Refusal to waive $85 fine after scam rankles

A DUNEDIN couple say it is unfair how hard they have had to fight to overturn a parking breach after they were scammed in Queenstown.

Gerard Casey and his wife, Janet, had been attending a friend’s birthday early last month, arriving back late to discover their Frankton hotel’s park was full.

The hotel staff had told them earlier in the day they could use a Wilson Parking space for a $10 fee.

But when they attempted to download the ParkMate app to pay, they fell victim to a scam that tried to access their credit card and withdraw $US45 ($NZ76) three times, forcing their bank to intervene and cancel their card.

Mr Casey said their hotel reception was closed and they were unable to pay using a different method, leaving them feeling distressed and helpless.

The next morning, they discovered they had been hit with an additional $85 breach notice.

They appealed to Wilson Parking with several screenshots from their bank showing the fraudulent attempts.

‘‘We were willing to pay the $10. We said that right at the start. What we objected to was being fined $85 and the fact that they refused to take evidence from us and that we were fair and reasonable and weren’t trying to get out of any payment,’’ Mr Casey said.

On March 18, Wilson Parking declined the couple’s request, saying that based on the evidence and circumstances ‘‘there do not appear to be any other factors that might make the enforcement of the breach notice unreasonable in this instance’’.

They appealed again, only to be declined again on April 9 and given a similar response, saying the circumstances did not ‘‘constitute sufficient reasons’’.

That was when Mr Casey resorted to posting on LinkedIn.

It was unreasonable to be penalised when they had tried to do the right thing and he wanted to alert others to the fraudulent ParkMate app copycats, Mr Casey said.

It did not take long for Wilson Parking to contact him and put him in touch with ParkMate which asked for the fee to be waived within 11 hours of receiving Mr Casey’s email.

Wilson Parking has confirmed the notice has been waived.

A spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience, saying they sympathised with the frustration caused by the unfortunate circumstances.

‘‘We would like to clarify our stance on the matter of fraudulent activity and breach notices. While fraudulent activity is indeed a valid reason for waiving a breach notice, we must also ensure that such claims are thoroughly vetted to prevent misuse of this reason,’’ Wilson Parking said.

‘‘With the unfortunate increase in fraudulent activity, we have seen instances where this excuse is used by some individuals to evade legitimate parking fees. However, in Mr Casey’s case, upon further examination, it is evident that his situation warranted consideration for waiver.

‘‘We appreciate Mr Casey’s patience throughout this process and commend his commitment to upholding fairness and justice. We remain committed to providing efficient and fair resolution processes for all our customers.’’ — RNZ