“It’s a nightmare, we can understand why so many people are complaining.”
Eric says he did not see the signs during his visit
A grandad says he is among the scores of drivers who have been hit by the Manchester Airport drop-off fine, despite paying the fee. Back in May, Eric Rathbone, 70, took his son to Terminal 3 of the airport, spending ‘no more than three minutes’ at the zone.He told the Manchester Evening News that when driving back he noticed that the barriers were open, and his son told him about the new system. Eric says that two hours later he paid £6 for the visit over the phone.
However, a week later, Eric claims that he received a letter from car park firm, APCOA, demanding £100. APCOA has confirmed that Mr Rathbone had made a payment for Heathrow Airport instead of Manchester Airport.
Eric says he was not provided with the option for the Manchester Airport.“We got a ticket from this parking company telling us we’ve got a £100 fine because we’ve not paid the fee, you can imagine how we felt.” He told the M.E.N.Eric says that he made the payment via phone call rather than an online portal, claiming that he was not given an option for the Manchester Airport, but paid the fee regardless.Eric, from Warrington, says he and his wife, Patricia, 69, appealed the charge but have since spent almost two months trying to prove to ACOA that they did pay the fee.Eric says that it has meant sending bank statements and card details through the post to the company.“We’ve been chasing around to get a statement and obviously it’s costing us money again, to write letters and send first class stamps and things like that.” He said.“It’s a nightmare, we can understand why so many people are complaining.“At the airport, where you go out where you used to pay, why don’t they put a sign there? “Even there, you haven’t got time to go and look for signs because they’ll fine you, it’s ridiculous.”
A spokesperson for APCOA said: “We have located the customer’s payment which was made for Heathrow Airport. The requested information has been received and the appeal is currently in progress.”