Angela Jones, 60, popped into town to collect some photographs and pulled into Kings Heath High Street car park in Birmingham.
One of the ticket machines was broken and a sign said she needed to scan a QR code in order to pay on her phone.
Angela says she tried downloading the app but became suspicious it was a scam so deleted it from her phone and left the car park on October 31.
A week later she received a £100 fine from Parking Charge Collections Ltd (PCC), saying she had exceeded the five-minute limit by 65 seconds.
One of the ticket machines was broken and a sign said she needed to scan a QR code in order to pay on her phone.
Angela says she tried downloading the app but became suspicious it was a scam so deleted it from her phone and left the car park on October 31.
A week later she received a £100 fine from Parking Charge Collections Ltd (PCC), saying she had exceeded the five-minute limit by 65 seconds.
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FunTranscript
00:00Hello, I'm Angela Jones. I drove into a car park on Kingsheath High Street in October last year.
00:07I got out of the car, I tried to pay at the machine but the machine wasn't working.
00:12I asked the man who was parked next to me how he had paid. He said he'd downloaded the app.
00:18I tried to download the app but the car park is run by PCC and the app came up as Parkopedia
00:25which bore no resemblance to the signage at all. I'd just done my online training at work
00:31which said that people put fake QR codes over the top of genuine QR codes so I deleted the app.
00:38When I found I couldn't pay I left the car park. I was in there for a total of 6 minutes and 5 seconds
00:45and I received a £100 fine which I appealed. First of all I appealed to the Independent Appeal Service
00:53but they said I had to go back to the company that issued the fine so I went to them and appealed
00:59but they rejected my appeal because I was there for 6 minutes and 5 seconds and their grace period is 5 minutes.
01:05I then took my appeal to the Independent Appeal Service but then my appeal was rejected by them
01:12because they said I didn't verify my email account and they did that by email.
01:17So then I got a letter from a solicitor threatening me with court action and it would affect my credit rating
01:24and it would be on my records for the next 6 years. It was intimidating and threatening in the wording
01:31of the letter from the solicitor and I was so scared that if it went to court I would lose
01:37and I'd end up with court costs as well so I paid the fine. I contacted my MP about it
01:44and he acted on my behalf and the company have now squashed the fine.
01:50But I think the legislation regarding private land and their grace periods needs to be looked at
01:57because if you've got a pram to get out of the car or you've got a walker if you're elderly
02:03or you haven't got a smartphone or you haven't got a signal, you're over the 5 minutes before you know it.