Ticketing system ‘prehistoric, chaotic’

An Auckland man has had his $65 parking ticket waived after GPS and CCTV proved he was 6km away from the car park when the warden marked him entering it.

Sales representative Dyllan Cochrane, 31, received the fine for overstaying the two-hour limit while parked outside the Mt Wellington City Fitness gym on October 12.

CCTV confirmed Cochrane entered the parking lot at 3.03pm and the ticket was issued at 4.37pm – well within the time limit of the two-hour zone.

Cochrane complained to Wilson Parking, which stated the warden listed him entering the parking lot at 2.20pm.

However, the GPS tracker in Cochrane’s car proves that he was in Greenlane at that time.

‘‘It’s frustrating, if I didn’t have all this evidence they probably would have got away with this fine.

‘‘It makes you wonder how many times they do get away with it,’’ Cochrane said.

‘‘I’ve spoken to friends who have had similar experiences.’’

Cochrane claimed he questioned the parking warden about the ticket at the time, and the worker admitted he had no clue when Cochrane arrived.

The warden told him that he only knew he had a ‘‘chalked tyre’’ which meant that he must have exceeded the limit.

But Cochrane criticised the ‘‘prehistoric and chaotic’’ ticketing system. ‘‘That’s how the system works. ‘‘The warden simply chalks the

Dyllan Cochrane tyre, and if the car is still there when he comes back, he’ll ticket them,’’ he said.

Emails between Parking Enforcement Services, a division of Wilson Parking, and Cochrane initially saw the company remain adamant that he was illegally parked.

The company wrote: ‘‘After careful consideration of the evidence, we can confirm the vehicle was parked in excess of the maximum time allowed and was in breach of the Terms and Conditions.

‘‘Please make sure in the future you comply with the Terms and Conditions, as any further Breach Notices under these circumstances won’t be waived.’’

However, in response to Cochrane’s multiple complaints, the group waived the fine.

Wilson Parking confirmed the ticket was waived after ‘‘additional information was provided by the client’’, but refused to comment further.

Cochrane said he was annoyed Wilson Parking did not initially admit the error and said the ‘‘flawed’’ chalk system used to police car parks needed to be addressed.

‘‘If I didn’t have all this evidence they probably would have got away with this fine.’’