In Sainsbury’s in Chiswick, they’ve a particularly direct and capitalist approach to car park inventory management. Namely, the first hour costs you £1. Fair enough. Stay up to 2 hours and you’ll pay a reasonable £2.
If you spend over £5 in Sainsbury’s, your parking charges are complimentary. Stay for 2:01 hours and your charge will escalate to £50. Pity, then, the two twenty-somethings I witnessed the other day staring dumbfounded between this sign and the parking meter. It read ‘2 hours 23 minutes’ and the fee payable, well, it was the big five-oh. The couple obviously hadn’t examined the sign, the terms and conditions or their watches. For a good three minutes they just stood there, staring, mouths open wide in shock. You can get a lot of shopping for £50.The chap quickly fumbled for his cigarettes and quickly lit up whilst the girl began pointing at the £50 sign. Deary me. The last I saw was the girl stomping off to the Sainsbury’s customer service counter. I was left wondering if the shop assistants cleared the balance or insisted it be paid. I wonder. The moral of the story? Check the terms and conditions closely even at ‘friendly’ brands like your local supermarket.
