I did a search of the forums and there are several threads about Wilson Parking/PESNZ already, but many of them are quite old now.  So I'm looking for a little up-to-date advice here.

I regularly parked in a Wilson Parking site here in Palmerston North (a literal gravel pit) where the earlybird parking fee is $1/day, so rock-bottom in terms of prices.  I pay using the Parkmate app.

On the day in question, I parked and took out my phone, opened the app and went through all the way up to the point where I normally tap on the "start parking" button.  In this case, I think I must have mis-pressed the button, and just put it in my pocket without checking, being in a hurry.  It wasn't until I opened my phone a few hours later that I saw it still on the app, not activated.  I immediately went out to the car where the parking breach notice had been placed at 10.03am (2 hours after I parked, and right after the earlybird period ended).  I moved my car out of the carpark, and went online and paid for the earlybird rate, plus what I felt was a fair and reasonable charge for their administration - $5.  I then wrote to explain that I was appealing the breach notice, and that I had paid what I believed was a reasonable settlement, and considered the matter closed.  I've done this twice in the past 3 years, each case being a similar mistake, and in both cases they were waived.  Not this time though...

They wrote back a few weeks later to say that they didn't accept my explanation or my settlement, and insisted on payment.  I wrote back explaining that I didn't accept their insistence on payment, and re-affirmed my appeal.  I also explained that I was prepared to go to the Disputes Tribunal, and requested the necessary details to enable me to complete my DT claim form.  They wrote back this week saying that they still didn't accept my appeal, and claimed that all the necessary details for me to file my claim are on the back of the breach notice (I don't think they are).

So now I'm left in a bit of a dilemma - do I follow through on my threat to go to the DT, or not?  In my view, the charge they are levying ($65 + $20 for late payment) is excessive in relation to the daily charge of $1.  They claim this is because the cost to recover the lost revenue is high (i.e. they have to pay a person to clomp around the parking lot and print off tickets).  But I contend that any costs of checking compliance (i.e. their parking enforcement system) needs to be built into the ordinary parking charges, not the enforcement costs.  For instance, if there was 100% compliance (and no breach notices issued), they are still required to pay the costs of checking for compliance.  I argue that the cost of enforcement is the marginal cost for a person to stand in front of my car and confirm the details, and print the ticket and slide it under my windscreen wiper.  Maybe my assessment of $5 is too low, but $65 is clearly too high.

What do all the bush lawyers out there suggest I do?  Call their bluff and lodge the claim with the DT?  Any advice on constructing my argument in case it actually goes that far?  Or am I being childish here and should I pay the balance of their demand?  For the moment, I'm inclined to write a third letter and assert that they still haven't supplied the required details for the DT claim form, and insist that until they provide such details I will be unable to submit my claim and consider the matter closed until further notice.