Hi folks,

So here's the deal. I parked my car a couple of weekends ago at the Waverley St carpark in town owned by Tournament Parking. I paid $8 for a full 12 hours parking as per the link below, which states that a ticket is valid for 12 hours from time of purcahse.

http://www.tournament.co.nz/car-park-rate/?meta_id=253


I thought all was well and good until I received a letter in the mail last week saying I had breached parking conditions and that I had to pay a 'fee' of $65. Obviously, I was quite peeved and wrote a strongly worded email to them in disgust appealing the infringement notice.

Below is the reply I got from Marcus Baker of NZCMS (owned by Tournament Parking). What? A $65 fee because I did not pay 50c credit card transaction fee? Aren't these transaction fees automatic? It has certainly been the case at every other place I have parked. Note that I still haven't received the 'original' infringement notice that they left at the car park, which states the reason why I breached their terms and conditions.

I now have to pay $40.50 instead of the original $65 as per the below email. What are my options here? Can I fight this in the Disputes Tribunal or should I pay up? 

Cheers and thanks for your help in advance.





CARPARK MONITORING SERVICES – BREACH NUMBER  XXXXXX

 

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the breach notice you received on your vehicle. We have thoroughly reviewed your letter and investigated all of the surrounding circumstances regarding your appeal. We would also like to bring to your attention that details of Valid Appeals can be located on our website www.nzcms.co.nz.

Unfortunately you did not make the payment of the 50c credit card transaction fee.

The Terms and Conditions of Parking at the Carpark, clearly state:

"ATTENTION: Vehicles failing to comply with the Terms and Conditions of parking and clearly displaying a valid parking ticket/ID card on the dashboard with the date and expiry time clearly visible will be issued a Parking Breach Notice (charging an invalid parking fee plus an enforcement administration fee) and/or towed and/or clamped at the owner’s risk and expense."

Unfortunately in this instance it appears that you have not followed The Terms and Conditions. As a result, your vehicle was properly issued with a Parking Breach Notice and you thereupon became liable for the fee. Under the circumstances presented to us we are unable to authorise that this Parking Breach Notice be waived.

We would like to point out that our Parking Breach Notice fees are clearly set out at the rates board; an invalid parking fee of $25.00 and an Enforcement Administration Fee of $40.00. The $65 is not related to the 8 minutes parked overtime specifically in your situation, just that you had been issued with a Parking Breach Notice at this time.

Although we sympathize with your position in this instance, we trust that you will appreciate that the onus rests upon each individual car parker to ensure that a valid pay and display parking ticket is properly displayed for the duration of their stay in the Carpark.

However, as an act of good will I am willing to reduce the amount to the $40.00 administrative component of the breach plus the 50c credit card transaction fee. Therefore, the total amount would be $40.50.

In order to avoid further fees being incurred, please ensure that the full payment of $40.50 is received within 14 days of the date of this email. Please remember to include your Parking Breach Number with all payments and retain all receipts. You can go to our website to view the payment options at www.nzcms.co.nz

Yours faithfully

Carpark Monitoring Services

Enforcement Administration
Marcus Baker