Parking one’s car can be a nightmare and an often expensive one, too. Whether you’re using a train station car park or you’re parking your car at home, work, at a retail park, or a hospital, you not only face wasting minutes of your life trying to find a space, but the chance of a steep fee, the risk of a parking ticket from poor signage—or other ridiculous reasons—or not getting your change back from the parking machine. It’s a lucrative business, for sure.
Now, private parking firms are issuing steep fines to motorists who stay too long at petrol stations, with both BP and Shell garages getting parking companies to fit CCTV cameras at the forecourt entrances and exits, to catch and charge motorists who overstay their welcome. This means drivers who are spending good money filling up on fuel and using on-site facilities are getting hit with £100 fines.
It won’t wash!
Common law requires that businesses make their time restrictions signs unambiguous, but motorists say it’s easy to miss them on busy forecourts or junctions—even more so after dark—and most motorists aren’t aware that time limits now apply at more and more petrol stations across the country.
Earlier in the year, a motorist using the Shell forecourt in Kilburn received a £100 demand from Euro Car Parks for staying longer than their 20-minute limit and, last week, a driver got a £100 demand after she exceeded the maximum stay at a Shell garage near me. In both cases, the delays arose from queuing for the on-site car washes.
Time limits are a problem at BP petrol stations, too. A recent recipient of one of these demands used the BP garage on Mitcham Road in Croydon, south London. After paying for his fuel, the driver recalled queuing behind around six vehicles to use the car wash but later received a letter threatening debt recovery agents when he didn’t pay a £100 parking charge demand by MET Parking Services from him staying past the permitted 30 minutes limit.
The parking company sent his wife, the vehicle’s registered keeper, earlier correspondence, reporting the car stayed on the site for 47 minutes, demanding payment and offering to reduce the charge to £60 if paid within 14 days. The letter sat unopened until much later, so he paid the £100 in fear of debt collectors arriving at their house. He says he didn’t see any signs advising drivers of a time limit.
Last year at the same forecourt, a motorist noticing a queue for the petrol pump, used the on-site Marks & Spencer’s ‘Simply Food’ shop, resulting in another queue. After vacuuming his vehicle and waiting for the car wash, he’d been on-site 42 minutes and received the same £100 demand. After a difficult appeal, the motorist received a refund but said BP wasn’t interested, even after he told them they penalise their customers for using BP’s services.
Fair game
Staff from The Guardian newspaper visited the Croydon petrol station and spotted a sign warning motorists about the 30-minute rule, but said it would be easy to miss, more so when heading southbound. After approaching five drivers, they found two of them didn’t know about the time limit, despite having just driven past the sign. After speaking to BP staff, who said the number of similar complaints was a problem, one cashier thought BP was installing cameras at all the 1,200 forecourts in the country because people used the area just for parking.
A spokesman for MET Parking Services said of the BP garage:
‘The 30-minute maximum is clearly signposted throughout the site. We would encourage any motorist who believes they were issued with a charge notice incorrectly to appeal using our BPA [British Parking Association] audited appeals process. Motorists have the right to appeal to the independent appeals service, Popla [Parking on Private Land appeals], which is a free and easy to use service.’
Shell, who operate over 1,000 fuel stations, says they introduced the parking restrictions at sites with limited space to ‘make it fairer for everyone’ and the customers staying longer to use a car wash should put their vehicle details into the car wash or shop console to avoid receiving any charges.
Barrie Segal, a parking ticket expert and owner of AppealNow.com, said:
‘The fact that so many motorists have been caught out suggests that these requirements are not being complied with. It beggars belief that BP and Shell effectively penalise their customers for buying their petrol and goods in their forecourt shops. It behoves BP and Shell to ensure that their customers are not penalised. Drivers who feel that they have been unfairly fined should appeal explaining the reasons why the fine is unfair. They should also complain to BP and Shell.’
Fine print
There have been improvements in parking, though. Back in 2017, we told you how parking operators could track down driver details to pursue fines. Yet The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 introduced a single code of practice and a single appeals process—to cap the level of penalties companies can charge—and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) can no longer sell motorists’ details to companies who don’t follow the rules.
