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Fuming driver stung with £561 bill after two airport drop-offs for shocking reason

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date25 April 2024
Publication titleDaily Star: Web Edition Articles (England)
Trevor Storey, 63, was left dumbstruck at discovering he had been billed £253 instead of the usual £4 fee during a drop-off on April 14. Without a receipt from the machine and no immediate alarm bells ringing, Trevor overlooked the exorbitant charge, ChronicleLive reported

Only when he was hit with a staggering £308 days later, which triggered his bank's fraud alert, did Trevor realise something fishy was going on. The South West Denton, Tyne and Wear, resident promptly contacted airport authorities, who revealed that his twice missed exit had accumulated into the sky-high charge.

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The airport chiefs explained their automatic number plate recognition systems sometimes fail to read a vehicle's registration plate due to factors such as adverse weather or number plate irregularities. Trevor said: "I work for Uber and everything is done by card, I don't handle any cash.

"I swiped my card and they don't give a receipt a lot of the time. The first time it was £253, then on April 19 I dropped someone off and Uber gave me another job at the airport so I swiped my card again. I got a receipt but just assumed it would be for £4.

"But when I finished I was contacted by my bank and there was a new transaction for £308 and I looked and I did have a charge. I phoned the bank and explained what had happened, but they said they couldn't stop the transaction and I would need to speak to the airport. When I was speaking to the guy on the phone he said 'Do you realise they did the same to you on April 14 and took £253'."

Trevor, a taxi driver for 25 years, contacted the airport, who promptly refunded his money. "They said my exit had been...

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