I was fined £100 by parking wardens after popping in to Argos to collect order

A MOTORIST has lashed out at getting a £100 parking fine after he nipped into Argos to pick up his order.

James Kernick, 51, branded the fine a “scam” having got the ticket through the post following his visit to the store in Leicester on January 17, this year.

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He had used the shop’s click and collect service to place his order and drove to the store on Belgrave Gate.

Kernick pulled into the car park behind the store and thought he would be okay to quickly stop there to collect his item and didn’t think he would have to pay due to it being a car park for the store.

He says he was only inside the store for 12 minutes but days later he got a parking charge notice for £100 because he had not paid for parking.

The car park is owned by Euro Car Parks and charges £1 for an hour’s parking.

Kernick claims he was unaware that he would have to pay for parking just to collect an item from the store.

He told the Leicester Mercury: “I was collecting a travel cot from the store and parked up for just over ten minutes to go in and out.

“If I thought I’d needed a parking ticket I would have paid for one, but assumed that, as it was connected to the Argos, customers would be able to collect items without having to pay.

“The store needs to warn customers, really. Argos aren’t warning customers about it and it just seems like a scam, because people are being punished for picking up their orders.

‘SEEMS LIKE A SCAM’

“Most stores have a collection zone for customers to pull in, enter the store to collect their item, and leave, and I thought this was the situation here – but that’s clearly not the case.

“The staff at the store I spoke to wiped their hands of it, too, as it’s Euro Car Parks that owns it – but I think the store should have at least some kind of reminder for customers coming to collect their items – it looks like a store car park with the entrance leading onto it.

“I’m sure it will have come to their attention before that customers are being fined for using it.”

He said that had he known he need to pay for parking he would have paid because the £1 charge was a lot less than the parking notice.

Kernick is disabled and has a blue parking badge and added the less he had to walk the better but the trip had now turned into a very expensive order from the store.

He added: “I still think they should put some kind of notice up in the shop window or in the store – telling customers to pay for parking. I can’t imagine I’m the first or last person to go through this.

“I am tempted to go to court and argue the case, because I think this is scamming a lot of Argos customers out of money and nothing’s being done to try and stop it.”

There are signs up at the car park telling drivers they need to pay for parking, the news outlet reports.

There are also other signs saying it is camera controlled using ANPR cameras – which automatically reads number plates as they enter and exit the car park.

A spokesperson for Argos told The Sun: “We’ve looked into this and can confirm that this car park is run by Euro Car Parks as a public car park for the town centre.

“For customers visiting our store, we have made sure signs are visible at the entrance of the store.

“There are also signs around the car park itself and a sign which is angled in the direction for drivers turning off the road to make it as visible as possible.”

The Sun Online has contacted Euro Car Parks for comment.

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