If you’re ever sent a parking charge demand, remember, no matter what their letters say, only local authorities can issue fines to motorists, not private parking companies. Instead, these firms can seek to reclaim so-called ‘damages’ from you.
If you receive a letter saying you owe them money, you can send the parking company what you would have paid to park in the local area, but state that your payment is a ‘full and final settlement’ and get a receipt.
The other way is to tell the company you think their demand is unfair and that you won’t pay. The parking firm then must decide whether they’re prepared to take you to court to prove their ‘loss’. If they do, you must defend the action. If you don’t turn up to court, you lose by default. Although parking firms sometimes take motorists to court, they often don’t.
Popla—an independent appeals service for Parking Charge Notices issued on private land—will appeal tickets issued by BPA members and overturns about 52% of charges and MoneySavingExpert has a section dedicated to parking ticket issues with useful template letters.
What’s your opinion on the £100 overstaying charge? Do companies design the restriction signs to make a profit by catching people unawares? Is a time limit necessary to prevent motorists using the site as a car park? Share your opinion in the comments.
Image(s) copyright: (BP) © Copyright Lewis Clarke and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. (Shell) © Copyright David Smith and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Never mind. We got our own back by voting BREXIT.
What has that got to do with parking fines on forecourts? Is Brussels issuing them?
he is being sarcastic! Where is your UK sense of humour
This does not happen on the forecourts in Europe. It’s a British issue
it may be a purely English issue as I’ve never come across it here in Scotland .
Of course, Scotland always does things better….so we are repeatedly told.
RIP off Britain springs to mind
Can you please explain to us what ‘Brexit’ has to do with out of control parking enforcement agencies.
Clown
Parking Charge Notice – or – Penalty Charge Notice
The 2 are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
A Penalty Charge Notice, issued by a Public Authority, is enforceable in a Court of Law. The Owner of the vehicle is required by Law to submit the drivers name to the Authority.
A Parking Charge Notice is a breach of contract. It is NOT enforceable by Law.
Read this. https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/motoring/cars/using/2016/parking-fines-on-private-land
This article explains it all very thoroughly and comprehensively.
Question is, if a Parking Charge Notice, can debt collectors be engaged?
Yes, or they can choose to take you to court as explained in the article.
They can try , but you can challenge it in court . If there because you were legitimately using the services at the site , they will lose and have to pay your costs .
😁 Very good, but too subtle for hoi polloi. 🙂
Obviously just another CashCow, all motorists should AVOID BP & SHELL forecourts where possible, hit
them where it hurts, at the TILL.
A national boycott of all Shell and BP petrol stations that’s a novel idea Supermarkets and Esso would love that
Esso and supermarkets aren’t mentioned as issuing charges Barry, come on get up to speed….
Or read the article
Esso and supermarkets would benefit by getting more customers at their petrol pumps if there was a boycott of Shell & BP read Barry’s comment
Boycott them all. Who says you can not do without them.
They are normally the highest prices anyway, so I would never darken their tarmac.
I’m so avoiding these stations!!
That’s such bad grammar!
And avoid ALL
Motor way service where possible
Tank up in town
I quite agree, will be doing so from now on!
I wasn’t aware of this sort of criminal activity until now and will be boycotting Shell and BP from now on.
I will definitely not be using BP or Shell, I am a disabled driver and waiting to fill up., use the Car wash and shop then get fined is just the icing on the cake! If you Park your car and use it as a car park Not using any of the services fair enough but for paying customers come on you are just penalising drivers for the sake of it. Abandon these stations and maybe they change this?
it is not a fine , only a speculative invoice which is not enforceable in law . Certainly here in Scotland such signage is not enforceable in law , due to differences in Scots Law , such matters have to be pointed out to and agreed to by the customer before they could be enforced ; different elsewhere in UK . Perhaps why such matters are rarely seen here . Only local authorities can issue fines in relation to parking , private individuals or companies cannot .
No. Local authorities can issue penalty charges. Only courts can “fine” you.
A penalty charge is the same as a fine , enforceable in LAW .. Parking charge notices are unenforceable speculative invoices .
WIth BP installing charging points on their forecourts for EV’s, I assume they will have a way of mitigating them from this over zealous punishment? Typically EV’s take over 40 minutes for a decent rapid charge.
more like 20 at their prices! but yes, daft idea really as who wants to hang around at a petrol station?
