Hero McDonald’s manager’s kind gesture as mum is slapped with £100 fine

A DESPERATE mum who was slapped with a £100 parking fine after getting stuck in a drive-thru was saved by the kindness of a McDonald’s manager.

Manjeet Kumari-Lal took her daughter to the Walsall fast-food branch for a treat but sat in a queue for 35 minutes before being served.

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By the time their food finally arrived, the 46-year-old had been waiting for nearly 40 minutes – double the allocated time for free parking and grace period.

Despite never leaving or parking her car, Manjeet received the £100 penalty from Ocean Parking and her appeal was rejected.

According to the Aldridge mum, many people have left Google reviews sharing a similar experience, she told Birmingham Live: “If the queue to the order in the drive-thru takes longer than 20 minutes, the customer has no control.

“I was shocked to receive a penalty parking notice for £100 for waiting in a McDonald’s queue for a drive-thru for 38 minutes for food.

“At no point did I leave or park my car, like other customers I simply waited in the queue.

“The staff at the drive-thru also failed to give guidance to customers waiting in the queue that they would need to go and pay for parking whilst waiting.

“These parking companies are earning millions of pounds from innocent drivers.”

The furious mum got in touch with the McDonald’s chain and asked to see their CCTV footage in order to prove her case.

In a heartwarming gesture of kindness, the manager apologised for their “poor service” and paid the fine in full on his credit card.

The Kumari-Lal family were also offered free meals “as a gesture of good will” after their stressful ordeal.

But Manjeet wanted to warn others as a huge parking fine could cause major distress to some families this Christmas amid the crippling cost-of-living crisis.

She received a four-page letter from Ocean Parking explaining why her appeal was rejected.

It stated there was: “Entrance signage and contractual warning signs located throughout the car park, which explain the terms and conditions for parking at the site” and as “no payment was made to cover the duration the vehicle was parked on-site, the PCN was issued correctly.”

It added: “If you have failed to read or chosen to ignore the contractual warning signage in place, Ocean Parking cannot be held responsible for this, nor is this due to the signage not being visible or clear.

“You have failed to provide any evidence to support the claims within your appeal, however the details stated do not negate you from the parking restrictions in place, nor do they justify you failing to comply with the parking tariffs in place at this location.”

However, McDonald’s urged anyone who believed they had been issued an unfair parking ticket to try and appeal.

A spokesman said: “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 60 minutes for customers who are eating in and we make this clear with signage in both the car park and the restaurant.

“If a customer believes they have been issued a ticket incorrectly they should appeal as per the parking control company guidelines.”

This comes as other drivers fight ridiculous fines, including Hayley Louise Senior, who was was slapped with a £100 penalty.

The 40-year-old paid in full, but was still fined after it took her 32 minutes to settle her three hour stay due to a dodgy parking app.

In Greater Manchester, taxi driver Gary Fox, also appealed his £70 penalty after he pulled into a disabled parking bay for “two or three minutes” to help one of his regular customers into the pharmacy.

He claimed: “It was unbelievable. The traffic warden just came from nowhere.

“There is no way he had not seen me taking the guy into the chemist. Why not think there is a nice guy helping a blind man?”