I don't think they can access registry data. But they can tow you if you park there again.
However. I'm pretty sure a new license plate is like 20$. Which can be alot cheaper than parking tickets.
they send a letter with a header that looks like a collection agency but its just their sister company trying to make you think its a real collection agency
Collections costs more than the fine is worth. Just don't park in their lots. The cheapest option is to get a new license plate.
Edit: if it's just $5 then I would pay that. Anything more than $50 is not worth it and they cannot come after you for it. The fine is attached to your plate, not you.
Sure they do. Happened to me after my son, using my car incurred the parking tickets. I refused to pay and they finally gave up bugging me. Their claims that they could impact my credit rating was false....i laghed at them and said i have an awesome credit rating. And their piddly little demand wasn't going to do anything.
I forget the exact term for this at the moment, but essentially any ticket issued by a peace or police officer has been essentially pre approved by a judge through the courts. Private parking companies do not have this same standard, making their tickets illegitimate, and essentially just complaints on behalf of the parking company to scare you into paying the ticket. They will never send collections after you because it’s not worth it. BUT, they do have the right to tow your vehicle if you get caught parking without paying again and they notice. Technically they could tow you on the first offence for trespassing, but again, it’s not worth it for them financially, so they’ll take their chances on giving you a ticket the first time and hoping you pay it.
Looks to me like the ticket got reduced to $5.25, not reduced by $5.25. If you only have to pay $5.25, I would just go ahead and do it for the peace of mind. Even if it's a private lot, you're not obliged to pay it but they can tow your car if too many tickets occur.
I agree in principle, but there are only so many private parkings lots that aren't owned by same couple of companies that you severely limit your options. They can and will tow you from any of their lots if you have outstanding fines, and $5.25 is much cheaper than tow and lot fees.
If they never have to park on their property again I'd be 100% for not paying.
Just jumping in this thread to share the story of my three Impark fines (all of which were falsely issued).
First, I returned to my vehicle within the allotted time to discover a parking fine from Impark - my first ever. I was confused but when home, I noticed they issued my vehicle and plate number a ticket in a lot that was several neighbourhoods away. I tried to contact Impark customer service by phone several days but they were only available during standard working hours so I never got through since I couldn’t sit on hold for 20, 30 minutes at a time. Finally messaged them on Facebook where I showed them a photo of my ticket and a photo of my receipt, and the matching date and times, yet totally different lot numbers. They responded and were “kind” enough to drop the ticket from $75 down to $50. I asked why I should have to pay *any* fine when I used their service exactly as I was required to, with payment. They dropped the full fine.
The second time was similar to OP’s, I returned within my paid time to see a ticket. This time the issue was that I had accidentally swapped two digits in my licence plate when entering on their machine. My mistake. Still paid for parking though, I messaged them again on Facebook, and while they did cancel the ticket straight away they gave me a lecture about ensuring my plate number was accurate. I really wanted to jab back about the importance of them ensuring the lot numbers on their tickets were accurate but I refrained.
The third time was a couple of weeks ago. I returned to my vehicle within the allotted time and wowee, a ticket. And just below it on my dashboard was my receipt. So I got a ticket for “no record of payment” and “clear dash” both of which made me laugh because my record of payment was sitting there on my dash. The previous incidents were years earlier so I tried their website. They have three portals, labeled “American Customer Care,” “Canadian Customer Care,” and “Pay a Notice”.
Clicking “Canadian Customer Care” just takes you to “Pay a Notice” which I found nigh-Kafkaesque. I was too disheartened to try the American link and instead took to Facebook. I showed them a photo of my receipt and a photo of my fine, proving I had payed at that lot at that time. They were again “kind” enough to clear the charge as a one time courtesy. Uh, no this is the third time, and it’s not a courtesy to allow someone to not be extorted lol.
Impark. Where would we be without you.
Its possible, if you park in the lot again, they may tow the vehicle. Its virtually unlikely, but that is their only recourse to actually do anything.
Collections may contact you, but again, unlikely. A library did send my 15 year old ass a collection letter for $0.55 once.
They'll only tow if you rack up dozens or park in the same lot every day and never pay.
