Customer mistakenly fined $43 for visiting a supermarket twice in a day due to her parking ticket

It's not unusual for someone to forget something at the grocery store and return later to pick it up. Or just return for some other reason the same day. However, it's almost unheard of for somebody to be fined for it. That is exactly what happened with a woman in England, who received a Tesco parking fine. Emily Smith, a charity manager, went to the British grocery store twice in a day, once for groceries and the second time for fuel. However, when she left the car park the second time, she was charged a parking fee by the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system. 

The system thought that she had been parked there for more than 10 hours. "We are being treated like criminals, there is no innocent until proven guilty,” Smith told Mirror UK, vouching that she would not be visiting the grocery store anymore. She believes that the system that Tesco used made an error and never picked that she had left and calculated that she was inside for more than 10 hours. 

Thankfully, she was later able to plead their case, "We have now found some proof because we use a tracking app with my eldest," she said. “It’s bonkers, and trying to prove where we were is quite hard," Smith added. She also expressed her dissatisfaction with the grocery store. The grocery store also said that the fine would be doubled if not paid within 28 days. This is another issue that concerned Smith, she said that this practice was quite predatory and was fearful that it would intimidate other people not to fight their fines.

"I’m worried that this is going to happen to other people who may just pay the charge because it is really quite frightening," she said. 

"I think it is a money-making tool for Tesco and the parking company. Because you are told the fine is less if you pay within 28 days, most people will pay it because they don’t want the hassle," she added. She also said that when her husband contacted the store, they said that their cameras 'did not lie' and accused them of lying. "We had to give our time and energy to get this resolved when we did not do anything wrong," she said.

She has now moved to the German grocery chain, Lidl, which wouldn't do her wrong in the way that Tesco has. "People need to know they have the choice to shop somewhere that will not fine them if they visit more than once a day," she said. A spokesperson for Tesco spoke with Mirror and said, "We are sorry to hear about this and have ensured the charge is canceled."  

According to Tesco, there are many reasons why you may get a parking fine. The reasons include, not following the T&C for using the car park, leaving the car in the disabled bay or one designated for families with children, overstaying the permitted time to park for free or not paying the parking fee.