I had occasion to go downtown Saturday afternoon and parked on a lot at 45 Richmond Street E…..there was no Attendant on duty, so I went to the machine, scanned my credit card and bought a parking receipt for 3 hours parking, which I placed on my dashboard in clear view. I returned to my car about 75 mins later and was astonished to find a Notice on my windshield from Imperial Parking Canada Corp stating that “I was parked on private property without displaying a proper pass or sufficient valid dispenser ticket as detailed below’ and the said details showed ‘Failure to Display Proper Receipt’ and ‘Receipt Not From This Lot’ WTF!! It demanded payment for $68.90, or $39.59 if paid within 7 days. It pointed out that “Patrollers Cannot Cancel Notices”. It states on the back that if the bill is unpaid after 30 days it will be forwarded to a debt collection agency for collection and additional charges will accrue…..They also threaten to tow my vehicle ‘from property managed by us and/or take legal action’
I looked at my receipt and looked at my position and could not understand the problem….then I realized that I had purchased my ticket at the wrong machine! There are apparently two parking lots adjacent to each other with no clear distinction between them. One faces unto Richmond St E and the other faces the street immediately south of Richmond. It all looks like one big lot, with a vacant Attendant’s hut between them. I got my ticket from the machine at this hut…. however there is another machine on the south side of Richmond which I never saw when I parked my vehicle! Apparently I should have got my ticket from this machine! It was a genuine innocent mistake on my part!
So, my problem is, what should I do? Are their actions legit? As I see it, I have 4 choices!
1.Cut a check for $39.59 and write it off as a bad experience.
2.Ignore it and risk future damage to my excellent credit rating and telephone harassment from a Collection Agency plus more costs.
3.Try to explain my predicament to Imperial, show my receipt from the wrong machine, and hope they will back off. I doubt it!
4.Wait for the matter to go to Court and plead my case before a judge??
Are there any Terbites who may be familiar with the actions of ‘Imperial’ or who may have had similar experiences? Is their ‘Notice’ (which is numbered and shaped like a parking ticket) legally enforceable?
I have 7 days to make up my mind and would appreciate your helpful comments.
I looked at my receipt and looked at my position and could not understand the problem….then I realized that I had purchased my ticket at the wrong machine! There are apparently two parking lots adjacent to each other with no clear distinction between them. One faces unto Richmond St E and the other faces the street immediately south of Richmond. It all looks like one big lot, with a vacant Attendant’s hut between them. I got my ticket from the machine at this hut…. however there is another machine on the south side of Richmond which I never saw when I parked my vehicle! Apparently I should have got my ticket from this machine! It was a genuine innocent mistake on my part!
So, my problem is, what should I do? Are their actions legit? As I see it, I have 4 choices!
1.Cut a check for $39.59 and write it off as a bad experience.
2.Ignore it and risk future damage to my excellent credit rating and telephone harassment from a Collection Agency plus more costs.
3.Try to explain my predicament to Imperial, show my receipt from the wrong machine, and hope they will back off. I doubt it!
4.Wait for the matter to go to Court and plead my case before a judge??
Are there any Terbites who may be familiar with the actions of ‘Imperial’ or who may have had similar experiences? Is their ‘Notice’ (which is numbered and shaped like a parking ticket) legally enforceable?
I have 7 days to make up my mind and would appreciate your helpful comments.
