Pensioners stunned by £50 fine after Sainsbury’s | Tech News

An aged couple have been left annoyed after being slapped with a hefty £50 charge for stopping in a grocery store car park. Jenny, 80, stated her 82-year-old parked within the Sainsbury’s store in Worthing Road, Horsham, on January 22.

However, they have been stunned after they obtained a £50 invoice within the post two weeks later, after realising that they had forgotten one essential element. Jenny and her husband ought to have scanned their parking ticket to validate it for 2 hours of free parking. After forgetting to do that, the penalty charge was awarded, however the couple admit to being blindsided by the current change and defined the rule needed to be made “more publicly known.”  

Speaking to The Argus, Jenny’s husband defined: “You’re imagined to get the receipt verified. The signage is small print. No one at Sainsbury’s advised me or requested me if I needed my car parking validated.”

Jenny stressed the penalty was “grossly unfair” and warned that other shoppers are likely to be at risk of breaking the same rule. 

She added: “It’s so immoral what they’re doing. We’re going to have to pay the fine because it means we’ll have a peaceful week. We won’t be hounded or worried by the fine. He was only there an hour. They’re catching people out.”

In a statement, Sainsbury’s explained their validation system had been in place for over a year and a half and was first installed at the Horsham store back in June 2024. However, the supermarket chain explained that they still intended to refund the couple the total bill. 

A statement read: “To help make spaces more readily available for customers when they need one, our Horsham store operates a voucher validation system, which has been in place since June 2024 and is clearly detailed on signs throughout the car park.

“On this event, as a gesture of goodwill we are going to refund the parking charge discover for this buyer.”

Verified parking meters are installed at several Sainsbury’s stores and are designed to make parking much easier. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) detects cars as they enter the store, with motorists issued no charge for stays of underneath 60 minutes. 

If the shopper stays longer, charges are accrued, however these spending more than £10 can validate a low cost voucher given out on the checkout. 

Express.co.uk has contacted Sainsbury’s for remark.