A Perth parking firm has been branded “shameless” after charging a widowed pensioner £160 for underpaying by just 10p.
George Taylor ventured into the city centre in his first outing since his wife Sybil passed away.
The 80-year-old parked in the controversial Kinnoull Street multi-storey car park before returning at around 10pm.
Mr Taylor claims that after paying £5.20 the machine produced a ticket timestamped for a 1.50am exit.
Assuming he had paid enough to cover the four and a quarter hours he had been parked, the 80-year-old headed home to Dalgety Bay in Fife but was shocked to get a demand for £60, which has now risen to £160.
He said: “My friends had been in there before and knew you paid when you leave. We had overstayed the four hours by 14 minutes so we were due to pay £5.30.
“After we’d paid £5.20 the machine issued a ticket, which said we could stay till 1.52am the following morning. If we hadn’t paid the right money I maintain we shouldn’t have got a ticket. Who is going to bother about 10p at 10pm on a Sunday night?
“I’ve now got a debt recovery notice asking for £160. I have no idea why they are pursuing me like they are for 10p – if they are so desperate I’ll pay them 20p but I’m got giving them more than that.”
Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “Smart Parking’s relentless pursuit of an 80-year-old widowed pensioner for the loss of, essentially, 10p is nothing short of shameless. Incidents like this do little to improve Smart Parking’s reputation in Perth and I would encourage constituents to be very careful when parking there.
“I had hoped the negative publicity surrounding Smart Parking in Perth would have encouraged them to smarten up their act but it would appear as though they are back to the same old tricks
“According to Citizens Advice Scotland, penalties should be proportionate to the loss incurred and this penalty seems neither fair nor proportionate.”
A spokesman for Smart Parking said: “Mr Taylor paid for four hours of parking, but stayed in the car park for four hours and 14 minutes. The ticket lists 01:52 because he bought the ticket on his way out, rather than on arrival.
“There are more than 200 signs in the car park which clearly state, ‘You must pay for the full period of time your vehicle is in the car park’.
“Smart Parking operates to the highest standards of the British Parking Association.”
