Driver’s ‘hack’ to get free parking at Westfield shopping centre

Melbourne man Jayden Grech has shown how he avoids paying hefty parking fees after staying over the free limit at Westfield shopping centres.

Getting slapped with an exorbitant parking fee after a shopping expedition is often enough to leave you wishing you never left the house to begin with.

And while Westfield shopping centres typically offer a few hours free, anyone who parks their car for upwards of three hours is likely to get a rude shock when they return.

In a ballsy bid to avoid the hefty tolls entirely, Melbourne man Jayden Grech has uncovered a sneaky loophole he claims tricks the system into giving him free, unlimited access.

Mr Grech had his passenger film as he supposedly gained free entry to the Westfield Southland shopping centre in Cheltenham, Melbourne, last week.

As he pulled up to the centre’s exit gate – where drivers would typically insert their validated pass – he told TikTok viewers, “I’ll teach youse all a hack”.

Instead of presenting his pass when the system registered his Camry and the $7 charge it had incurred for staying more than four hours, Mr Grech reversed backwards.

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The machine initially displayed a $7 charge. Picture: TikTok/duckeeg

The signal was red when the car approached. Picture: TikTok/duckeeg

He then paused out of view of the gate’s camera until the arrow changed from red to green, before approaching the gate once again.

The gate then opened and the “have a nice day” message flashed on the ticket machine – all without him handing over a cent.

Viewers were gobsmacked by his discovery, which many speculated was a result of the car’s licence plate leaving the system when he reversed so as to “bypass the pay cycle”.

A TikTok user detailed how they suspected the gates worked, saying it was likely the system thought the car had exited the car park when it reversed, so when it approached again it understood the car to be a new one.

Their logic was based on the presumption that both the entry and exit gates had the same programming which meant the “camera works both ways”.

“It’s called a neutral exit. it’s a setting carparks use for after hours exits when the site wants to keep the gates down and staff aren’t on site,” another wrote.

The $7 charge disappeared when the vehicle reapproached. Picture: TikTok/duckeeg

The signal then turned green. Picture: TikTok/duckeeg

Mr Grech responded to sceptics saying the trick had worked at two Westfield shopping centres, and he believed it would work at others too.

Many claimed they would now attempt the hack for themselves, with it being described “gold”, a “gun move”, and “life changing”.

A few people claimed they had been using the hack to get free parking for years.

One said staff noticed them trying to exit before paying and wouldn’t let them leave.

“I used to do this but then they saw me do it on the camera and didn’t let me out before calling me out,” they wrote in a comment.

“Ahh this is excellent! Not sure how this will work when leaving with lots of cars at the same time but still cool,” another said.

A Westfield Southland spokesperson said they were aware of the video and were working to resolve the issue.

“We’re aware of the video filmed at one of our centres. The issue is being resolved,” they told news.com.au.

“A period of free parking is available at all our centres and we encourage our customers to visit their local Westfield website to find out more before they visit us.

“We do not condone the behaviour displayed in the video. Reversing in a carpark queue can be dangerous and could cause injury to pedestrians or damage to other vehicles.”

Originally published as Driver’s ‘hack’ to get free parking at Westfield shopping centre