A Liverpool couple were forced to pay a £60 parking fine after overstaying their welcome at Liverpool's Costco store - despite spending all their time while parked up INSIDE the store.
Hassan and Maria Fallahi from Allerton say they were enjoying their weekly shop with their two children when they simply lost track of time.
While shoppers at the Waterloo Road store are normally permitted a maximum of two hours in the car park, on April 9, the family ended up staying for around three and a half hours.
49 year old, Mr Fallahi said: “We have two kids and the shopping took a bit longer than usual.
“That day we just didn’t realise - after shopping, we sat down in the cafe in the Costco and had a meal with the kids."
The father of two said they were surprised to have been landed within a parking fine a few days later.
He added: “After about a week we realised that we had a parking ticket for a £100 charge. It said if we paid within the 14-day limit, we would only pay £60.
“To be honest it’s never happened to us in a Costco before.”
After a back and forth with the private parking company who run parking at the site, and despite some attempts to help by the Costco management, Mr Fallahi ended up having to pay the fine.
Mr and Mrs Fallahi said that while Costco had tried to help them, they felt they could have been given the benefit of the doubt because they were regular customers.
Mr Fallahi said: “I thought they would give us a chance, because we had shopped and sat down with the kids in the cafe.
"We are regular customers, we normally spend hundreds each month at the store."
Costco declined to comment on the situation.
