McDonald's customer fuming and 'prepared to go to court' over car parking fines
A McDonald's customer was left fuming and said he is willing to go to court to fight two parking tickets he received after eating at a fast food branch earlier this year.
Shapour Meftah visited a McDonald's in Cambridge in January to have a meal with his brother after work.
But a couple of days later, Mr Meftah said they received two £100 penalty notices in his letterbox from UK Parking Control, a private parking company, claiming that he had been in the car park for more than 90 minutes - the allocation customers are given.
He appealed the parking fines several times, arguing that the signage in the car park was not clear.
The man argues the signage is not good enough (Cambridge News)Mr Meftah claimed that following the incident, McDonald's added a sign on the counter in-store, warning customers not to stay longer than 90 minutes.
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The fast food chain said parking restrictions were in place at a number of restaurants to ensure all customers have a chance to leave their cars there while eating their food.
Following six unsuccessful attempts from Mr Meftah to appeal the fine, the parking company passed it to a debt collection agency.
He said he'd already received several letters asking him to pay £340 in total and added he was "so disappointed" when his appeals were rejected by the parking provider.
Mr Meftah said his latest appeal was not even acknowledged by the parking company, and he is currently speaking to the Financial Ombudsman for help settling the dispute.
For his stage five appeal, he emailed the debt collectors informing them he had made a new appeal based on new evidence of the warning sign placed inside McDonald's. They told him they would "put a note on [their] file."
Mr Meftah said he is ready to go to court (Cambridge News)Talking about whether he would pursue the appeal process any further, he told Cambridgeshire Live: "Believe me I’m not going to give in. We had a McDonald's, ate, and left, that was it. I'm happy to fight this, even if they take me to court. I'm going to take them all the way."
Shapour said he has been "infuriated" with the appeal process saying the company hadn't budged after hearing his argument. He said: "It's always their terms and conditions, they don't have any mercy.
"Debt Recovery have said I need to pay or they'll take me to court - for the crime of being over 10 minutes coming back to my car for a McDonald's meal with my brother. I’m willing to go to court, if they try to play with me."
Talking about McDonald's, he said: "They're making money from our misery, from a little happiness they've made me me miserable. At the time there was no one inside. The car park was empty.."
A McDonald's spokesperson said: “We have parking restrictions in place at a number of our restaurants, with a time limit to ensure there is adequate parking for all of our customers. Ample signage regarding these restrictions is clearly displayed both as you drive into the car park and on various lampposts within it.
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"If a customer believes they have been issued a ticket incorrectly, they should appeal it as per the parking control company guidelines."
The spokesperson added it was at the discretion of the parking control company responsible on the "outcome of individual cases."
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