Apcoa Reviews 

Apcoa sent us a debt recovery letter but we never received the initial letter, told by debt people to complain to post office, strange how all our other mail is received. Looking at reviews it seems many other people say the same. Cannot challenge on APCOA website because we do not have the ticket number neither do debt recovery people. Are APCOA getting a referral for sending to debt recovery firm. It is quite disgraceful that consumers feel they are being bullied with court action especially so when the letter is not received. I would pay the £60.00 fine but at a protest because is the signage clear at Stansted Airport in any case. I challenge the £170.00 from debt recovery firm as unfair. It’s about time the consumer rights kick in and assist innocent people from this shambokuc system

Their parking payment system never seems to work smoothly. I have tried using the APP but gave up, tried paying at the car park, ended up paying another £2.30 for the call to APCOA. Paid from home before leaving and now received a £100 fine even though I had paid to park but their system went down and I did not receive a confirmation text I had paid for. I therefore sent them a confirmation text to confirm that I had paid with my car details. I can see that the text went and was received and the payment has been taken. Someone else on the same day had the same problem. There was a message during my call that stated that they were having a technical problem so I did everything I could to cover myself, but to no avail.

It is endelessly stressful when trying to pay for parking and even then, despite all their fancy tech, they can send you a fine with a photograph of your vehicle, but they are still unable to inform you as to whether there is actually any space available. Previously having paid for the phone calls I had to find somewhere else to park a long walk away. Really unacceptable and stressful.

Just went onto their chat line and already claiming that they have no record of a technical issue from the date of my parking - it's taken since the 28th to receive the fine. I have now had to go through their appeals process due to their mess. It seems that car parking companies are now the law of the land.

APCOA once again behaving disgracefully, when are ombudsman / council going to step in. How many more people are going to be dealt with in a totally unfair way as APCOA collect incorrect fines.
Manchester airport T2 drop off zone, barriers not working / pay machines off, but no surprise the cameras and automated mailing system works fine.
I am told i should have read an unclear sign amongst all the other signs around this area.
On top of the there was a major diversion therefore at the time traffic was chaotic due to closure of T1 drop off.
No sympathy or willingness to work with my appeal, all their complaints procedures and help lines only lean to APCOA to say "NO"
The only thing i have heard since about this type of faulty exit barriers is "yes the same has happened to me recently".
Do the owners of APCOA feel good about this ? Probably as they look at the bank.

Biggest airport scam
Manchester Airport should be ashamed of the scam they are allowing and they know all about it if you have a dispute or overcharged as in my case paid in advance for parking and was separately charged for dropping of twice aswell on the same trip but the main scam is you try to ring them out of 25 calls I've said I got through the first time and they say fill in form and email us will get back to you in 5 working days 20 days later and 24 calls later nothing they do it till you get fed up and stop bothering them you phone wait for around half an hour to be told we're busy leave message and they don't reply to that either a big company like Manchester airport parking should be ashamed of there actions

They have different ways for paying, all of them not really clear, we have to pay now a lot of money for 1 hour, because we did not understand well how to pay. The instructions are not really easy. The fees in Denmark are insane, 910 kr.

parked at Dartford station, paid via Scan Pay. 2 weeks later received a penalty notice. Appealed, providing evidence of payment (receipt and bank screen shot). appeal refused on the grounds "you paid for cuffley car park" (in Potters Bar). Ludicrous. The scan pay machine at Dartford, the default setting is Dartford...not Cuffley!
Now appealed to POPLA, but this is such a con.

Scammers and legal blackmailing
I paid the fee, didnt go through, realized 4 days later, I paid again, went through, and they still have fined me, and dont even wanna refund me on the other payment. There are no words to explain this behaviour.
I dont even know how such companies are allowed to operate. If they were commercial, they'd be dead before they start, given their 98% 1-star rating (which should rather be 0-stars, but hey ho).
They get public contracts and scam regular people. Essentially, makes you wonder who is scamming us, the company or the entity giving them a contract, knowing what they are up to.
Ridiculous. Infuriating. Not cos I paid 60 pounds, but cos of the principle. These people should be behind bars.

I trust that the current routine for drop-off drivers at Stansted Airport is utterly absurd and could be judged as a form of legalised fraud. We have an ineffective and weak government that allows these practices to emerge and persist, so it is no surprise that it may take some time before these companies get investigated for their questionable activities.

CAPCOA and POPLA, working in lockstep, they have been ripping off British motorists up and down the country. CAPCOA provides no on-site machines, and if you forget to pay—or their flawed app undercharges you—there’s no practical way to rectify it. They then funnel you to their so-called independent appeals body: POPLA, which—conveniently—is funded by parking operators like CAPCOA.

The majority of successful appeals POPLA sees are due to hardware machine failures. But what if the issue is software—like the RingGo app not allowing full payment, or the station ticket machine charging the wrong rate? That’s where the scam really shows. You still get hit with an £85 penalty—or more—because software faults are not treated like hardware breakdowns.

In our case, a valid attempt was made to pay £8 at the end of the day, but only £4 was accepted due to a glitch. For this, and for anyone else who forgets to pay at the start of their session, the result is always the same: a penalty of £50 or £85.

What’s worse is POPLA pretending to be impartial while routinely backing their funders. They even claim that £85 is “reasonable” because it’s less than the maximum £1,000 a court might impose. Even though I forgot 3 times in 3 months now £255 and counting. This is regulatory theatre, designed to justify outrageous fees.

Ridiculous people to do business with.

