Parking wardens

[piiiiij 22]

Do these people bank on drivers not taking them up on their ridiculous claims?

On a related note, has anyone challenged such a thing before? This will be my first time so advice will be helpful.

[dubman 39]

No idea how legit this is....

5. Expired pay-and-display receipt

If you paid for parking but the receipt fell off the dash or was otherwise obscured, just mail it in and they'll waive the fine "by way of warning".

If the parking machine wouldn't accept your payment, that's a valid excuse too. Tell them the exact machine location, and snap a photo of the error message if possible.

Finally, there's a 10-minute grace period in the central-city parking zones.

www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9039641/How-to-get-out-of-a-parking-ticket

[Tristan 338]

I agree. Auckland parking wardens are fools. Girlfriend got ticketed outside our work.

"Parked for more than time limit. 30 minutes" - She parked RIGHT UNDER the 120 minute sign.

f**ks me off.

[hybrid 1043]

I had one outside my work the one day I drove in ... I closed the door and the ticket flopped over .. I took photos of everything and sent it in straight away .. took about 2-3 weeks but got over turned and I didnt have to pay.

The process does work if youre in the right. Just takes f*********cken ages.

[Palazzo 477]

Is that even a council ticket? Or a parking services or whatever they call themselves? If the latter, ignore it.

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

Parking wardens are like those annoying speed camera vans parked up on the mway.

I see at least 1 person get fined everyday in the akl cbd. I swear the one guy gets employee of the month. He is ruthless and has rifle scopes for eyes. Im sure the reason why the council wardens have cameras on them is due to this warden getting punched.

[MISS BM 712]

Revenue gathering in my opinion.. I have been ticketed for 'Not correctly displaying Vehicle registration'.
- it was there, in full eye view, could see my car was completely legal, but it was only 'half' in it's rightful holding place. Got it upturned straight away, but it did take many weeks. Same goes for registration or warrant, if you get it up to scratch pretty soon after the ticket is issued, you can generally get it waived.. Or in my case, you have cops with nothing better to do and give you a ticket without the option for compliance because my registration is 1 day past expiry.. Joys, oh joys.

[kingkarl 136]

Wellington is 100x worse than Auckland.

I got a warning ticket in Auckland a couple weeks back...

[pldubs 308]

I love these yarns!

It was pissing down one morning as it tends to here, so the missus drove into work. Parks in a 3 hour park, pays her 3 hours then runs up at smoko and pays for another 3 hours. Comes back 2 1/2 hours later to a fine for being in the park for too long. Best part is, the DCC said if she had rolled forward into the available park she wouldnt have got fined..

We also used to live right where she parked and I managed to bribe ( Box of beers ) the Saturday warden to not fine my van cause I was sick of waking up at 8am to move it around the corner.

Criminal bastards if you ask me.

[sascha 17]

Paul - I got the same ticket about a month back (was it at Wilson parking?). I was parked in the Takapuna car park which offers 2 hours free parking, and then in fine print (which I didn't notice) it says "must obtain a ticket".

Basically I didn't print out a free ticket from the machine and display the free ticket on my dashboard, so I got a $65 fine. I did some research into the matter because I thought this was ridiculous, and I found that although I did technically break the contract of parking in their carpark by not displaying said free ticket, they have no legal right to charge me this fee.

See the following information from the consumer affairs website:

Landowners have no legal basis for charging you a fine or penalty. Neither tort nor contract law allows them to punish you for breaking contractual terms or trespassing.
Landowners can only claim from you the expenses they reasonably incurred as a result of your contractual breach or trespass.

I sent them a letter disputing this fine, and telling them that I am only liable for paying the expenses which they incurred due to my failure to display the ticket, which is $0 - especially considering it was approx 9pm and the carpark was empty. I haven't heard back yet, but I just made it clear in my letter that if I don't hear anything back I will assume they have understood my reasoning and have waved the fine.

I'd say you should just print off that photo, and send it (along with your purchased ticket and a letter explaining what happened and why you won't be paying the fine) to the P.O. box on the back of the fine.

[Driftit 2078]

Does anyone have access to see who owns the car park around Albany Mall?

I see a council parking warden wandering around what i thought was Privately owned and maintained land. He turns up in his council car, hands out a ton of Rego/WOF fines and then buggers off.

I have had a similar fine as your Mrs Tyler. I paid for 2 hours near my old Uni. Left at lunch time. Came back 1 hour later and was dead lucky to get the same park. Paid for another 2 hours. Got a fine for not moving my car. $60 odd bucks. Wrote in to complain and around 2 months later they sent back a barely decipherable auto generated letter letting me off.

[Palazzo 477]

You mean the Westfield mall? Westfield will own it from memory. The council seems to have decided they can go on private land such as car parks for ticketing, they do it in the CBD. I would have thought you could argue the point that as you have rented/leased the space, it was no longer public, but private and they could sod off, but who knows?

[Palazzo 477]

Westfield do own it, just checked.

[Driftit 2078]

Hmm should look into the rules around this.

Because what is the difference between them entering private property at Westfield and entering private property at your home.

I will hit the guy up next time I see him. Which is often.

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

Perhaps Westfield and the local council have come to an agreement.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

Look up definition of a road for NZ, it includes car parks. So the council can issue wof and rego notices as you are on a "road" but not parking fines.

Very fine hairs to split, but that's what lawyers do.

[jeffbebe 1559]

I copped a 240 quid parking ticket in London so don't get too irate with a $12-40 fine in Auckland, especially if I actually deserve it!

[westy 614]

Look up definition of a road for NZ, it includes car parks. So the council can issue wof and rego notices as you are on a "road" but not parking fines.

Very fine hairs to split, but that's what lawyers do.

Far as I know, while (whilst?) that applies to the police it doesn't extend to council officers. As I understand it, there's usually an agreement between the owners and the cuntcil for access.

[westy 614]

Maybe/may not.

This was Hamilton recently

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hamilton-news/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503366&objectid=11065787

[Palazzo 477]

I think that's (reasonably) clear. Council owned property, yes, private, no.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

Unless the private property owners give permission?

My Mrs Tyler was nabbed at Botany shopping centre and I had to sort out the rego on-line while she was on the phone to me. Not sure if that is council or private??

[Palazzo 477]

Botany Town Centre is owned by AMP. I still think it would be an interesting case. I rent my car park, therefore it is mine, regardless of whether or not the council has been given access to the building, they don't have a right to be in my space anymore than someone who tries to park in it.

[Driftit 2078]

Unless the private property owners give permission?

My Mrs Tyler was nabbed at Botany shopping centre and I had to sort out the rego on-line while she was on the phone to me. Not sure if that is council or private??

Westfield shopping centre management general manager Linda Trainer said the centre provided substantial parking for shoppers within time allocations, and issues relating to the roadworthiness of vehicles should be checked carried by the council or police on public roads and not at shopping centres.

Oh and Botany is also private. Back in about 2005 I had an argument with a wheel clamp extortionist their. Was clamped for being in a 15 min car park for more than 10 mins. Wanted $80 cash to remove it. Lots of threats towards them and they took it off. As I worked around there I made sure I watched how they put it on. One extended hex key. About a T10. Next time I will get me a free clamp for the trailer.

[westy 614]

Council always gets their way.

'Play ball or we'll publicly notify every resource consent from here on out'

[Nobimmer 694]

Bryony just got a $60 fine in Takapuna for not having a visible ticket displayed. There was a ticket there clear as mud. Dopey guy couldn't see it. I am coming up with ideas on how I can go about emailing them. I have gotten off every fine I have queried.