Charge instead at a public charging point , which in any case is free rather than petrol stations which cost money to charge at .
If you see these signs just boycott all additional services at these garages, don’t use the shop or car wash, that will solve the problem.
Just don`t use these petrol stations,when profits drop then they might just realise they have more to lose than they gain from the fines.
Don’t buy petrol either , avoid entirely
I never use a car park with cameras have been caught before and ended up paying £100 for parking at the train station. It is very hard to fight these parking people and extremely distressing .
Surely you use a supermarket, they aare used in morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tescos in our areas. I do agree we should boycott BP & Shell altogether, vote with your feet or in this case wheels
Margaret, it isn’t that hard to fight them. An inconvenience yes, but it’s quite easy really.
That fact that people roll over and just pay them to avoid hassle is the very reason these that these vile unscrupulous companies exist. They know that out of 100 tickets issued 75 will be paid without question. 24 will appeal (and half of those will win). And 1 of them (probably me) will either ignore them or tell them where to go.
You see they won’t bother with me because you are easy meat for them. As long as people keep paying them without question, I won’t have to! 😂
I will not appeal , because that is according them some sort of authority in the matter ; instead , I will write them a letter REJECTING their speculative invoice and inviting them to take the matter to court , where I will rebuke their claims . I have never heard further in such matters .
I was once ‘penalised’ for parking at a train station I used frequently, despite having sent the payment text message for my car’s account. The initial appeal was rejected but the appeal to POPLA succeeded after I proved I had sent the text to pay the parking charge (written evidence from my mobile phone operator) and it was therefore the parking company’s own systems that had failed to process it. I shouldn’t have had to go to POPLA though, which demonstrates that the parking operators are not interested in anything except the money.
Don’t appeal ; REJECT .
Railway station car parks here are free to use ; I wouldn’t consider paying . I have my rail tickets to prove legitimate use .
Unfortunately they’ll get away with it, too many sheeple pay up and return the gesture with their continued loyalty.
Personally I got a charge at a Co Op supermarket when I was young, foolishly paid but never returned. That was over a decade ago, OK I wasn’t a big shopper there, but it would still be an annual four (just) figure spend someone else would get.
Last year McDonalds tried the same trick. Not only did they not receive the parking charge (which took some arguing before they admitted defeat) I’ve never been back there since, even avoid the town centre franchises that don’t even have car parks. Plenty of better restaurants out there, those Chinese Buffets can be all-you-can-eat deliciousness, maybe lacking a little in the dessert dept, but most have a good bean to cup cappucino maker.
If you continue to reward bad behaviour, it’ll never change.
If anyone from Asda is reading this, tell your customer service dept to respond to a registration number notification from customers who think they might take longer than the three hours, your sign promises helpfulness, all I got was ‘it’s not our car park BS’, even if that’s true you clearly have plenty of influence over it. Better yet, where possible, take a cue from your parent company Walmart and welcome customers, particularly those in motorhomes to park overnight if they wish. I’ve often spent three figures in supermarkets on my way to summer holiday destinations, then after setting off again thought of all the stuff I’d forgotten, likely adding up to a further three figures.
Well done Dan! Kindred spirit. Power to the people. ✊
good for you i got one and appealed lost but i never paid it that was 6 years ago never heard a thing
Thank you PetrolPrices. This proves your emails are worth having. I do not use BP or Shell and now if I need fuel on a long journey I will simply drive past. The other companies will profit when we tell all our friends about this scam.
Who’s worse these lot or the scammers. Just another way to continually hit the drivers. As most have already said just avoid BP and SHELL plenty of other stations offering better fuel prices that don’t penalise you for using their services. 20-30 mins they’re a joke!
In some cases I would agree to give a fine. An Esso/Tesco Express garage in Sunderland have some people fill petrol, then take time getting shopping while the car is parked at the pump. Making that row of pumps unusable as annoyed drivers queue behind the parked shopper. A fine might make people be a bit less inconsiderate in the future.
Simple answer to that, don’t sell anything other than fuel at fuel stations. But don’t complain or fine folk if you sell everything under one roof and folk can do a complete shop while they call in for fuel. We’ve all had to wait for folk to come back to their car while we wait for fuel. It’s hardly an all day wait.