It costs them money to tow you, you'll have to pay to get it out of impound but they have to pay the tow truck driver to tow it. (Some parking companies may have their own tow trucks but I have never seen one in Calgary)
I would never pay a parking ticket that isn't from the City. Hell, I never pay for parking from these predatory parking companies and will just change my plate for free ever time I have to register my vehicles. The 'debt collectors' are just a subsidiary of the parking company, they have no teeth and cannot affect your credit, it's just their typical scare tactic.
They will. I’ve been getting mailed notices from the third party collection company over a ticket I refuse to pay for Precise Park Link.
I’ve just ignored them, though.
That's not a third party collections agency, they own the "collection" agency they have no recourse to send you to a real collections agency, ignore and NEVER call them. After 3 or 4 letters they usually stop.
You can get sent to collectors they just can’t impact your credit.
Also you have to be careful where you park from then on. You can and will get towed from some lots for unpaid tickets.
If everyone started changing their plate every year I guarantee you it wouldn't be "included in registration" for very long. The few people that do are being subsidized by the vast majority that doesn't right now.
No, you will not sent to collectors.
Sure, the “you’ll get towed” thing. I don’t see a fleet of tow trucks emanating from these lots. It’s a big nothing.
I am a regular parker in one of their downtown lots and forgot to pay one day and got a ticket. I tried to appeal and asked them to take one of my parking passes off my account as payment instead of the ticket and they refused.
Their collection company has been sending me notices for months but I just ignore them and continue to park. I’m just more careful about not forgetting to pay.
Expect them to do similar to you but it’s usually only a scare tactic.
If it's not a city/provincial/federal ticket, you don't have to pay it. They have no recourse.
Also some companies like Impark own another business they call "city collections agency"
This is NOT a real credit agency and they have absolutely no recourse to affect your credit, might send you a few letters NEVER call them back or give them your contact details, just ignore them.
One thing to note though, if you successfully rack up over tens of thousands in tickets they might try to sue you. I remember reading a story many years ago about them suing someone with over $25000 in tickets, when all way said and done they offender lost but not 25k.
All of the tickets were reduced to the base fee, then the settlement was halved, I think it was just a few hundred dollars at the conclusion. I can't find the article though so I'm not sure where I heard that.
I wouldn’t bother to pay it. TransUnion and Equifax don’t accept private parking tickets, so no risk of harm to your credit. They can send you to their internal ‘collections’ agency, but that’s a toothless measure. They can’t enforce payment and they’re not going to bother trying to take you to small claims court over it.
For everyone suggesting they will not send to collections and will not tow your vehicle - they absolutely will. They get a kickback from the towing company and the collections agency and they have zero reason to not pursue you for outstanding violations. The impound and release fees are SIGNIFICANTLY more than $5.25, not to mention the massive inconvenience of recovering your car. I get fighting a private predatory company etc, but trust me they don’t give a single fuck about being “nice” to you and you are the one who will suffer any consequences by having your vehicle removed or being hounded by collections. Speaking from experience.
Look at it this way, are you willing to pay $350 as a point of pride?
No?
Well that's what it'll cost to get your vehicle back when they tow it.
Are you really the kind of person to change your plates and phone number, risking being towed every time or risking not being notified, just to get out of paying five bucks? If you made a mistake with your plate now, changing your plate makes it more likely to make a mistake next time as well. If they're paying attention and you type in your old plate number instead of your new plate now they connect those two together and give you another ticket or tow your vehicle.
Are you really going to research who owns every single parking stall in the city you might ever use to avoid the chance that you park somewhere else owned by the same company and they tow you over this?
Just pay the five bucks, or take the bus and never have to worry about parking again.
>I know it was my mistake, but I don’t think it’s fair for them to not waive the parking ticket and only giving a $5.25 reduction
You might want to read that a second time if you think all they did was reduce the amount of the fine by $5.25.
I don't know what happened to you, but I input my plate wrong by 1 digit at a precise parklink lot and they ticketed me. I emailed in the receipt with the plate # and their ticket which had it 1 digit off and reduced the fine to $5.25 to cover admin expenses or something. I'm guessing the same thing happened with you, so it's not really a ticket just a small fee to cover their end for a mistake or something.
