we are afraid that Costa is unable to assist you any further for the reasons outlined below.

Costa, like many large retailers, have a number of our stores and Drive-Thru’s which are located within or alongside privately owned carparks. Whilst the carparks are open for use by Costa Coffee customers, they are owned and operated by a third party, who manage the Terms and Conditions and determine how long a car can be parked there. We do not control the Terms and Conditions or subsequent charges and fines set by the third party.  We are extremely sorry but we simply don’t have any influence to ask for these fines to be cancelled.

 

Once again, we would like to apologise we cannot assist you any further with this matter. Appeal is always an option, so if you do feel you have a genuine case to appeal,  please kindly follow the instructions on the PCN

Coupon-mad

Go and take (unclear/distance/angled) photos of how hidden this is and appeal:

"There is a sign near the tills  explaining how to enter car registration details if customers wanted to stay longer."