Disabled pensioner given ZERO minutes to buy parking ticket before being slapped with £100 fine ‘for taking too long’
A DISABLED pensioner claims to have been given "zero minutes" to buy a parking permit before being slapped with a £100 fine.
Derrick Walker, 73, was handed a hefty penalty charge for taking too long to register on the car park's app but claims that nobody could reasonably do so in the time allowed.
Mr Walker was stung for the sum after stopping off at an Excel Parking Services site in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.
He took 18 minutes to download the company's app and enter his bank details, only to receive a fine notice stating that the maximum time allowed in the car park was "zero minutes".
Excel said it was "satisfied" that he had breached their terms and conditions and that the signage on the site stated that customers have five minutes to purchase a permit, but he rejects this completely.
Mr Walker told : "I was attempting to register on my mobile and set up payment with HSBC, which I would argue would take an IT-literate person more than zero minutes.
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"I have no confidence in anything that Excel Parking does."
Indeed, he was so outraged that he reportedly lodged an appeal with the Independent Appeals Service, though this was apparently unsuccessful.
The service is run by the International Parking Community organisation, which is funded by parking firms including Excel and counts Excel director Simon Renshaw-Smith among its steering committee.
The IPC disputes that any appeal was made and say they have no record of Mr Walker's case.
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During the course of his appeal, the fine was increased to £170 due to non-payment and Mr Walker received a letter threatening court action.
An Excel spokesperson stated that Mr Walker had not directly contacted the company to lodge an appeal and that, therefore, the costs had "naturally" increased.
They added: "The signage at the car park made it clear that the appropriate parking tariff needs to be purchased within 5 minutes of arrival.
"Whilst the car park has various methods of payment, cash, card, pay by phone, it took Mr Walker more than 15 minutes to purchase the tariff and as such he was significantly over the time allowed.
"Had he experienced problems when purchasing the tariff he could have contacted our prominently advertised helpline number.
"The PCN specified the reason why it was issued, i.e. 'Failure to purchase the parking tariff for the registration mark of the vehicle on site and/or within the time allowed'.
"Although the PCN specified that the maximum period was 0 (zero), this is only populated with a positive value when a maximum stay car park is applicable."
As such, they reiterated that Excel is "satisfied" with the charge and that the fine "remains valid".
The International Parking Community has been contacted for comment.