Delivery Driver Charged $3.1K At Jewel Changi Carpark, Jewel Spokesperson Explained Why This Happened


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So, Jewel Changi is clearly the subject of the month. People are raving about the huge selection of restaurants new to Singapore, and the beauty of the water vortex and Shiseido Forest Valley.

Really, the praise is well deserved but incessant nonetheless.

How about a reason to refuse a trip to Jewel for a change? The place is swamped right now so there’s cause to wait.

Another reason? The exorbitant parking rates.

A Parking Charge of $3158.72

On Wednesday (24 April), a delivery driver going by the name of Supra Mac was confronted with this.

Supra uploaded the picture on Facebook and it went viral.

In case you can’t load the photo, it shows a carpark payment machine requesting a fee of $3,158.72, which Supra was charged upon exiting Jewel Changi.

The caption was, of course, “what a day”.

Having only dwelled at the loading/unloading bay at Jewel for 45 minutes tops, he was shocked when he found himself unable to leave the carpark due to “insufficient balance”.

And it was suspicious to him, considering that he had just topped up his Cashcard in the morning.

“When I saw the amount, it was like a joke,” he said.

But, hey, as it turns out, there’s a reason for everything.

Previous Exit Not Registered

Leaving your car at your workplace carpark for 8 hours every day can already leave you feeling bitter.

Ever wondered how much debt you’d rack up if you camped in a carpark for 14 days? Probably not, but here’s us telling you anyway. It’s about $3,158.72 because that’s exactly what happened here, as far as the carpark is concerned.

Basically, as explained by a spokesman for Jewel Changi Airport Devt, the same driver had come to Jewel’s loading/unloading bay on 10 April and his exit that day had not been registered.


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In other words, if you were to park at Jewel Changi Airport for two weeks? You might just be paying your entire month’s salary to the place.

But wait, is it really that expensive?

Apparently, yes and no.

Parking Rates in Jewel

If you park in Jewel Car Park, the rate is $3.60 for the first 1.5 hour, and then $5 every 0.5 hour. Now, note that this car park is more for short-term parking.

In other words, 14 days of parking in that area would be $3,336.60 – which is agak agak the amount mentioned above.


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But of course, as mentioned, this is a car park for short-term parking; if the car has been parked in other car parks in the airport, there often a maximum charge of $35 to $57.60 for every 24 hours of parking.

So don’t worry; if you know where to park, it’s not that expensive after all.

Making Sure Your Exit is Registered

How do you do that? By not being that impatient, apparently.

The spokesman says maintaining “a safe distance” from the car ahead will help the parking system successfully record all entrances and exits.

But apparently, this rule of the thumb doesn’t always apply. Supra claimed that he did not tailgate any vehicle on the 10th, nor did he encounter any issues driving out of the carpark.

No Penalty Charges

Luckily, no harm fell upon him. Being faced with the ridiculous sum, he communicated with a Jewel staff member over the intercom and was let out of the carpark after 10 to 15 minutes with the fee waived.


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In the end, this was just an unforeseen circumstance that the staff at Jewel were very reasonable about.

As Supra said: “I think no one is to blame. It was just an error and they resolved it.”

But the image will probably become a meme anyway.

What a day.