Private Parking (IMPARK) tickets

[jolinar of malkshor]

Pay the ticket people and it will not go on your credit report. Why do so many people think that they do not have to pay for a ticket if they received it in an impark lot?

[moon]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Pay the ticket people and it will not go on your credit report. Why do so many people think that they do not have to pay for a ticket if they received it in an impark lot?

Because as many people have pointed out on this thread you don't have to pay them.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by fotze

And because they can be ****ing scumbags. Pay for your parking, tag clearly visible, complain to loser writing ticket being told to buzz off (dude obviously made an error but didn't want to go through the reversing process), complaining to the head office, being told to buzz off.

The assumption that the company always does the right thing when it comes to Impark is wildly baseless assumption. There is no recourse if something is wrongly put on your credit rating.

If you they gave you a ticket in error....I agree...one should take the appropriate steps to fix the problem. If that means not paying...well fine. But to not pay it because you don't like the company but you deserve the ticket. Well....that is called THEFT.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by moon

Because as many people have pointed out on this thread you don't have to pay them.

Yes you do have to pay them....just because they may not have a means to collect the fine...doesn't mean you DO NOT have to pay them.

[moon]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Yes you do have to pay them....just because they may not have a means to collect the fine...doesn't mean you DO NOT have to pay them.

Then why do I have to pay them. Because it is the "right" thing to do?

If they can't force me to pay tell why I HAVE to pay them.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by moon

Then why do I have to pay them. Because it is the "right" thing to do?

If they can't force me to pay tell why I HAVE to pay them.

Well ****......you must be one of those people that take all the stuff out of a an honor system then without paying eh.....they can't force you to pay...so you must just take it eh.

Nice attitude buddy.

[moon]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Well ****......you must be one of those people that take all the stuff out of a an honor system then without paying eh.....they can't force you to pay...so you must just take it eh.

Nice attitude buddy.

I have paid to park there in the past but it doesn't mean I have to.

You asked why people are acting like they don't have to pay them and I pointed out that the reason is because you don't have to pay them.

I never commented on whether it was the right thing to do or not, but in this case I am not going to be too choked about the loses that a company like Impark is forced to take. Perhaps if they didn't create phony collection agencies and try to bully/scare people into paying them money owed on false tickets while calling them at 2 am I would be more sympathetic, but Impark has shown itself to be a bunch of a-holes in this regard.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by moon

Impark has shown itself to be a bunch of a-holes in this regard.

That and they're too cheap to hire an attendant for each of their lots, if they had a gate there they wouldn't have to worry about people not paying. Considering how much money they rake in it's their own fault for being too cheap to cough up $15 an hour to hire some joe schmo to sit in a booth on their lots. I bet they lose at least twice as much with people not paying to park.

[WestEndFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Well ****......you must be one of those people that take all the stuff out of a an honor system then without paying eh.....they can't force you to pay...so you must just take it eh.

Nice attitude buddy.

Do you work for Impark or what? If so, maybe you can help me with a rumour that I heard, that Impark meter maids get paid commision for every ticket they give out.

Let me ask you this, if you had parked in a lot where none of the machines were working (this actually happened to me at Eau Claire market as I was going to a movie) and you get a ticket, even though you looked at all the machines, would you feel that you had to pay the 60 dollar fine for something that is entirely their fault.

Really, the company has almost no employees, an immense stack of money printing properties and they can't even keep their machines running, and I get a ticket for it, what a joke.

Or how about if you went to school, paid the machine, parked where everyone else was, that being not in the yellow lines, but with enough room that cars could go through, then found that you, along with about 40 other people all had 60 dollar fines for parking in the 'laneway'.

I'm not saying that every parking fine is unwarrented but it's not like Impark goes out of their way to act sensibly. At all.

And just because somebody doesn't pay a parking ticket does not mean that that person would not follow the 'honour system', that's just riduculous. Come on pal, not everyone is a saint like you, but were not all inherently evil either.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by WestEndFlamesFan

Do you work for Impark or what? If so, maybe you can help me with a rumour that I heard, that Impark meter maids get paid commision for every ticket they give out.