The garage I mentioned doesn’t complain or fine. My point is it is inconsiderate for people to take time shopping when their car is blocking other people. Yes you might have to queue for a pump but only expect the time of filling a tank not that plus 10-15 minutes loitering around looking at groceries. As I said INCONSIDERATE. Some people have things to do and places to get to.
They could use their brains and pull out of the way to be considerate to others but then the selfish would never do that it is fat below their believes
the answer is , where the petrol station is on a supermarket site , only sell motoring related items , and perhaps a few snacks , in the station shop . For anything more they can go to the supermarket
I had a ticket for overstaying at a supermarket car park that also has a cinema, I dropped off my wife and granddaughters and went to another area, then went back to pick them up later, and so was issued with a ticket for overstay, luckily I had been into a shop in the other area and kept a receipt and so could prove I was not in the carpark for 4 hours……. so remember to get a receipt where ever you go, it may save you 100 quid.
Dave
See my comment below
“These people do realise its an invoice of service? Stop calling them parking fines!!
Because they’re not. They are “estimated losses”, which they are typically over-inflated.
Example, you park in a private car park and pay £1 for an hour of parking.
You overstay for one hour, therefore the parking company can send you an invoice of £1 for lost revenue. That’s all.
If their car park is “free for 3 hours” (or 20 minutes), you don’t owe them a penny, as they haven’t lost any revenue.”
Spread the word.
What ever it is fine or invoice you still get stung!
Only if you let them JD! 😉
Not if you REJECT the invoice , which you are legally entitled to do .
Exactly Someone with Sense! ✊
Unless the car park is full , and others would be deprived of a space , their loss is ZERO
Thats a common problem with car parks that have cameras that record time arriving and leaving, if you return it only logs the first time and last time. I fell foul of this with a hire car, I picked it up at 2.30 and went to M&S and the previous hirer had used it at 7am in the morning, I was charged for being there from 7am to 5pm, luckily I had the proof that I only had the car from 2.30 and the ticket was cancelled but not everyone would have that proof.
the fact that your 1st entry was used along with your 2nd exit whilst ignoring 1st exit & 2nd entry proves that these people are unscrupulous . I think that when this occurs they should be prosecuted under law for fraud. To me this is just another reason to have dashcams fitted but having to remember to log these visits.
Don’t use shell or BP fuel use supermarket fuel instead they will possibly start to take out cameras when there sales go down, Tesco being the best most of there sites will not use so called parking cameras these companies just sit in old sheds sending out demands just ignore all there demands don’t send any comments back
Why companies in the UK need to treat their customers like this is beyond me. I’ve no doubt that the parking company either give BP and SHELL a kickback or pay an annual fee to run the parking on these forecourts but in their clamour for even greater profit do they not realise just how poorly they are treating folk? Personally, I wouldn’t go near any company that treat their customers with such contempt. They do not deserve our custom. Hit them hard where it hurts.
Well said Richard! You & me both brother! ✊
Easy! Cover your number plate before entering and uncovering before you drive onto the public highway. As far as I am concerned, I have never had a pull from the Police, because I was officially on ‘private land’ and other driver’s have followed suit.
So, Car Parking Charger’s put this in your pipe and smoke it!
I learnt this trick when I was a motorcycle courier and had to park on the pavements of London. By law, no one is allowed to touch your vehicle to remove it.
I am now a disabled wheelchair driver and have never paid a parking fine in my life.
Interesting concept and if true this is a good loophole.
These people do realise its an invoice of service? Stop calling them parking fines!!
Because they’re not. They are “estimated losses”, which they are typically over-inflated.
Example, you park in a private car park and pay £1 for an hour of parking.
You overstay for one hour, therefore the parking company can send you an invoice of £1 for lost revenue. That’s all.
If their car park is “free for 3 hours” (or 20 minutes), you don’t owe them a penny, as they haven’t lost any revenue.
Andy Grey Rider You’re a Legend! ✊
The pavement is part of the public highway. If you wait until on the forecourt, you won’t achieve your aim; if you cover the numberplate before passing onto the forecourt then, presumably you are guilty of some offence in the RTA?
” I learnt this trick when I was a motorcycle courier and had to park on the pavements of London.”