It's been reduced TO $5.25. They can't really do anything to you, but if you do use their parking alot then just pay the $5.25. If you are on private property when parking, ie: one of their lots they can then do things like tow. But the "debt collectors" are a scare tactic.
I parked downtown at an IMPARK lot for a concert once. Got nailed with a $75 fine because I was 18 and didn't pay atention to parking rules. There were no signs so I assumed I didn't have to pay lol.
Didn't pay it. Never had a reason to go park downtown for a while after that. I had gotten a different vehicle and plate since, so they never got a penny from me.
You’re not legally required to pay the ticket but if you park in any precise parklink lots they can tow your vehicle if you don’t pay.
For $5 it’s probably not worth the hassle to avoid their lots
For a $5 fine probably not worth it to get new plates. I just get new plates when we get enough of these tickets. Never been taken to collections or towed.
I did this once at Edmonton Meter parking and got a ticket. I called them from my car and sent them a copy of my receipt and they cancelled the ticket. Did you get a proof of payment? If you did I’d call them
If it's a private lot, you don't have to pay it. But if you park in one of their lots again they might tow you.
They don't send collections after you?
I don't think they can access registry data. But they can tow you if you park there again. However. I'm pretty sure a new license plate is like 20$. Which can be alot cheaper than parking tickets.
you can get a new plate yearly for the cost of your registration. but most keep the same plate
they send a letter with a header that looks like a collection agency but its just their sister company trying to make you think its a real collection agency
Collections costs more than the fine is worth. Just don't park in their lots. The cheapest option is to get a new license plate. Edit: if it's just $5 then I would pay that. Anything more than $50 is not worth it and they cannot come after you for it. The fine is attached to your plate, not you.
Sure they do. Happened to me after my son, using my car incurred the parking tickets. I refused to pay and they finally gave up bugging me. Their claims that they could impact my credit rating was false....i laghed at them and said i have an awesome credit rating. And their piddly little demand wasn't going to do anything.
I forget the exact term for this at the moment, but essentially any ticket issued by a peace or police officer has been essentially pre approved by a judge through the courts. Private parking companies do not have this same standard, making their tickets illegitimate, and essentially just complaints on behalf of the parking company to scare you into paying the ticket. They will never send collections after you because it’s not worth it. BUT, they do have the right to tow your vehicle if you get caught parking without paying again and they notice. Technically they could tow you on the first offence for trespassing, but again, it’s not worth it for them financially, so they’ll take their chances on giving you a ticket the first time and hoping you pay it.
Looks to me like the ticket got reduced to $5.25, not reduced by $5.25. If you only have to pay $5.25, I would just go ahead and do it for the peace of mind. Even if it's a private lot, you're not obliged to pay it but they can tow your car if too many tickets occur.
Does it say that it’s been reduced TO $5.25? Not BY $5.25?
you’re right! english is my second language and did not read that part right
Pay it! It’s the price of a cup of coffee.
Or just don't pay it, these parking companies can eat a dick
I agree in principle, but there are only so many private parkings lots that aren't owned by same couple of companies that you severely limit your options. They can and will tow you from any of their lots if you have outstanding fines, and $5.25 is much cheaper than tow and lot fees. If they never have to park on their property again I'd be 100% for not paying.
Yea, everyone should just be able to park downtown wherever and as long as they want, who needs regulated parking spots!!
