DRIVERS are being warned about a parking fine flaw at the UK’s biggest airport which means customers have been charged twice.
Driver Chris Tylee had paid the £6 drop-off fee after dropping a passenger off at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 earlier this year.
Heathrow is the UK’s biggest airport – drivers are being warned to check bank accounts[/caption]
But he was issued a second charge only minutes later after re-entering the same roadway, and despite never stopping a second time.
The Consumer Protection Bureau (CPB) intervened in the complaint against parking management company APCOA.
And they say the case shows flaws in the automated system charging drivers at the UK’s biggest airport.
“This is not just about one driver, ” said Yousouf Jhugroo, managing director of the Consumer Protection Bureau.
“The fact that APCOA backed down shows there’s a much deeper problem in how these airport schemes are run. Consumers are being penalised for systemic errors that’s not enforcement, that’s entrapment.”
“If a motorist can be billed just for driving past a camera, the term ‘Drop-Off Zone’ is misleading,” Jhugroo added.
“We will not hesitate to escalate this matter to regulators if needed.”
We have asked both Heathrow Airport and APCOA for a comment.
APCOA Parking said: “The customer was advised how to appeal the parking charge.
“If an appeal had been received, the charge would have been cancelled at that time in accordance with policy, however the customer chose not to contact us directly and instead the appeal was sent via the CPB”.
How to spot if you’ve been hit by an error fine
Experts say it’s good practice to check your bank account for any double charges.
Consumer rights expert Martyn James explains: “Sadly, businesses can and do repeatedly charge people ‘in error’ and millions are lost every year because we simply don’t notice.
“So pop on the TV or the radio and give yourself just 10 minutes each month to go back through your bank statements and ask your bank to ‘charge back’ any payments you haven’t authorised.
“It’s that simple.”
Top 15 busiest airports in the UK
Here are the 15 busiest airports in the UK by passenger numbers in 2023
- London Heathrow – 79.2 million
- London Gatwick – 40.9 million
- Manchester – 28.1 million
- London Stansted – 28.0 million
- London Luton – 16.4 million
- Edinburgh – 14.4 million
- Birmingham – 11.5 million
- Bristol – 9.9 million
- Glasgow – 7.4 million
- Belfast International – 6.0 million
- Newcastle – 4.8 million
- Liverpool – 4.2 million
- Leeds Bradford – 4.0 million
- East Midlands – 3.9 million
- London City – 3.4 million
