Being held to ransom in your car park!
On Friday 11th July I entered your car park without realising that I would be required to pay to leave even if staying for zero minutes.
Prior to entering your car park it is not made clear that a charge of £5 will be incurred the second you pass the barrier even if it was done by mistake or just simply decide not to park there.
After passing the barrier I immediately saw the sign to my left about the £5 charge so without even looking for a space I decided to immediately leave and park elsewhere for free.
To be clear I didn’t even realise it was The Hub parking as I have never been before. The signage for your business was not made clearer prior to entering either.
Upon trying to immediately leave I noticed the barrier was not rising so I rang the bell on the keypad. No one answered but Pauline walked out to the car.
At this moment my 4 month old baby was crying in the car so it was my priority to park up to feed him.
I explained to Pauling that I had accidentally entered not realising there was a charge so please could she let me out so I can get sorted with my baby. She shrugged her shoulders and said she dosnt know the code so I will HAVE to park up, go inside and pay the fee to get the code to leave.
It is not easy to simply park up and walk inside to pay the charge, I had to get my baby out of the car to bring him in. I DID NOT want to even use your facilities or the car park! I made it crystal clear to Pauline that I entered accidentally and if the signage was clearer I would not have entered!!
I had no choice but to park and feed my baby and then pay the charge for doing so.
I went into the cafe and Pauline said something like ‘it’s people like me that the owners have put the charge in place because I was visiting another business nearby’. I will make it clear again that I tried to leave IMMEDIATELY! Pauline continued to say that ‘there’s nothing she can do about it, she just works there’ she tried to compare it to an NCP car park which is chargeable but i interrupted and said usually you have a 10/20/30 minutes free to exit if needed!
This whole experience was quite upsetting for me on the day I had my little baby in my arms and had no lenience from the manager who is probably a mum herself. Pauline did say that I just needed to buy anything from the cafe to get the code which again I didn’t want to, she forced/blackmailed me to spend money so I could leave the car park. Regardless of how much it actually cost me in the end I will NEVER use your business and I will make sure to tell authorities and other mums of this experience.
In addition your signage should be made much clearer from the outset regarding the charge and it is also incorrect it should state ‘any purchase to be made at the cafe’ £5 minimum charge is incorrect.
Pauline didn’t not provide me with the details to make a formal complaint, she told me ‘it will be on...
Read more
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