No I don't work for Impark.

Originally Posted by westendflamesfan

Let me ask you this, if you had parked in a lot where none of the machines were working (this actually happened to me at Eau Claire market as I was going to a movie) and you get a ticket, even though you looked at all the machines, would you feel that you had to pay the 60 dollar fine for something that is entirely their fault.

Like I said before....if you don't deserve a ticket....then you have a case of not paying it....maybe you didn't read that part....

Originally Posted by westendflamesfan

Really, the company has almost no employees, an immense stack of money printing properties and they can't even keep their machines running, and I get a ticket for it, what a joke.

If you received a ticket because the machine was out of order....then that sucks...I agree.....but again, that is not what I am talking about.

Originally Posted by westendflamesfan

I'm not saying that every parking fine is unwarrented but it's not like Impark goes out of their way to act sensibly. At all.

I don't use Impark that often...but of the 20-30 times I have used it....I haev never had a problem. So can't really comment on that.

Originally Posted by westendflamesfan

And just because somebody doesn't pay a parking ticket does not mean that that person would not follow the 'honour system', that's just riduculous. Come on pal, not everyone is a saint like you, but were not all inherently evil either.

Lets take a look at a few of the comments shall we.

Mail them a spoon and tell them to eat your ass

I took a business law class when I went to Grant MacEwan, and our teacher who was a criminal law lawyer, told us how to get out of Impark tickets, but for the life of me I can't remember exactly what you do. I remember him saying though, that he generally just takes Impark tickets and rips them up.

I threw out an impark ticket once

I'm still not paying my Impark tickets though.

never paid a ticket from them

if there's people out there who have ignored Impark tickets before without any credit implications, I'll tear up the letter and toss it

can go to hell if they think i am even going to waste a stamp on mailing it in.

I have a little scrap book album of unpaid parking tickets

I'd just toss them and never worry about it

I think that says it all. So go throw you "not everyone is a saint" comment out the fricken window.

[Bench Warmer]

Originally Posted by housejunk

I recently recieved a notice from a collections agency regarding an unpaid parking ticket I recieved about 3 years ago. I totally forgot about it, and I can't even remember if I paid it or not. Anyways, I have a quick question: has anyone had any recent experiece dealing with Impark and/or collection agencies? I've heard some innuendo that it can potentially show up on my credit report but haven't heard anything definitive. Has this happened to anyone? Anyone you know? Thanks.

Have had this happen to me a couple times before. They can't do much about it. Next time they call, when they ask for you, tell them that no such person lives at this place and they have a wrong number. I've never been bugged after that.

This is what I've been told but Impark is not an enforcement agency therefore cannot enforce tickets. The power they have is they can remove your vehicle from their property if you have no ticket/expired ticket/etc. If you have multiple offenses, they may tow your vehicle as well - I'm not sure. Or, they can send a collection agency after you with annoying phone calls but that's about it...

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by housejunk

Moneyguy, are you sure about this? I've heard the exact same rumour from several people. A drop in your FICO score of 100 is equivalent to a tax lien/bankruptcy. I can't imagine an unpaid parking ticket would result in such a dramatic hit to your credit.

The reason I'm skeptical, is because there are literally thousands of people who simply ignore private parking tickets, and those people must have loans/mortgages as well. I've yet to hear from or of a single person who has experienced a credit hit from an unpaid parking ticket. I'm left to wonder whether it is just fear mongering.

I am sure about it appearing on the credit report. I checked with an associate who is in this business before making my post. I'm not certain about the 100 pts. My associate quoted that number, but I can't swear to it's accuracy.

Bottom line: If this "debt" is turned over to a collection agency, it will affect your credit rating.

[Crazy Flamer]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

I am sure about it appearing on the credit report. I checked with an associate who is in this business before making my post. I'm not certain about the 100 pts. My associate quoted that number, but I can't swear to it's accuracy.

Bottom line: If this "debt" is turned over to a collection agency, it will affect your credit rating.

That's funny. I've had several issues handed over to collection agencies, not one of them has ever appeared on my credit report.

