Bristol charity workers among those served unhappy meals
Six charity workers from a Christian centre have all been sent £50 parking charges after they stayed too long at a McDonald's restaurant in Brislington.
Members of Carmel:centre have been regular customers at the restaurant for five years.
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Protest: Nathan Logan, Ralph Di Somma, Steve Lewis, Ken Suckling, Julian Clarke and Travis Speedie outside the McDonalds on Bath Road, Brislington
But their latest meal there left them less than happy.
Gerri Di Somma, chief executive of the charity, decided to treat some of his key workers to an early morning breakfast meeting earlier this month.
The group ordered extensively from the menu and conducted their meeting over a meal.
They had been going to the restaurant for five years and had not noticed that new signs had gone up in the car park limiting stays to one hour and warning that anyone who overstayed faced a penalty.
Charges levied for parking on private property are not official fines. They are claims for breach of contract that can only be pursued in a civil court.
The charity workers stayed 80 minutes at what they say was an otherwise-deserted restaurant.
Within a few days, notices from MET Parking Services, which monitors the car park on behalf of McDonald's, started hitting doormats of the charity workers and their £50 breakfast has so far cost an extra £300.
Their appeals to staff at the restaurant and to MET Parking Services have fallen on deaf ears.
If the charity workers do not pay up, the charges will double.
Gerri Di Somma said: "We have been supporting this restaurant on a regular basis for more than five years.
"On a daily basis approximately 120 workers within the charity purchase meals and drinks, and we have recommended them as a food outlet for several conferences we have held over the years.
"I am very disappointed that McDonald's have not seen the wisdom of working with one of their major clients."
Carmel:centre is the Bath Road conference centre facility for Carmel Ministries International (CMI).
There are 600 local members who run a range of community services including a school for 70 children, youth work, an after-school and holiday club, an adult education programme, divorce and grief counselling, a cafe, soup run, debt advice and dance groups.
CMI is about to open a shop where food and household provisions will be given free.
The charity workers are the latest victims of the car parking crackdown at McDonald's.
The Bristol Post reported how earlier this week Chay White, of Hartcliffe, told the Post he got a £50 charge after a his wife's car was in the car park for 21 minutes over the restaurant's one-hour limit.
McDonald's spokeswoman Alison Purves said the limit was imposed to stop people who were not customers parking there all day, but if legitimate customers needed more time, all they needed to do was talk to a duty manager, who would contact MET.
A spokesman for MET Parking Services, which manages the car park on behalf of McDonald's, said: "While we sympathise with representatives of Carmel:centre, we have a duty to ensure that all customers at this McDonald's restaurant have equal opportunities to park their car.
"Our terms and conditions, printed on all signs in and around the car park, clearly state that the maximum stay is 60 minutes and drivers cannot return within 90 minutes.
"This should give all customers ample time to enjoy their meals.
"We are happy that workers from the charity regularly visit and park at the restaurant. They just need to be aware of the time limits in force."
21 Comments
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by ReinschUK
Sunday, January 22 2012, 6:16PM
“It Is McDonalds Fault.”
by Gomem, East Bristol
Monday, March 23 2009, 2:40PM
“@Tina... If you wish to have a longer parking time in the McDonalds car park, you only have to speak to the 'duty manager', who will contact MET Parking Services. Then you wont get penalised.”
by Steven, North Bristol
Monday, March 23 2009, 11:59AM
“Tina, there is not a limit on eating food. There is a limit on the free use of the carpark.”
by Luc, Redland
Monday, March 23 2009, 9:58AM
“People ignore parking fine warning and get fined, what kind of an article is this?. What is so wrong with people taking responsibility for their actions?”
by tina, bristol
Sunday, March 22 2009, 7:16PM
“ok so it was 6 charity workers this time. What if it had been 6 mums having a childs party that didnt know the limit. The last kids party we had in macdonalds lasted 2 hours and im pretty sure if you are looking after 10 young children the last thing on your mind is watching the clock to make sure you dont over stay. So it doesnt matter weather it was charitiy workers or parents or single people since when have we had a time limit on eating our food? i for one wont be going to macdonalds again”
by pin1onu, Bradley Stoke
Sunday, March 22 2009, 5:22PM
“I say again
I read with dismay the misrepresentation in the article about McDonalds. First up it's not a ticket. Its an invoice for an alleged breach of contract
Its also an un-enforceable invoice for two reasons.
£50 for an overstay in an otherwise free car park. Smells like a penalty charge(same as the banks) to me and that is against case law (Dunlop).
It also breaks the unfair terms in consumer contracts act as it puts an unfair burden on the consumer by using a non-negotiated amount for breach.
There is a MDs at Gatwick and another at Billingsgate (which does exactly the same thing.
See this link all the w's (dot)consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/186294-met-parking-services-private.html
The best thing to do is to ignore these invoices which have no legal backing and get on with your life. They are not legal, are dressed up to look official (which breaks the current consumer regulations) and often misrepresent the real position by insisting that the registered keeper is repsonsible for the debt. Any allegation of debt should be addressed to the driver on the day and not the RK. The RK is under no obligation to provide the parking company with the name of the driver.
If anyone has received one of these invoices they can get help and support on how to deal with it for free on the consumer action group forums.
.”
by Benny, Vatican city
Sunday, March 22 2009, 3:56PM
“Our big Mac.
Which at in Brislington
Disallowed be thy consumption
Thy sesame seed come.
Thy parking limit be run.
On Monday as it is on Friday
Give us this day our daily stodge.
And forgive us for succumbing to temptation.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the Mc Nugget.
World's near the end.
Aww man!”
by Mike B, Bristol
Sunday, March 22 2009, 12:32PM
“How many times do I have to say this . . . "THEY DO NOT HAVE TO PAY THE FINE" . . ;-)
Just do a G**gle search for MET Parking scam, read it and ignore the threatening follow-up demands you will get . . . .. They stop after about six letters . . :-(”
by Simon, Bristol
Sunday, March 22 2009, 10:11AM
“Ridiculous article ¿ surely the journalist has something better to write about. The bigger issue here is why so many people are driving their cars for such short journeys ¿ hasn¿t anybody thought about the environment ¿ something the paper has failed to spot or are they just wishing to make a story out of nothing.
It is clear that the charity has been using the car park as an overflow to their own - I know the area and they could walk it in 2 minutes from their office. Complaining to the paper is a disgusting use of the charities position ¿ they should be ashamed of themselves.”
by Paul, Kingsway
Sunday, March 22 2009, 10:08AM
“If they are able to read the small writing in the Bible, they should be able to read the parking notices.
If they understand the 10 commandments, Parking limited to 1 hour should be easy to grasp.”