A mum was left "in shock" after being accidentally charged £4,586 for a two-hour session at a multi-storey car park. Yaditi Kava, 39, said she had typed in her pin number at the exit barrier at Queensmere Observatory Shopping Centre in Slough, without noticing the amount. She said it took three weeks and intervention from theBBC Three Counties JVS Showbefore her money was refunded. Savills, which manages the shopping centre, said it was "an isolated incident" and it was investigating the system to prevent future problems. Ms Kava had taken her two young girls shopping after work on Friday, 16 May, and decided to "grab some dinner before going home". On returning, the area with parking payment machines was closed, so she decided to pay at the exit. "I tapped my contactless card, then a message displayed saying I needed to enter my PIN," she said. "I was in a rush, the girls were getting tired, and I did not see the number on the small card machine. "The big display showed '4,5', so I thought it was £4.50." The barrier lifted, and she immediately received a text notification from her bank. "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." Ms Kava said she had to wait until Monday to speak to the manager, who told her "it was a faulty machine". She continued: "He made a receipt on 19 May and assured me I would see that money in my account within 2-3 working days." But three weeks later, the money had still not appeared. "I'm going through a divorce at the moment and had saved that money to pay legal fees," she said. "I was going to call off my daughter's birthday party, it was a lot of stress." Feeling like she was "spiralling and going nowhere," Ms Kava reported the case to the consumer rights programmethe JVS show, presented by Jonathan Vernon-Smith. "It was a godsend - One call from Jonathan, and the next day the money was in my bank," she said, adding that the full refund arrived on Saturday ,7 June. Speaking before the money was returned, Savills told the BBC: "Savills can confirm that it is aware of an isolated incident concerning an anomaly with a parking charge in the car park. "We have been in regular contact with the customer to rectify the issue as a matter of priority and can confirm a full refund is being processed. "This was a very unusual occurrence, and we are investigating the car park system to prevent this from happening in the future." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news onBBC Sounds,Facebook,InstagramandX.
Woman charged £4,586 for two-hour car park stay
TruthLens AI Suggested Headline:
"Mother Faces £4,586 Parking Charge Error at Slough Shopping Centre"
Bbc News
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TruthLens AI Summary
Yaditi Kava, a 39-year-old mother, experienced a shocking incident when she was mistakenly charged £4,586 for a mere two-hour parking stay at the Queensmere Observatory Shopping Centre in Slough. The unfortunate event occurred on May 16, when Kava, after a shopping trip with her two young daughters, attempted to pay for parking at the exit barrier. In a rush, she entered her PIN without noticing the exorbitant amount displayed on the small card machine. Assuming the charge was £4.50 due to the larger display showing '4,5', she was startled to receive a notification from her bank shortly after the barrier lifted, confirming the deduction of £4,586 from her account. This unexpected transaction left her in disbelief and anxiety, particularly as she was in the midst of a divorce and had saved that money for legal fees.
After discovering the error, Kava initially faced challenges in obtaining her refund. She was informed by the car park manager that a faulty machine was responsible for the charge, and she was promised a refund within 2-3 working days. However, as three weeks passed without the return of her funds, Kava felt increasingly stressed, even contemplating canceling her daughter's birthday party due to the financial strain. Ultimately, she sought help from the BBC's consumer rights program, the JVS show, which proved to be a turning point. Following a call from the show's presenter, Jonathan Vernon-Smith, the situation was resolved swiftly, and the full refund was credited back to her account by June 7. Meanwhile, Savills, the management company of the shopping center, acknowledged the incident as an isolated case and assured that they were investigating the parking system to prevent future occurrences of such errors.
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