Visiting from the US. I dropped a mate at the Holiday Inn Express by Heathrow T4, which shares a car park with the Crowne Plaza. Not really a car park either, it was just one of those turn around spots in front of the doors. Anyways, he hopped out, grabbed his bag from the boot, and I drove off. Total time on site, according to Euro Car Parks’ own cameras: 73 seconds.
A week and a half later, Hertz emails. ECP says I “parked without a valid Pay by Phone transaction.” In 73 seconds. I’m genuinely impressed they think anyone can download an app, create an account, find the location code and pay in that time. I can’t find the handbrake on a hire car in 73 seconds.
That works out to about £1.37 a second, which surely makes it the priciest parking in London.
Better still, Hertz paid it immediately, so I never got the chance to appeal. They’re now charging me a £42 admin fee for forwarding an email. I can't appeal with Euro Car Parks because the charge has been paid, so I've emailed Hertz.
This is mostly an FYI for any future Hertz rental car customers.