Ask an expert

Hi there,
As a student of the University, I often park in the Wilson Tennis carpark near the Owen Glenn Business building. Last November when going into uni to study, I parked my vehicle in the carpark and subsequently made payment by credit card for whole day parking(12 hours). When I returned less than 6 hours later, I was shocked to have received an infringment notice for not having a valid ticket displayed. I kept my ticket and lodged an appeal, on Parking Enforcement Services website as requested when I called them. In this appeal, I provided them with a copy of my ticket. I then received a notice from them in the mail saying that since the fine has not been paid it has increased from the original $65 to $85. Later on I received another letter advising that my appeal has been denied and since the amount is still outstanding they have passed it onto debt collectors. I then sent out another letter asking for the reason my appeal was denied and that I could provide proof of payment. In my last communication from them I received a payment request from a debt collection agency who now are asking for $125.

That is my current situation and I will take it as far as I can and have no intention of paying anything towards them. I feel though common sense has failed with this company.

Darin Dickson
Student, University of Auckland

Sadly your story is not uncommon. Your only option now is to take the parking company to the Disputes Tribunal (an option they should have provided in their last correspondence). Once you inform the company of this, they must suspend all debt collecting activities until the matter is resolved by the Tribunal. Unfortunately this means you will have to take time out to put your case, and have a basic understanding of the relevant law. There is also a risk if the Tribunal does not rule in your favour that you will be liable for court costs which may be around $120 (on top of the fine). Based on your explanation, the company should waive the fine, often it takes the threat of the Disputes Tribunal to make them see sense. You may have seen some recent publicity on this issue, so another option is to take your story to the media which might help resolved the matter in your favour. If you email your contact details to mstockdale@aa.co.nz we can discuss your options further, otherwise let us know the outcome.