[Slava]

I think that moneyguy is right with his post, and generally think that these things affect your credit. I kind of think that this thread is amusing in general; people know that they are parking illegally and want to figure out ways to beat the system. I hate Impark as much as the next guy, and basically think that they are criminals, but I still pay the fee.

I did get a ticket from them, and sent them a quick note explaining that they were charging a ridiculous amount, and that they were entitled to their money lost and nothing else. I sent them a cheque for $2.00 and noted that by them cashing this they were accepring that as full payment. It's over and done with. Yes, it cost me $2.51 and about five minutes of my time, but that is far better than a possible mark on my credit!

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Crazy Flamer

That's funny. I've had several issues handed over to collection agencies, not one of them has ever appeared on my credit report.

One trick I used to use when I was younger, I would right away send a payment to the original debt holder. So if it was Canadian Tire, I would send CT the payment. When the collection agency would call back I would explain that I had just made a payment. Because the Collection Agency gets paid by buying the debt for a percentage of its value, they end up declining to buy it. Often it wouldn't show up on my credit as having gone to collections.

However IIRC Impark and their collection agency are one in the same, so my tip may not work.

[Tron_fdc]

If anyone would have had their credit rating lowered it would have been me....as I mentioned I had a wack of fines from them and never paid a cent. I've been over my credit rating (as recently as yesterday) and there's nothing on it from unpaid parking tickets.

I still think that they don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to sending someone to collections and having it affect their credit rating, but I can only speak from personal experience. I'm sure if they did have a way of affecting someones credit rating they would be doing it on a daily basis, and there would be a lot more people in this thread saying it had been done to them and would be mailing poo bags to their offices.

From what I've heard they can tow your car if it's on their lot and you owe them money, but even then they can't make you pay all the fines to get it out. This happened to my brother about 12 yers ago.....he owed them money, parked without a ticket again, and they towed his car. All he did was go to the impound lot and pay for towing; the city yard didn't ask for payment on imparks behalf at all.

Again, I'm only speaking from experience. No idea what legalities are.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think that moneyguy is right with his post, and generally think that these things affect your credit. I kind of think that this thread is amusing in general; people know that they are parking illegally and want to figure out ways to beat the system. I hate Impark as much as the next guy, and basically think that they are criminals, but I still pay the fee.

I did get a ticket from them, and sent them a quick note explaining that they were charging a ridiculous amount, and that they were entitled to their money lost and nothing else. I sent them a cheque for $2.00 and noted that by them cashing this they were accepring that as full payment. It's over and done with. Yes, it cost me $2.51 and about five minutes of my time, but that is far better than a possible mark on my credit!

I've only gotten one parking ticket from Impark (back in 1996), and that is also what I did. I just sent them what it would've cost to park longer. No big deal.

Not sure why people keep getting their panties in a twist over Impark. Yeah, they're stupid. Yeah, they run their business like maroons. But they're pretty easy to deal with if you know what you're doing. They're still better than the dorks that run the Bankers Hall parkade.

[Slava]

^^ I totally agree.

[Shazam]

If anyone would have had their credit rating lowered it would have been me....as I mentioned I had a wack of fines from them and never paid a cent. I've been over my credit rating (as recently as yesterday) and there's nothing on it from unpaid parking tickets.

I don't see why they couldn't affect your credit rating. But it costs companies money to put an entry onto your credit report, and Impark realizes that if they pulled such a stunt then people would really stop parking at their lots.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by Shazam

I don't see why they couldn't affect your credit rating. But it costs companies money to put an entry onto your credit report, and Impark realizes that if they pulled such a stunt then people would really stop parking at their lots.

It's possible that no real credit agency (not the one owned by impark) would buy the debt, as the chance of collection is probably quite low. I would imagine that there aren't going to be a lot of people with over $200 in impark fines, and if a collection agency buys that debt for 50% of its value are they actually going to waste all that time for $100?

It's possible it could affect your rating if you owed them over $500, but I would think they get more people to pay the tickets an make more money by sending out scary mail and using phone call threats than they would if they sold the debt to an actual reporting member of the credit bureau.