KFC Parking Ticket disabled child

ktTurn

Letter from  CEO Meghan Farrier to my MP.

‘Thank you for your letter outlining your constituent’s recent parking issues at their local KFC restaurant. 

I’m sorry that  had difficulties with both our service in restaurant and within the car park. This is not what our customers should expect from us. 

KFC Sandwich has implemented parking restrictions over the past year in response to anti-social use of vehicles, including drag races, taking place in our car park. As you’ll understand these activities posed significant safety concerns, which led us to make the decision to bring in parking restrictions. 

 We work with a third party car park company to manage the parking in our Sandwich restaurant. There is a 1-hour parking limit within the car park and the restaurant have placed several signs around the site, notifying guests of this limit. As x letter highlighted a lack of signage around the disabled parking, I will work with the restaurant team and the car park company to ensure correct signage is placed next to our disabled parking spaces. 

In cases where guests approach our staff members with requests to extend parking due to delays, or in this case needing more time to spend in restaurant, our managers would be more than happy to enter customer vehicle registration details into their staff system to ensure that no fines are issued. 

X has now had her parking fine cancelled, and we have also sent over a KFC voucher; we really hope her family choose to dine with us again.’ 

 

ktTurn

After getting a copy of this response I thought I would go and check the signage. I’ve attached a copy on here of the signs scattered around the car park. I also do not see any mention of extending time limits just that blue badge users are not exempt. 

Any suggestions in what I can include in my response would be appreciated. 

Drag racing is a poor excuse for parking restrictions and complete lack of accessibility for disabled people. 

fisherjim

ktTurn said:

KFC Sandwich has implemented parking restrictions over the past year in response to anti-social use of vehicles, including drag races, taking place in our car park. As you’ll understand these activities posed significant safety concerns, which led us to make the decision to bring in parking restrictions.

I am at a loss as to how sending an invoice in the post to someone with a disability can possibly stop the above, and if you hadn't stuck to your guns they would have said "we are unable to cancel the charge" we all know it's just a catch em all money making scam!

It still gives anti social drivers 60minutes to have a "drag race" but a disabled customer is still going to get a charge, their excuse about asking for extra time is another cop out as it isn't highlighted, it would be interesting to see if the signage IS ever changed, I'm sure Civil Enforcement will be rushing over at their cost to alter the signs and cut their potential revenue!

Half_way

is it me, or do these responses  all sound the same, regardless of the who ever took on the ppc, and the ppc.
almost as if they are dictated by the parking industry?

Fruitcake

That sign specifically states that CEL do not make reasonable adjustments (for example, allowing more time) for certain disabled motorists (blue badge holders). "Service providers" are required to anticipate the needs of people with protected characteristics, not make blanket statements that they will not.
As long as those signs remain unaltered, CEL and KFC risk criminal prosecution for disability discrimination, although I have no idea how you would go about that.

ANPR scameras are cheap to run, much cheaper than foot patrols, which is why PPCs use them, but they are not fit for purpose as the government recognises, which is why they are not permitted to be used for council car park monitoring. They are absolutely useless for motoring accessible parking bays. All they do is record time on site, not time parked.

On top of all this, there is the issue that people who have disabilities but don't have a blue badge are also being discriminated against. Even the DLHUC don't seem to understand that they may well produce a mandatory parking code of practice that breaches the equality act by only recognising the display of a blue badge as an indicator that an occupant of a vehicle is disabled and has protected characteristics.


With regard to the other family you mention, did they get a PCN as well, and if so were you able to help them with complaints? The more complaints KFC and MPs get about this hideous situation, the better.


I don't know how you feel about a return visit, but if it had happened to me, I would go back, spend the voucher, and ask for more time from a member of staff if needed and see if you get another PCN.

Coupon-mad

Half_way said:

is it me, or do these responses  all sound the same, regardless of the who ever took on the ppc, and the ppc.
almost as if they are dictated by the parking industry?

It's not just you. I keep noticing that.

Retailers always reply that they introduced restrictions due to 'anti-social behaviour' including boy racers.  Dunno about you but reports of car parks used at night by boy racers are few and far between. It does occasionally happen (there was that terrible fatal crash involving young lads in a retail park earlier this month) but it isn't commonly heard of, EXCEPT in PPC rhetoric.

Sounds like PPCs make that up to get contracts.

It's easily possible to stage or invent a problem to put it in the minds of credulous management at Head Offices that they "need parking management" and after all, it's free.  Innit?!

Free!  Costs them nothing.  What could possibly go wrong?!

It's almost as if retailers are being told what to say and led to believe there is a problem that in fact doesn't exist.

Even if the problem did exist at night, how exactly is applying an (insufficient for any families) awfully tight one hour parking restriction 24/7 at a restaurant addressing it?

That gives people about 45 minutes to read the menu board, decide what to order, pay for their food, sit at a table and chat, eat and drink.  Never mind having a loo break, feeding a baby or helping a child with a disability.

The other 15 minutes being the time to drive in, find a space, park, get the kids out, walk over to KFC and enter, wait in a queue, etc on arrival plus the time taken to pack up and leave the restaurant, put on coats, walk to the car, strap the kids in, discuss whatever is needed next (going elsewhere/setting the SatNav if needed) and then start the engine and FINALLY drive past the unknown surveillance camera.

Basically ANPR was a solution for nothing. All it does is catch out families.

ktTurn

Fruitcake said:

With regard to the other family you mention, did they get a PCN as well, and if so were you able to help them with complaints? The more complaints KFC and MPs get about this hideous situation, the better.


I don't know how you feel about a return visit, but if it had happened to me, I would go back, spend the voucher, and ask for more time from a member of staff if needed and see if you get another PCN.

The other family did get a PCN and I also had to battle to get it cancelled. I have addressed both families in all my complaints. They are the reason that I want to see this through. They have a severally disabled child and do not have the time or energy to fight it. I’m sure like many other families they’ve targeted they would have either paid the invoice or ended up with it being taken further. 

It has caused them a lot of stress having this hanging over them, so I have handed the voucher over to them. 

I’m going to draft a response tonight. 

Castle

Based on GSV, the KFC car park is at most 50 yards long; it would be a very short "drag race".

ktTurn

Castle said:

Based on GSV, the KFC car park is at most 50 yards long; it would be a very short "drag race".

It is indeed a very small car park! Probably not enough room for our boys even to do doughnuts in their wheelchairs!! It’s a silly excuse and if ‘drag racing’ was the reason why they have these restrictions why does the signage have to remind blue badge holders that they are also not exempt!

As @Coupon-mad highlights sixty minutes parking restriction doesn’t just discriminate against disabled people it also targets families! It’s a terrible money scam. 

GrannyKate

You do wonder if anyone showed the CEO who wrote to your MP a picture of the KFC car park - the drag racing excuse just makes them look silly when you see the layout and size of the actual car park