A Queenstown man is ‘‘fuming’’ after he received an $85 parking ticket while driving on the road — while the enforcement agency responsible has been slow to apologise to him.
On November 7, Greg Dorn drove through Queenstown Central just after midday, returning to the shopping centre and parking outside Hallensteins about two hours later.
Arriving at his car after half an hour of shopping, he was shocked to find an $85 infringement notice.
Having parked in an official parking spot for less than 60 minutes and with no signage, Dorn says he was confused as to why he was ticketed.
‘‘I thought that’s funny, why did I get a parking ticket if there was no sign?’’
‘‘I was fuming, what’s going on?’’ he says.
A closer look at the photo of his car’s ‘chalk time’ reveals Dorn was driving, not parked.
‘‘I look at the picture more closely and I realised one of the pictures was me just driving — I am on the road.
‘‘It looks like they [parking enforcement] stopped to have lunch because I’m right opposite Coffee Club and when you look I’m on the road.’’
That photo was taken about 12.35pm while the infringement was issued at 2.47pm.
Contacting the issuer, Parking Enforcement Services (PES), a division of Wilson Parking New Zealand Limited, Dorn tried to appeal the infringement, but was declined.
Twice.
It was not until after reaching out to Queenstown Central management the fine was waived.
The issue’s caused a lot of stress and he’s upset his two appeals were initially dismissed, leaving him concerned others may be too be fined when they’re not in the wrong.
Dorn says he wants assurance it won’t happen again.
A PES spokesperson tells Mountain Scene Dorn’s matter was ‘‘thoroughly investigated and Parking Enforcement Services have contacted him directly to waive the breach and apologise for any inconvenience’’.
Dorn confirms PES issued him an apology at 1.53pm yesterday, two minutes before the company issued its statement to Scene.