Legal Scammers
They want to charge me for passing the drop off area, when I have already pre booked parking in Manchester airport.
They post the ticket 15 days after the issue day, but you have to pay within 28 days.
When you try to use their website to challenge the ticket, they don't have yet the information, so you have to do it later.
Complaining is impossible. you can only do it online or write to them. online is not working because they do NOT have the ticket details that have send to you.

Stansted drop off, first of all its most extensive in UK drop off and made a payment next day didn't go through called them next day and they say nothing what they can do the PCN will be issued

Apcoa have the worst website I have ever come across the simply process of renewing a monthly parking ticket is far too complicated when it really should not be I have an account and it should be a click to renew for a month but it is NOT

As disgusting people and their system. I wish bad for them

This company has one strategy.
Confuse the users and make it impossible to contact anyone.
Why this company is not banned in democratic countries is a mystery.

Why I am not surprised at the low score on trust pilot. I called today although this alone was tortuous trying to find an actual number to talk to an actual person. I explained the situation to ann regarding my elderly disabled neighbour who had received a parking fine notice for £60. I explained he had got lost and ended up at Stansted airport drop off on 10th may. The following day in a flap he asked me to help him as he had no idea how to pay as he has no internet skills. I paid and the matter was joked about. Low and behold today he gets a notice to pay £60. Again he has no internet access so ops to me panic stricken that he is receiving further notice. So I call Ann at apcoa. Having explained the above she directed him to the website....no I explain he cannot access the website....then he must pay....how....on line!! Disgraceful way of dealing with our elderly and absolutely no customer service. Disgusted that they have the contract at Stansted and bully the elderly by scared tactics.

Ublu bødefælde ved Four Points by Sheraton Vejle – EuroPark udnytter bevidst udenlandske gæster!

Vi overnattede på Four Points by Sheraton Vejle den 22.–23. maj 2025 og ankom med udenlandsk bil omkring kl. 17.00. Ved siden af hotellet ligger det eneste tilgængelige parkeringsområde – en parkeringskælder drevet af EuroPark Vejle.

Vi parkerede bilen og gik direkte ind på hotellet for at tjekke ind og høre, om der var en særlig aftale om parkering. På grund af kø og fejl i værelsestildelingen tog det længere tid end normalt, og vi blev først informeret om, at parkering kun sker via en app. Jeg installerede og aktiverede appen mens jeg stod i hotellets lobby kl. 17.33.

Men EuroParks kontrollør havde allerede været ved bilen fra 17.20 til 17.26 og givet en bøde på 910 DKK – for at have overskredet de "gratis 15 minutter", selvom vi ikke engang havde haft tid til at hente bagagen eller sætte os ind i systemet.

Vi betalte ovenikøbet for parkering fra kl. 17.33 til næste morgen 09.25 (138 DKK). Men vores klage blev afvist med “reglerne er fulgt”.

Det her er ikke regulering, det er en fælde. Det føles som om EuroPark bevidst holder øje med udenlandske bilister, som ikke kender reglerne, og udnytter dem med det samme.

Vi føler os behandlet uretfærdigt og udnyttet. Som gæst ved et internationalt hotel bør man kunne forvente bedre information og mere fleksibilitet.

Advarsel til andre gæster: Hvis du kommer fra udlandet og parkerer ved Four Points by Sheraton Vejle, vær ekstremt opmærksom – EuroPark Vejle er ikke der for at hjælpe – de venter på at slå ned og tjene penge på forvirring.

Predatory fine trap at Four Points by Sheraton Vejle – EuroPark targets foreign guests!

We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton Vejle from May 22–23, 2025, arriving with a foreign car around 17:00. The only available parking option is a garage right next to the hotel, operated by EuroPark Vejle.

We parked the car and went into the hotel to check in and ask if there was a special parking rate. Due to a queue and a room assignment issue, check-in took longer than expected. We were then told that we had to use a mobile app for parking. I installed and activated the app while still inside the hotel at 17:33.

However, EuroPark had already visited our car between 17:20 and 17:26 and issued a 910 DKK fine for exceeding the so-called "15-minute free period" – before we had even unloaded our luggage or had any chance to figure out how the system worked.

We also paid 138 DKK for parking from 17:33 to 09:25 the next morning, but that didn’t matter. Our complaint was coldly rejected with “the rules were followed”.

This is not parking management – this is a trap. It feels like EuroPark is intentionally targeting foreign drivers who don’t know the local app-based rules and fining them the moment they step away from the vehicle.

We felt exploited and unfairly treated. When staying at an international hotel, one expects proper guidance and flexibility – not a setup that profits from confusion.

Warning to future guests: If you're arriving from abroad and parking at Four Points by Sheraton Vejle, be extremely cautious – EuroPark Vejle is not there to assist, they are waiting to exploit your unfamiliarity for a quick fine.

Tried to book a London car park, even thou you pre book, it does not guarantee a parking space, other reviews state you get there and its full

Better park exactly between the marked lines otherwise you will be fined. Poor customer service concerning disputes over parking fines.

After a lovely day in Esbjerg we were rewarded with a fine of about 125€. Not because of a lack of payment but because my front right tire stood about 3mm on the marked line.

I respect the local authority and the rules they follow but in my opinion this is also a case of lack of interpretation and overdoing it.

Sadly welcome to RIP OFF UK. Absolute Scammers!
Website is not fit for use!

Correctly paid for Manchester airport drop off ( bank statement shows paid), and thought I took screenshot of payment page. Just received a PCN, and cannot find the screenshot so cannot prove payment for the registration.
An extra £5 for apcoa.
Seeing as their payment page initially timed out it perhaps shows how glitchy their systems are.