The pavement is part of the public highway. You might want to consider what you write in a public forum if it condones breaking the law.
Recent changes in law have made supermarket, hospital and other parking areas that the public have access to subject to the requirements of the Highway Code and RTA. Covering up your numberplate may be considered to break the law on such land.
Debatable
Problem with that is ANPR cameras won’t dispense fuel until registration number is recorded at the pump .
Boycott them both.
Just don’t these petrol stations. As if motorists are not paying enough to use their cars. It’s a yet another scam because thats what is. Parasites.
A Good reason to now avoid Shell & BP fuel stations.
As a Bp share holder I will write to them to complain.
I only ever buy fuel at petrol stations . Their shops are generally extremely expensive. Itvus much cheaper to drive down the road to a supermarket. Asda pride themselves on being cheap but don’t be taken in. Their prices at petrol stations are sky high compared to the main suoermarkets
Not the Asda I go to in Cannock it’s £1.19p per litre for unleaded in the self service station- no shop just pay for the fuel as you leave 👍
ASDA are cheapest in most areas .
IN MY AREA ASDA ARE CONSISTANTLY CHEAPER THAN ANYONE- SEE PETROL PRICES
Where else would you buy fuel ? Chemists , AFAIK , no longer sell it .
that’s a shame, I was going to park outside a petrol pump as many ICE car owners seem to think it ok to park in front of electric charge points.
Yes, i’ve seen that, it’s the equivalent of parking across a slipway entrance.
Slipway entrance ? Why would people want to ‘slip’ . If you put your car there then it will prevent people being injured when they slip .
If you charge at a petrol station , then you’re a fool . Charge in a public car park , where it’s free . Oh , and why should EV drivers get ‘special’ treatment ? if the only space left is an electric one , I’ll take it .
If BP & Shell Filling Stations have such a disregard for their customers, perhaps the customers should consider avoiding BP & Shell facilities, and use other companies. It would appear that BP & Shell’s only concern is their profit, so hit them where it hurts and use other Filling Stations.
Very Simple stop filling up and using other service at these locations. Hit them where it hurts “turnover”
CALLED AT LEICESTER FOREST SERVICES IN EARLY HOURS TOWING CARAVAN. PARKING FULL WITH ALL NIGHT PAYING LORRIES TOOK 30 MINUES WALKING ROUND TO FIND SPOT. PARKED RESTING FOR 110 MINUTES THEN STRUGGLED TO GET OUT. ONLY 2HOURS , INCLUDING TIME DRIVING IN AND GETTING OUT , NOT 2HOURS STATIONARY! POPLA ONLY INTERESTED IF THE SIGNAGE WRONG. THEY FILL UP WITH PAYING LORRIES SPACES FOR OTHERS SHORT PARKING NOT PROFITABLE.
I think it is disgusting just another scheme to make money. I for one will not use these garages any more.
Oops, BP and Shell have just lost another loyal customer.
Not enforceable.
Not enforceable in law.
Boycott these brands. For too long now, the public has been the cash cow of big outfits. Yesterday, I queued for ten minutes to pay for hospital parking, then another ten minutes to get out of the corral because the number plate recognition was so slow. Everywhere you go these days, someone is trying to screw money out of you.
Easy, if you see a sign, just drive by, they will get the message. But motorists are like sheep, they must leave it until the last moment for everything, including filling up, are blind to signs and parking restrictions, so these company’s know they are onto another milker of the cash cow.
Only for the gullible
I am not on social media, but why not start a campaign to boycott these garages using social media by filling up elsewhere.
Dont use BP or Shell petrol stations. if this took off they would surely re think there strategy of using these parking firms because of bad publicity. It will only get worse.
The only way to fight back is to do this to large companies. Start chatting on social media !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
see my comment below. Stop calling them parking fines, and stop paying these scammy companies.
“These people do realise its an invoice of service? Stop calling them parking fines!!
Because they’re not. They are “estimated losses”, which they are typically over-inflated.
Example, you park in a private car park and pay £1 for an hour of parking.
You overstay for one hour, therefore the parking company can send you an invoice of £1 for lost revenue. That’s all.
If their car park is “free for 3 hours” (or 20 minutes), you don’t owe them a penny, as they haven’t lost any revenue.”
