Discounts and a deserted car park - what's going on with the Trafford Centre's Premium Parking?

There's barely a car to be seen in the Trafford Centre's controversial Premium Parking area - so what exactly is going on?

It's a dull and drizzly Saturday morning at the Trafford Centre - prime conditions for shoppers heading in their droves to the giant mall. The car parks are already looking packed by 11.30am - well, all except one car park that is.

Over at Premium Parking, the Trafford Centre's first pay-for car park which was launched amid much fanfare exactly six months ago, there's barely a car to be seen.

Walking over the Upper Peel 5 concourse to the now barriered-off section for Premium Parking, it's that empty you'd be forgiven for thinking this was an area not currently in use at the centre.

It appears that paying for parking at the sprawling shopping centre, which boasts some 11,500 free spaces across the rest of its 17 car parks, is a concept that has not quite caught on all that much among shoppers.

Our visit was at 11.30am on the Saturday of the May bank holiday weekend - with huge crowds of people heading inside at the start of the school holidays.

Yet when the MEN visited, there were just three cars parked in the Premium Parking area which has capacity for 199 parking bays.

We returned an hour later, by now peak Saturday lunchtime for traffic, yet still only five cars parked there - in stark contrast to the packed free car park right next to it.

We also visited on three previous occasions across May, and the most cars we counted on the car park at any one time was eight.

When the pay-for car park was first announced last year by Trafford Centre bosses, it was billed as a new "elevated experience" with new larger spaces befitting of luxury 4x4 style motors, as well as family cars.

They hoped it would appeal to shoppers keen to guarantee they could park right by one of the main entrances to the mall, right next to designer department store Selfridges.

Pricing was announced on a "peak" and "off peak" sliding scale, ranging from £4 an hour in the week to £7 an hour on weekends, although capped to a maximum of £21 for a full day.

To add to the VIP experience, shoppers are also able to book valet parking at the site with operators H20, as well as luxe car valets for up to £217.

But it's fair to say the pay-for parking plan was not exactly well received by the majority of shoppers when it was first announced.

Readers flooded the MEN's Facebook page and comments section, many furious to hear the prices of up to £7 an hour to park at a shopping centre famed for its vast free parking sites which they slammed as "a joke".

Now, six months on since it first opened, clearly something isn't adding up about that initial pricing.

For across May, the Trafford Centre began a full-month promotion offering 50% off all parking rates.

This has been followed up in June by a new promotion - which has seen all prices now slashed to a standard £7.50 rate on weekdays and weekends for a full day's parking.

We asked the Trafford Centre if there were plans to permanently change the prices, given the May and June discounts that have been applied.

A spokesperson said: "Ahead of the busy summer period we’ve been running some promotions and incentives to drive further awareness.

"Customer feedback has been broadly positive, but with this being a new service we’ll continue to monitor data and insights to evolve and improve."

The MEN also asked what reaction and take-up has been since launching the car park which they say has been "well received". They did not respond to our request for specific numbers that have used the pay-for car park since it was introduced.

A spokesperson said: "Our Premium Parking service has been well received by customers looking for a more convenient place to park, with larger parking bays and valet cleaning options available for an elevated parking experience.

"As you’d expect, we do see slightly higher numbers of customers using the service at peak times, for example, weekends and school holidays."

There has also been confusion from some members of the public, particularly for those not from the area, who say they thought they had to now pay to use ALL car parks at the centre.

One user took to Reddit to get clarification, asking "Is premium parking the only option?" with other members soon putting them straight as to the rules.

Meanwhile on public reviews website Tripadvisor ShazzaB10 from Derby wrote a scathing review of the service. She wrote: "VIP Parking... don't waste your money. We paid £18 but Sat Nav co-ordinates took us to the M&S car park, No signs or directions to VIP car parking that we could see or that our 2024 Sat Nav could follow.

"After driving around for over half an hour on an extremely busy ring road we just gave up and decided to park the car in the FREE... yes... FREE car parking spaces next to John Lewis.

"Having never visited the Trafford Centre before I thought that it was all paid parking like other city centre shopping Malls, and that buying the VIP parking just gave you a little more space (like child parking centre spaces at supermarkets). I have an 86 year old disabled dad.

They added: "Just park in one of the many thousands of FREE... yes 100% Free ... absolutely fit for purpose parking spaces at the Trafford Centre."

We put the complaints to the Trafford Centre who said it was the first they'd heard of any issues like it.

A spokesperson said: "We’ve not received any complaints about this. We’d advise customers check our website in advance of their visit to plan their journey. Our website details all travel options, including public transport services, free parking and Premium Parking."