View topic - Welcome Break

On March 26th we had the misfortune to visit Keele Services (Northbound) on the M6.
We arrived at about 1230 and as we do not like burgers we went to the main food hall.
The cleanliness of the hall left a lot to be desired. Although only about 5 tables were occupied EVERY other table in the room was covered with the remains of previous meals and we had to clear one before we could get our own food. The lady serving the food was polite and helpful but when we went to pay we had to wait for someone to arrive at the till which meant our meals were getting cold.

As we travel to Yorkshire fairly regularly I have marked my maps to avoid Keele services in future.

We visited Woodall services today as Costa was closing at at about 8.00 p.My husband bought and ate a Ginsters prawn and mayonnaise sandwich and now seems to be suffering from food poisoning. Please don't sell any more of them!

I had the misfortune to stop at Birchanger Green recently. The weather was appalling, the car park gridlocked on the way in and out - I spent longer queuing than I did in the services but it added up to more than two hours and, of course, Parking Eye are chasing me for £90 which they have generously discounted to £60 if I pay up without a fight.
As a reluctant and very occasional visitor to motorway services I wonder what they will think of next to try to rip off the customer even more.

picnic area, childrens play equipment?
Is there anywhere a toddler can run around at Hartshead services

To Cathy Dorrington (training Manager) Michaelwood Southbound services

We visited your southbound services at Michaelwood again today at 1.30pm
I found that despite your letter of 28th June nothing had changed

There is STILL no sign to the extra toilets in th ladies toilets and AGAIN they were roped off
I spoke to the cleaner who was present at the time but she spoke little English so was unable to answer my question as to why they were roped off

This visit was in the middle of the day on a busy Thursday in August

You have no idea how many ladies may need these toilets

It only needs 2/3 coaches to arrive at once and there would be an unnecessary queue outside the ladies WC

I am extremely angry that I am wasting my time complaining about this situation

AM I BASHING MY HEAD AGAINST A BRICK WALL OR IS ANYONE LISTENING?

Head office here I come!

Neil unfortunately has it wrong wrt the Parking Eye situation.

If Parking Eye were to try to enforce these 'invoices' (not legally parking fines), they would need to prove the following:-

1. Who was driving. Any 'invoice' would need to be sent to the driver, not the vehicle!

2. That the 'invoice' reflected reasonable compensation for the damage inflicted on the business - in a civil court a penalty over and above reasonable compensation would not be entertained (see the level of the 'charge' itself, the £30 'admin fee', the £2.50 'charge' for using a debit card to pay over the internet).

3. Other areas related to the actual existence of a legal contract in the first place - check out http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=46975 for further details, or go on YouTube and see an expert solicitor giving advice on what to do with such 'invoices' on Watchdog (it involves making a paper plane).

There is a very good reason why Parking Eye have never taken anyone to court - they wouldn't have a hope in hell of prevailing and this action would set a rather unfortunate precedent in terms of the viability of their 'business' model.

It doesn't suprise me that private parking companies moved on from one scam (clamping) to another (ticketing with ridiculous 'charges', deliberately mimicking the design of official legally enforceable penalty notices). What does suprise me is that Welcome Break would risk reputation by using their services, without paying any particular notice to the 'charge' structure.

I stopped at Woodall services southbound yesterday to go to the toilets and when I entered I was fairly shocked about the amount of burglar alarms they had. They had 4 in the main entrance, 2 on each side to both exits, 2 on the corridor going towards the bridge and ladies toilets and even 1 in the mens toilets. This is unusual for motorway services. This photo I took will explain it all:

These were only alarms in the entrance. To the left there are alarms too. This is indeed strange for a motorway services. I'm not 100% sure if they were active as none went off but I wasn't expecting them comparing to other services. other than that the services isn't the nicest not the least nicest.

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Gourleyo - Always taking photos of Ferries and MSA's!

Commenting on the picture below, the reason for the security barriers, is believe it or not, people shoplift.
Shoplifting is a massive problem for MSA operators, and even more so if the site does not have barriers!

To be fair, they probably don't help themselves by filling the foyer with snacks and toys that you should "take to WHSmith to purchase"!

visited eat in at hartshead moor. the cutlery was so dirty it couldn't be used the floor was was so strewn with food it was a danger to walk on. the tables never got cleaned had to clear one ourselves. will never return. georgina inverness.