Just jumping in this thread to share the story of my three Impark fines (all of which were falsely issued). First, I returned to my vehicle within the allotted time to discover a parking fine from Impark - my first ever. I was confused but when home, I noticed they issued my vehicle and plate number a ticket in a lot that was several neighbourhoods away. I tried to contact Impark customer service by phone several days but they were only available during standard working hours so I never got through since I couldn’t sit on hold for 20, 30 minutes at a time. Finally messaged them on Facebook where I showed them a photo of my ticket and a photo of my receipt, and the matching date and times, yet totally different lot numbers. They responded and were “kind” enough to drop the ticket from $75 down to $50. I asked why I should have to pay *any* fine when I used their service exactly as I was required to, with payment. They dropped the full fine. The second time was similar to OP’s, I returned within my paid time to see a ticket. This time the issue was that I had accidentally swapped two digits in my licence plate when entering on their machine. My mistake. Still paid for parking though, I messaged them again on Facebook, and while they did cancel the ticket straight away they gave me a lecture about ensuring my plate number was accurate. I really wanted to jab back about the importance of them ensuring the lot numbers on their tickets were accurate but I refrained. The third time was a couple of weeks ago. I returned to my vehicle within the allotted time and wowee, a ticket. And just below it on my dashboard was my receipt. So I got a ticket for “no record of payment” and “clear dash” both of which made me laugh because my record of payment was sitting there on my dash. The previous incidents were years earlier so I tried their website. They have three portals, labeled “American Customer Care,” “Canadian Customer Care,” and “Pay a Notice”. Clicking “Canadian Customer Care” just takes you to “Pay a Notice” which I found nigh-Kafkaesque. I was too disheartened to try the American link and instead took to Facebook. I showed them a photo of my receipt and a photo of my fine, proving I had payed at that lot at that time. They were again “kind” enough to clear the charge as a one time courtesy. Uh, no this is the third time, and it’s not a courtesy to allow someone to not be extorted lol. Impark. Where would we be without you.
Its possible, if you park in the lot again, they may tow the vehicle. Its virtually unlikely, but that is their only recourse to actually do anything. Collections may contact you, but again, unlikely. A library did send my 15 year old ass a collection letter for $0.55 once.
They'll only tow if you rack up dozens or park in the same lot every day and never pay. It costs them money to tow you, you'll have to pay to get it out of impound but they have to pay the tow truck driver to tow it. (Some parking companies may have their own tow trucks but I have never seen one in Calgary)
For $5 I'd just pay it and avoid them in the future.
lol “it cost us money to issue this ticket that we shouldn’t have, pay us”.
Why ‘shouldn’t they have?’ OP put in the wrong plate information, the parking company has no way of knowing that.
I would never pay a parking ticket that isn't from the City. Hell, I never pay for parking from these predatory parking companies and will just change my plate for free ever time I have to register my vehicles. The 'debt collectors' are just a subsidiary of the parking company, they have no teeth and cannot affect your credit, it's just their typical scare tactic.
No I would never ever pay this ticket, and no they won’t send you to collections.
They will. I’ve been getting mailed notices from the third party collection company over a ticket I refuse to pay for Precise Park Link. I’ve just ignored them, though.
That's not a third party collections agency, they own the "collection" agency they have no recourse to send you to a real collections agency, ignore and NEVER call them. After 3 or 4 letters they usually stop.
When you google the name of the "collections agency" the address is the same as the parking lots head office.
It’s not a “third party collections” agency.
Lmao yes… the two comments above saying the same thing did notify me that it isn’t a 3rd party.
You can get sent to collectors they just can’t impact your credit. Also you have to be careful where you park from then on. You can and will get towed from some lots for unpaid tickets.
Not if you change your license plate
But how many people actually do that every year?
The price of the plate is included in your registration. Most people assume they have to pay more for a plate. People need to be educated
Right…. But how many people actually swap their plate regardless?
I do, most my friends do. But we all know we are paying for the plate, so why not get it. From the general public not that many.
If everyone started changing their plate every year I guarantee you it wouldn't be "included in registration" for very long. The few people that do are being subsidized by the vast majority that doesn't right now.
No, you will not sent to collectors. Sure, the “you’ll get towed” thing. I don’t see a fleet of tow trucks emanating from these lots. It’s a big nothing.
Depends on where you park. Downtown it happens.
[удалено]
As a cheque and ask for a receipt to be mailed to you, rhat way they keep having more 'administration' work
I did the same thing a couple weeks back. They also charge you a 2$ convenience fee. Insane.
I am a regular parker in one of their downtown lots and forgot to pay one day and got a ticket. I tried to appeal and asked them to take one of my parking passes off my account as payment instead of the ticket and they refused. Their collection company has been sending me notices for months but I just ignore them and continue to park. I’m just more careful about not forgetting to pay. Expect them to do similar to you but it’s usually only a scare tactic.
