Related Articles
Ed Chatterton, 42, was slapped with the hefty bill after eating his £7.19 Chicken Selects meal too slowly at the branch in Walsall, West Mids., on July 25
A McDonald’s customer has been threatened with legal action after being hit with a parking fine of nearly £200 for spending more than 20 minutes at a drive-thru.
Ed Chatterton, 42, was handed the hefty bill after stopping at the fast food chain for a £7.19 Chicken Selects meal at the branch in Walsall, West Mids, on July 25.
He’s now been threatened with court proceedings despite claiming he received no notification of the fine in the post – until debt collectors got in touch last week.
READ MORE: Households in ten UK areas set to be worst-hit for energy bill rise
Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp, click the link to join
The letter from debt recovery company Trace said the original fine of £60 had now risen to £170 and he now faced possible legal action for failing to pay.
The married dad-of-two said he didn’t realise there were restrictions in place which means there is only 20 minutes free parking at the branch.
And he says it took him a good 10-15 minutes to get through the busy drive-thru giving him around five or ten minutes to eat his meal in his car.
Ed was also left shocked to only learn of the fine when Trace wrote to him to say he now owed almost £200 for staying 14 minutes over the limit.
Ed, a journalist from Aldridge, West Mids. , said: “It’s the most expensive McDonald’s I’ve ever had.
“You don’t mind paying £170 for a slap-up meal in a fancy restaurant with the family but this was just for some Chicken Selects, fries and a milkshake.
“I feel 20 minutes is an unreasonable timeframe in which to expect drive-thru customers to eat their meal within – you can easily be queuing for that time.
“You would assume you would be allowed to park in a McDonald’s car park whilst eating a McDonald’s.
“If it was any other car park I would usually check what restrictions apply but I’ve done this at multiple other branches with no problems before.
“I’ve been back and there is signage up elsewhere in the car park but in the area where I parked up there wasn’t.
“So the clock is ticking as soon as you enter the drive-thru, the only way around it is to go inside to put your registration details in, but when you’re having a drive-thru you wouldn’t know this.
“But regardless, I would have still paid the £60 fine if I had received the penalty charge notice in the post – but I didn’t get anything from them.
“The first thing I knew about it was when this debt recovery firm wrote to me last week to say it had now risen to £170 and saying I could be taken to court.
“This is steep and over the top considering I wasn’t given chance to pay the original fine on top of having to get served, pay and eat all within 20 minutes.
“Ocean Parking have said my vehicle details might not have been up to date and we did move house a couple of years ago but we did inform the DVLA of our new address and its on my driving licence.
“Also the debt recovery firm managed to post a letter to me with no issues – so obviously the correct address is out there.
“Their letter also states it was sent on September 19 but it didn’t arrive until two weeks later saying I had 14 days to pay up.
“So they claim this letter has taken a fortnight to arrive just at the exact time when the limit for paying is up.”
A spokesperson for McDonald’s stated: “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.
“At this restaurant the time limit is 20 minutes, and we make this clear to our customers through signage in the car park and inside the restaurant.
“If a customer feels they have been wrongly ticketed, we would encourage them to get in touch with the third party contractor who issued the ticket by way of appeal.”
A representative for Ocean Parking said: “After reviewing this case, we can confirm that a PCN was issued on 30th July 2025, as the vehicle was at Wisemore Central in Walsall on 25th July and did not make payment or use the provided exclusion tablet during their 34-minute stay.
“The Notice to Keeper was sent on 30th July to the DVLA-registered address, followed by a Reminder Notice on 27th August. “We have proof of postage for both letters. In the absence of any response or payment, as is standard process, the PCN was referred to Trace for debt recovery on 11th September, who contacted the driver directly.
“It is possible that the driver’s details were not up to date with the DVLA, as correspondence was sent to their vehicle’s registered address. “Ocean Parking’s process ensures that letters are first dispatched to the DVLA registered address, with alternative searches being conducted by our partners, at a later stage, if no response is received.
“We continue to encourage drivers to observe venue time limits and, when necessary, make use of number plate exemption tablets when staying longer.”
Source link
