Taxi Driver's Bank Account Emptied by NCP After Airport Drop-Off Error
A taxi driver has revealed how an automated parking system emptied his bank account of nearly £2,000 after he made two routine drop-offs at Birmingham Airport. Ian Cook, 56, was charged for almost 80 hours of parking by NCP's number-plate recognition technology, despite being in the premium set down car park for only minutes on each visit.
System Failure Leads to Massive Overcharge
Ian Cook, who makes over 100 trips to Birmingham Airport annually as part of his private hire business, had set up an automatic payment account with NCP for convenience. On Monday, February 16, he dropped off clients around 12:30pm and exited within minutes as normal. He returned on Thursday, February 19 around 9pm for another brief drop-off.
"The next day I got an email invoice as usual but to my horror I had been charged £1,955 and they had already taken that money from my account," Ian explained. "Apparently, I had parked in the Premium Set Down for three days, seven hours 45 minutes and 41 seconds!"
The ANPR cameras failed to register his exit on the first visit and didn't detect his vehicle again until the second visit three days later, creating the false impression he had remained parked continuously.
Frustrating Customer Service Experience
When Ian contacted NCP to report the obvious error, he encountered what he described as unhelpful and uncaring customer service. "I spent most of the day on Friday on the phone to NCP customer services and each time being told somebody would call me back within 10 minutes, these calls never materialised," he said.
"No one was helpful or seemed to care," Ian added. "Eventually I got told 'You'll have to wait until we've done an investigation, and we'll get back to you with our findings.' There was no indication of how long this would be."
The timing was particularly difficult as Ian was about to go on holiday to Tenerife with his wife Terry. "I work hard and was looking forward to a break, but my whole week's been ruined," he said. "It is disgraceful and not acceptable, I'm not even sure it's lawful. Their attitude is disgusting."
Broader Concerns About Parking Costs
Ian also expressed frustration about rising airport parking charges generally. "Everyone is just trying to make money out of parking, it's greed," he commented. "It's like an extra tax. When I first started my private hire business almost 10 years ago, it was a pound to drop off at Birmingham airport, and it just keeps going up."
He explained how these increasing costs affect his business: "When my charges go up I have to offset the costs, so I have to pass that on to my customers. Last year I did 127 trips to Birmingham Airport, so it adds up."
Eventual Refund Without Apology
Following media attention, NCP eventually agreed to refund Ian, stating: "We are sincerely sorry for the experience that Mr Cook had with us. This is an unusual situation, and we are currently investigating this to understand what happened to cause this. In the meantime, we can arrange a same day refund and have reached out to him to arrange that."
However, Ian remained dissatisfied with the company's response. "So I have been refunded, minus the £12 for parking," he noted. "No apology, no explanation as to what happened, no offer of compensation, just a 'refund initiated' receipt stating 'please allow 10 days for your refund to be processed.'"
The incident highlights concerns about automated payment systems and customer service standards in the parking industry, particularly when technical errors can have severe financial consequences for individuals.