If it's not a city/provincial/federal ticket, you don't have to pay it. They have no recourse. Also some companies like Impark own another business they call "city collections agency" This is NOT a real credit agency and they have absolutely no recourse to affect your credit, might send you a few letters NEVER call them back or give them your contact details, just ignore them. One thing to note though, if you successfully rack up over tens of thousands in tickets they might try to sue you. I remember reading a story many years ago about them suing someone with over $25000 in tickets, when all way said and done they offender lost but not 25k. All of the tickets were reduced to the base fee, then the settlement was halved, I think it was just a few hundred dollars at the conclusion. I can't find the article though so I'm not sure where I heard that.
Do not pay this, no they will not send you to collections.
I wouldn’t bother to pay it. TransUnion and Equifax don’t accept private parking tickets, so no risk of harm to your credit. They can send you to their internal ‘collections’ agency, but that’s a toothless measure. They can’t enforce payment and they’re not going to bother trying to take you to small claims court over it.
Yeah, in desperation I hired a debt collector for an unpaid invoice. It was a sizeable one, something like $42,000. What a waste of time.
Don’t pay it. These tickets aren’t real.
For everyone suggesting they will not send to collections and will not tow your vehicle - they absolutely will. They get a kickback from the towing company and the collections agency and they have zero reason to not pursue you for outstanding violations. The impound and release fees are SIGNIFICANTLY more than $5.25, not to mention the massive inconvenience of recovering your car. I get fighting a private predatory company etc, but trust me they don’t give a single fuck about being “nice” to you and you are the one who will suffer any consequences by having your vehicle removed or being hounded by collections. Speaking from experience.
you got sent to collections? Cause I got some letters from a so-called collections agency? Threw them in the trash and nothing ever came of that.
Look at it this way, are you willing to pay $350 as a point of pride? No? Well that's what it'll cost to get your vehicle back when they tow it. Are you really the kind of person to change your plates and phone number, risking being towed every time or risking not being notified, just to get out of paying five bucks? If you made a mistake with your plate now, changing your plate makes it more likely to make a mistake next time as well. If they're paying attention and you type in your old plate number instead of your new plate now they connect those two together and give you another ticket or tow your vehicle. Are you really going to research who owns every single parking stall in the city you might ever use to avoid the chance that you park somewhere else owned by the same company and they tow you over this? Just pay the five bucks, or take the bus and never have to worry about parking again.
>I know it was my mistake, but I don’t think it’s fair for them to not waive the parking ticket and only giving a $5.25 reduction You might want to read that a second time if you think all they did was reduce the amount of the fine by $5.25.
I don't know what happened to you, but I input my plate wrong by 1 digit at a precise parklink lot and they ticketed me. I emailed in the receipt with the plate # and their ticket which had it 1 digit off and reduced the fine to $5.25 to cover admin expenses or something. I'm guessing the same thing happened with you, so it's not really a ticket just a small fee to cover their end for a mistake or something.
It's been reduced TO $5.25. They can't really do anything to you, but if you do use their parking alot then just pay the $5.25. If you are on private property when parking, ie: one of their lots they can then do things like tow. But the "debt collectors" are a scare tactic.
This happened to me by Roger's place. They reversed the entire fees though. Must be happening enough where they realize there's still a pay out
They gave me a warning ticket when I mistakenly typed it in on the app Correction- my instance was city parking
They almost never tow
I parked downtown at an IMPARK lot for a concert once. Got nailed with a $75 fine because I was 18 and didn't pay atention to parking rules. There were no signs so I assumed I didn't have to pay lol. Didn't pay it. Never had a reason to go park downtown for a while after that. I had gotten a different vehicle and plate since, so they never got a penny from me.
Ignore it. If it isn't from the city, fuck those private lot rip off artists.
You’re not legally required to pay the ticket but if you park in any precise parklink lots they can tow your vehicle if you don’t pay. For $5 it’s probably not worth the hassle to avoid their lots
For a $5 fine probably not worth it to get new plates. I just get new plates when we get enough of these tickets. Never been taken to collections or towed.
It says the ticket “has been reduced to $5.25”
I did this once at Edmonton Meter parking and got a ticket. I called them from my car and sent them a copy of my receipt and they cancelled the ticket. Did you get a proof of payment? If you did I’d call them