A driver from Slough has been left stunned after a routine shopping trip resulted in a parking charge of £4,586 instead of £4.50.
The charge was issued at Queensmere Observatory Shopping Centre last month when the driver had taken her two young daughters shopping.
But due to a payment error occurring at the multi-storey car park's exit barrier, the driver accidentally typed her PIN number instead, without noticing the astronomical amount displayed on the small card machine.
"I was in a rush, the girls were getting tired, and I did not see the number on the small card machine," she told the BBC. "The big display showed '4,5', so I thought it was £4.50.
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The parking incident occurred last month in Slough
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The shocking bank notification arrived immediately after the barrier lifted, revealing the true extent of the charge, which caused the driver to panic.
The incident unfolded when the driver returned to her car after grabbing dinner with her children following an after-work shopping trip. Finding the payment machine area closed, she opted to pay at the exit barrier instead.
"To my shock, I saw that they had deducted not £4.50 but £4,586 from my account," she recalled. "It was surreal - I just couldn't fathom that they had taken that money."
The error meant she had been charged over 1,000 times the standard two-hour parking rate, with the machine accepting the incorrect payment.
The financial blow came at a particularly difficult time for the driver, who was going through personal troubles and had specifically saved the money for legal fees.
"I was going to call off my daughter's birthday party, it was a lot of stress," she said.
Unable to contact anyone until the following Monday, the motorist eventually spoke to the car park manager on May 19.
The manager acknowledged the fault, telling her "it was a faulty machine" and provided a receipt with assurances that the refund would appear in her account within two to three working days.
Despite these promises, the money failed tomaterialise, leaving the driver increasingly desperate as weeks passed without resolution.
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The parking machine fault caused the driver to be charged 1,000 times over the original payment
PA Media.Three weeks after the initial incident, the driver found herself "spiralling and going nowhere" with no sign of her money.
She turned to the BBC Three Counties JVS Show, a consumer rights programme presented by Jonathan Vernon-Smith.
The full refund finally arrived on June 7, more than three weeks after the original error.
Savills, which manages the shopping centre, described the incident as "an isolated incident" and confirmed they were investigating the car park system to prevent future problems.
The company stated they had been in regular contact with the driver to rectify the issue as a matter of priority.
"This was a very unusual occurrence, and we are investigating the car park system to prevent this from happening in the future," Savills told the BBC.
This is not the first time a faulty machine or payment issue has seen drivers charged thousands.
At the beginning of the year, reports revealed several cases of drivers charged extortionate amounts for taking longer than five minutes to pay for parking, with one case seeing a motorist charged nearly £2,000.
Private parking firms are reportedly on track to issue 14.5 million parking tickets this yearPATo combat this, the British Parking Association launched its Private Parking Scrutiny and Advice Panel, which would add further protection to drivers to stop them from being fined hefty amounts.
Andrew Pester, Chief Executive of the British Parking Association, said: "The parking sector is always striving to ensure it operates in the interest of compliant motorists and to ensure that parking is fairly managed for all. This change is another important step in achieving this."
Will Hurley, CEO of the International Parking Community, explained that the panel was created to act swiftly to introduce safeguards for motorists.
He shared: "It is important drivers play their part by reading and following instructions on signage when parking their vehicle. Our sector is making significant strides in elevating standards."
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