Why do people use BP and Shell anyway as they always seem to be the most expensive sites when with a bit of thought you can find much cheaper vehicle fuel.
Because their fuel is ‘best’
These people do realise its an invoice of service? Stop calling them parking fines!!
Because they’re not. They are “estimated losses”, which they are typically over-inflated.
Example, you park in a private car park and pay £1 for an hour of parking.
You overstay for one hour, therefore the parking company can send you an invoice of £1 for lost revenue. That’s all.
If their car park is “free for 3 hours” (or 20 minutes), you don’t owe them a penny, as they haven’t lost any revenue.
Given that, of all the fuel retailers, BP will always rip you off the most. It really mystifies at times when I see drivers pulling into BP stations when, in the vast majority of cases, there will be a competitor selling the same products at up to 5p per litre less within a few hundreds yards.
Well , perhaps within a few miles
I stopped at a McDonalds drive through on the Highway in East London to get a cup of tea. After 5 minutes of queuing I was approached by someone and asked if the taxi was my car – when I answered yes the person walked off, he was clearly looking to slap a ticket on my car!
When they come knocking on your door asking for your vote ask them what they think of DVLA selling your private information to these crooks . The so called tickets are only invoices why does anybody pay them
Not wanting to argue with you, but does it say in the article DVLA are no longer allowed to give your details to these parking enforcers?
yep, got caught at the Shell garage outside Gatwick. Foolishly decided to stop off for a coffee & cake after dropping a friend off at the airport. 21 minutes costs me over £100 plus the price of refreshments. I fought Euro carparks but ended up paying more due to late payment. Vowed never to visit a Shell garage again & haven’t now in 3 years
YOU SHOULD ONLY HAVE PAID THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT SINCE APPEALING AGAINST WOULD HAVE STOPPED THE CASE IN ITS TRACKS. LET THE TAKE TO COURT AND HOPEFULLY YOUR APPEAL WOULD BE GRANTED OR THE COST OF TAKING YOU TO COURT WOULD BE OUT WEIGHED BY COSTS IF THEY LOST SO THEY WILL DROP THE CASE FOR FEAR OF LOSING. WORKED FOR ON ADVICE FROM TFL!
Correct
Don’t appeal ; it accords them authority . REJECT their spurious invoice as they have no backing in law .
Another way of making money out of an easy target, just don’t use these places and hopefully they will lose business
Simple solution is do not use BP or Shell petrol stations. I avoid them since they are too expensive anyway.
Shouldn’t have to pay for any parking full stop. If you want motorists to use your business you should provide parking for free. Our road tax should cover us for all motoring.
JUST RETURNED FROM QUEENSLAND AUS, VISITED A BEAUTIFUL RESORT-COOLUM BEACH-NO PARKING CHARGES IN SUPERMARKET (COLES), STREET PARKING PLENTIFUL WITH COUNCIL CAR PARK BOTH FREE. VERY TOURIST FRIENDLY!
Harry, Get a grip son…
A law must be brought in to stop a drivers details being given to these parking thiefs after all whats the point of the act which stops people discussing private info but the DVLA can give out the info for a small charge, parking in this country is beyond the pale and Governments are doing nothing about, even if you win an appeal you cant sue the Council, Westminster Council took 69 million in fines and parking charges this is a disgrace and it will continue as long as MONEY is involved half the time its nothing to do with law its all about screwing the motorist for as much money as they can,
This country is no longer fit for purpose.
Read the bit in the article where it says DVLA have been stopped giving details of drivers since 2017.
If the DVLA have been stopped giving details of drivers how are these thieves obtaining our details?
THEIVES , not theifs
Thieves , not theives
The onus should be on the parking enforcement company to invoive the driver at the time of the alleged infringement.
For the vehicle keeper to have to pay stinks of lobbying by those who stand to make easy money.
These companies should not be able to penalise their customers that spend money on their products. If there’s ever a criminal act of extorting money from innocent people this is it.
Can’t understand people buying from these service stations?
I bought fuel from supermarkets as soon as i had my first car and that was 1973,never had any problems with the fuel it’s the same British Standard fuel ! ,it has the same additives too.
