Excel Parking: 'Alarm' as Sheffield parking firm demands £100 from elderly woman who made ‘minor keying error’

Excel Parking sent a threatening letter to Amanda Davey after she mis-keyed her registration number when paying at The Berkeley Centre on Ecclesall Road.

And Lee Gould was ordered to pay the huge sum when he took too long to pay online - despite no timescale being stated on signs. The Star took up their complaints on their behalf and the company has now dropped both cases.

Amanda, of Castlewood Road, Fulwood, said: “I remember peering at the keypad which seemed at an awkward height and unfortunately missed a letter out. As an elderly person, it was very alarming to receive a demand for £100 in big red letters.”

An Excel Parking spokesperson said that due to the ‘minor keying error’ they had cancelled the demand.

Meanwhile, Lee Gould used an app to pay but took 13 minutes from the moment his car entered the site to when the transaction went through. Excel signs state only payment must be made ‘on arrival’. Enquiries by The Star have revealed this is 10 minutes.

Mr Gould, of Furlong Road, Goldthorpe, Rotherham, turned to the newspaper after his appeal ran into delays - amid confusion as to what he had done wrong.

He said: “I am bewildered that Excel Parking issued me a fine in the first place and then after submitting the appeal with compelling evidence to prove I paid they still feel the need to investigate.”

An Excel representative said 13 minutes was “beyond the consideration period we would normally expect for a purchase to be made.”

But they added: “We can confirm that parking charge has been cancelled and we have now formally confirmed this to Mr Gould.”

Earlier this month, Excel paid Claire Blank £60 compensation after she mis-keyed one letter in her registration at Berkeley Centre. And in January it dropped a £170 demand from Louise Povey who had struggled with the app and was unaware she had also taken too long to pay.

Zakir Mangera, of Workman LLP, which manages the plot on behalf of the owners, previously said they would be ‘reviewing the situation with Excel’.