Mum faces airport drop-off nightmare as £5 charge spirals into £170 fine - and threat of court action

A British mother has found herself facing a whopping £170 fine after a 'five-minute drop-off' at the airport. Josie Eccles, 32, jetted off from Manchester Airport with her mum and three-year-old son on May 30.Her husband drove the trio to terminal two's drop-off zone, unloaded their luggage and said goodbye before heading home. The marketing consultant from Cheshire claimed the couple forgot to pay the airport's £5 drop-off charge within the required 24-hour period.Mrs Eccles explained how they accepted they would have to pay a penalty and even tried checking the airport's payment portal for the charge – but no fine appeared. 'My husband was there for under five minutes,' she told creatorzine.com. Josie Eccles was dropped off at Manchester Airport by her husband on May 30 However, the couple forgot to pay the £5 drop-off charge within the required 24-hour period'A couple of days later, I was still in Malta and was speaking to my husband on the phone and asked if he had remembered to pay the charge.'I was frustrated that both of us had forgotten to pay within the allocated window, but aware that these things happen and just accepted we would probably have a penalty to pay.'My husband then checked the payment portal on the website where you usually pay the charge and entered the vehicle details, expecting to see a penalty fine, but nothing was there.'I tried again a few days later, and still no charge appeared, so we thought we'd just wait and see if we got a letter in the post.'However, two months later, a debt collection firm sent the couple a letter that claimed she had ignored previous correspondence and the charge had since risen to £170.Mrs Eccles was given the option of paying the £170 in full or £42.50 over four months, while the letter warned the amount could increase further and potentially lead to court action. She says she was baffled because she had never received the original parking charge notice. 'I was very confused, as it had been two months since the airport drop-off and I had received no correspondence at all so to receive a letter from a debt recovery company seemed rather extreme,' said the Brit. Mrs Eccles claims she didn't hear anything about the fine until two months later, when the pair received a letter from a debt collection firm'At this point, I thought it must be a misunderstanding, and I would be able to resolve the issue by speaking with them.'But when she tried to appeal the charge through Manchester Airport's car parking operator, APCOA, she claimed she received an automated response telling her that she had missed the appeal window and that the matter had already been passed to debt collectors.Mrs Eccles then called the debt recovery firm to explain what had happened. She claimed the company said Manchester Airport had evidence that a letter had been sent to her on June 5.When she asked whether it had been sent by tracked or recorded delivery, she was allegedly told it hadn't. She said: 'Not at any point did I try to get out of paying anything.'I just wanted the opportunity to pay the initial fine, which would have been £60 if paid within 14 days.'The only way I would know how to pay the penalty fine was by reading the instructions sent in the letter, so without the letter I had no chance of ever paying the charge before it was handed over to debt recovery.'He said my options were to either pay the fine in full, which is £170, or I could seek independent legal advice and email in a dispute that they would look into it.' By then, the charge had since risen to £170 and when she tried to appeal it she was told by Manchester Airport's car parking operator, APCOA, the appeal window had closedMeanwhile, Mrs Eccles said she has been sent two further letters threatening potential court action and warning that the amount could rise to up to £235.The mother claimed she contacted the debt firm again and said a member of staff confirmed that her emails had been received, but told her the company would not investigate disputes.She claimed she was told she could either pay £170 or go to court, where the charge could potentially rise. She also claimed she was then told that Manchester Airport would be responsible for taking any court action.Mrs Eccles said: 'I completed an online enquiry for Manchester Airport explaining I wanted to pay the £60 fine, detailed my communication with the debt company and reattached the dispute I had submitted to them with all the legal grounds.'Within 10 seconds of submitting, I had received an AI response stating this had been handed over to debt recovery and I should liaise directly with them.'I then forwarded that response along with my online enquiry submission to the complaints department, saying that was not an adequate response and I would like somebody to review the case so I can resolve this and pay the £60 fine.'I have still not had any response or acknowledgement.'Mrs Eccles has accepted she forgot to pay the original £5 charge on May 30 but she believes the escalation is unfair. She claimed she has been told she could either pay £170 or go to court, where the charge could potentially riseShe said: 'I'm extremely frustrated. I hold my hands up; we forgot to pay the standard £5 charge within the next 24 hours, so a fine was expected, but to increase it to up to £235 was ridiculous.'If I had been ignoring communication, it would maybe be justified, but I have responded to every bit of communication I have received, which surely shows I would have responded had I received the initial letter.'I can afford to pay the fine; it's not about financial difficulty. It's about the principle of the system being set up to catch you out and the lack of reason they have.'If the letter is so important, surely it would be sent tracked? Or at least they would try a few attempts before sending it over to debt collectors.'An APCOA spokesman said: 'We have been in contact with the customer and offered the original charge of £60.'The customer has since made payment of the £60, and the matter is now resolved.'The Daily Mail has approached Manchester Airport for comment.