I have bought from stations like BP and Shell, only when it was the same price as supermarket fuel and it was just convenient at that time.
the supermarket petrol does have up to 10% ethanol and that has fewer joules per litre so you do get 3% fewer miles per gallon. It’s cheaper for them that way. You may recall in 2007 and 2008 tesco and morrisons tried upping the ethanol to 15% and a few cars’ Lambda Oxygen sensors failed causing breakdowns. Google “UK contaminated supermarket fuel Lambda Oxygen sensors”. They paid out £22m compensation and never did it again. The big petrol firms (who I hate) don’t add ethanol.
it was the supplying companies (texaco i believe used to be Morrisons supplier and either BP or Shell used to supply Tescos) that tried to increase the amount of ethanol, and the amount of ethanol (or Biodiesel in diesels) is clearly displayed on the pump nozzle AND the pump. it didnt affect all supermarkets using the fuel and the ones it did affect, i believe there were other contaminants in the vehicle tanks already.
As for Ethanol destroying the Lambda sensors, this is utter nonesense in reality. watch a few videos about tuned cars in Australia on Youtube and similar sites where they run on E85 (85% methanol) fuel with no issues.
the difference is purely in the additives in the fuel, as i have had cars run perfectly on Asda and Morrisons fuel but ALWAYS down on power/fuel economy if i fill at Tescos BUTif i filled at BP or Shell in the SAME TOWN (when i had seen the marked tanker at Tesco) my cars always ran fine on either. its the ADDITIVES that make the difference.
Paolo, they all add ethanol, diesel is b7 as in 7% and all petrol is e10 as in 10% has been for a while now. Started as e5 but as always ethanol is cheaper than petrol so more added.
My ‘straw poll’ experience is that I was getting more mileage from branded fuel than from a supermarket. That is possibly because of additives in branded fuel and perhaps brand name petrol stations have better calibrated delivery. The supermarkets are not going to spend money improving their calibration if they can get away with -10% legally.
Absolutely outrageous. There are many other petrol stations we can use if Shell and BP persist with a period of less than one hour.
Interesting article. I would have sympathy if people used a garage forecourt to park for free meaning customers popping in to go the shop cannot park. But charging people after queueing for car wash is ridiculous. If the ticket was challenged to bp/shell I cannot believe they would not cancel the charge. I know many people are too scared/busy and just pay up. The charges are disproportionate and the system needs reform. Fitting Them to all petrol stations rather than only those where they have problems with people using them for free parking, you can only conclude it’s a money making exercise, which is sad.
Dont use Shell or BP as thier fuel is always dearer and now this scam. Asda is the cheapest in our area.
Virtually all of the parking restriction ‘Enforcement agents’ have access to the DVLC data records vehicle registrations names & addresses.
Who sanctioned those rights of access; I would not trust these unscrupulous rouges with my details if I had a choice.
Yes some people do take liberties but only a very small minority, probably equal to the number who abuse ‘parent child or disabled’ spaces at supermarkets.
Its’ a cash cow run by ‘government approved’ operators using ‘criminal’ punitive measures for paltry parking ‘supposed’ infringements.
They are out of control, we need legislation to protect our freedom to use these facilities responsibly without a bunch of chancers ripping us off with impunity.
I saw an article where someone got one of these demands through the post. They were not the driver, but their partner was. Instead of returning the form naming the driver, they sent a letter back (keeping proof of posting) stating they were not the driver but know who was and…. There will be a £10.00 administration charge if they want to know. They never heard another thing. The companies know that if you are that savvy, they are flogging a dead horse!
The vast majority of motorists using these sites is filling up with the branded (& very expensive fuel) so obviously lots of £££s Why? If they even think of introducing ‘parking fees’ in a service station I use _ I will certainly let them know I will never return, simples. There are lots of alternatives – plan ahead & don’t make that distress purchase.
Work it out, 2ppl on 50 litre? Quid, don’t drive miles away wasting time and fuel for a quid.
This needs more publicity then BP and Shell would be avoided by customers. Do Shell and BP know about it because some garages are held on franchise. If so like the hand wash service they get a handout from the companies. I only use them as a last resort cheaper at supermarkets.
Don’t use shell or BP stations when they realise they are losing custom they will stop parking restrictions
Simple, don’t buy fuel at a BP or Shell Service Station.