A VISITOR has slammed car park operators Parkingeye after he received a fine whilst attending a memorial service for his mother, a long-serving former Reverend at Holy Trinity Church in Weymouth.
Chris Dunn and his family travelled from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire to attend the church service for his mother, the late reverend Anne Dunn, who sadly passed away from lung cancer in 2017.
The service at Holy Trinity had been postponed several times since then due to the pandemic but finally went ahead last month, presided over by retired Bishop of Dover and the Falkland Islands Stephen Venner, to whom Anne had been close.
Although the service was a fitting tribute to his mum, Mr Dunn was left fuming after returning home to discover a £100 parking charge, which he believes was issued in error.
Stunned
Mr Dunn had parked at the Weymouth West Newberry Gardens car park behind Brewers Quay and, realising he would be late returning to his car, went back to buy another ticket before the time ran out.
So he was stunned to arrive home to find a £100 Parking Charge Notice from private operator Parkingeye - reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.
He appealed the charge, sending evidence of the two tickets, but was unsuccessful.
"To have this happen on my mum's memorial was a bit of a blow really - it put the icing on the cake," he said.
"I am so disappointed that Weymouth is exposing visitors to such bandits. The car park is absolutely filthy with weeds growing out of the tarmac, dog poo bags and needles scattered around and rubbish everywhere.
"On top of that, Parkingeye is displaying two tariffs on two different parking machines which is very confusing and frankly a poor reflection that the town is allowing a company to operate in a way that rips off visitors.
"My son in law has also received a ticket because of the tariff confusion - this has have given us as a family a dim view of Weymouth as a place to visit. The Brewers Quay area is a filthy area and needs attention."
'They are cretins'
Mr Dunn said he kept his car park tickets as evidence that he had paid for his stay in the car park as he does not trust Parking Eye.
They're saying my ticket ran out - when I appealed I said they obviously hadn't checked the ticket - they completely ignored the evidence," he added.
"It's just a racket. I can't understand why on Earth this has even been contested as there's evidence that I've paid for parking.
"I don't know if it's a flaw in their system - I think what they're going to say to me is that I should have taken the car out of the car park and then gone back in and bought another ticket, which is just ludicrous."
Mr Dunn, who is managing director of a financial advisor firm, said he 'practically lives in his car' for his job and uses car parks regularly - and has never had to drive out of a car park and back in again just to put extra time on the parking.
Touching tribute
Despite the ticket, he said the service was a lovely tribute to his mum's memory. The family donated sedilia chairs to the church for use by bishops and priests sit on.
Revd Dunn served at Holy Trinity for 30 years, including as a churchwarden, before retiring in 2017. She passed away peacefully at her home aged 81.
"All my family came down also, my son and daughter and their respective husbands and wives and their three grandchildren so we made a bit of a 'do of it," Chris Dunn added.
Good news as the charge is cancelled
After the Echo contacted Parkingeye, the firm said it will cancel the parking charge as a gesture of goodwill.
A Parkingeye spokesman said: “The car park has 16 prominent and highly-visible signs throughout clearly advising users on the tariff bands and the methods of payment.
“The payment made by the motorist did not cover the duration of his stay and he correctly received a Parking Charge Notice. However, as a gesture of goodwill on this occasion the parking charge has been cancelled.
“Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their Parking Charge Notice. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing. All motorists are also entitled to a further appeal via POPLA, the independent body which reviews all cases."
- Are you being driven up the wall by a parking fine? Contact me at ellie.maslin@dorsetecho.co.uk or whatsapp: 07732602210
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