Sunshine Coast McDonald’s customers angry over ‘unlawful’ parking fines

Disgruntled Sunshine Coast McDonald’s customers have been left fuming after they were hit with expensive fines, despite claims they did nothing wrong. Vote in our poll.

Two Sunshine Coast McDonald’s restaurants have come under fire from disgruntled customers after they were slapped with expensive parking fines, despite maintaining they did nothing wrong.

The Maroochydore and Sippy Downs McDonald’s both have one-hour parking limits, but several customers have been left fuming after they were issued $77 fines for allegedly breaking the rules.

Maroochydore couple Kevin and Jeanie Jenkins were stung at the Maroochydore McDonald’s on August 2 after they spent 49 minutes enjoying lunch at the restaurant.

The couple’s daughter, Carolan Jenkins, called the ticket “unlawful”.

The fine was later waived, but Buderim mother Charlotte Demytko and University of the Sunshine Coast student Seth Mallyon were not so lucky.

Mrs Demytko was fined after she and her husband visited the Sippy Downs McDonald’s drive-through twice on August 26; first at 5.36pm to treat their youngest children and then later at 8.44pm to get dinner for their eldest daughter.

They were accused of spending more than three hours at the carpark.

“I couldn’t believe it … it kind of makes me think ‘I don’t want to go back there’ … it’s just ridiculous,” she said.

Mrs Demytko said her children have McDonald’s for dinner once a week as a treat, but she had never been fined.

McDonald’s is looking into this incident, a spokesman said on September 9.

Meanwhile, University of Sunshine Coast student Seth Mallyon was fined on August 27 for spending just under an hour at the Maroochydore McDonald’s car park.

“Maybe I was eating (for) too long,” he said.

The Maroochydore McDonald’s has been named twice as having “unlawfully” fined its customers for parking in the private car park and breaching the rules.

A spokesman for Smart Compliance Management, who oversee McDonald’s parking, said the system was introduced to stop those not using the car parks correctly.

“To solve this and to ensure genuine customers can find places to park, Smart Parking installed a state of the art ANPR parking management system that monitors cars both entering and exiting,” they said.

“There are numerous signs across McDonalds Maroochydore which clearly explains the terms and conditions of use, and the vast majority of motorists use the car park without any issues.”

Those who want to appeal their fine are encouraged to contact the company directly.