“Called me a loch!” The driver is shocked by the parking attendant’s punishment and attitude

When going about his daily business, Ervīns often drives on the Gustava Zemgala gatve overpass in Riga. Driving in the direction of the VEF area, when there are traffic jams, when you get off the overpass, you often shorten the way to Brīvības iela, driving through the parking lot near the “Elkor Plaza” supermarket. Many drivers do this. Such shortening of the road is not prohibited by any road sign.

It was a big surprise for Ervins when he received a notice of a violation and a 30-euro fine from the manager of the specific parking lot “Park Expert” at the beginning of this year. Camera photos are attached to the statement, which allegedly show that Ervin’s car was allegedly delayed in the parking lot for 25 minutes one day in November.

The rules for using the parking lot say that the delay of vehicles in the territory is recorded by a camera installed at the entrance to the parking lot and at the exit from it. In order to use the car park for three hours free of charge, the state registration number of the vehicle must be registered in the device in the store within five minutes after entering the territory. This means that you can pass smoothly through the parking lot without any sanctions. “Bez Tabu” observed that scooters that cut short their way through the territory stay there for up to a minute. Erwin told the program that he too steers smoothly through the territory. Also on the day when, as the manager of the parking lot claims, the vehicle stayed there for 25 minutes, drove through the territory, as always – without staying there, said Ervin.

Ervins said that he communicated with “Park Expert” by phone, but the representatives of the car park operator were not responsive. He allegedly asked to look at the video recordings of the camera, in which he could track the car in motion and make sure that he did not stay there for 25 minutes, but received a “basket”. Erwin believes he is being extorted. The communication was not only unwelcoming, but also rude, Evin said.

I drive there every day, there have never been any fines. I said that maybe something happened in the system itself, to which they answered – maybe something happened in my head. I was called a fish! I have also written three times by e-mail, no one has been answered. I asked for camera recordings, because there are cameras on every corner. I think there is no problem to take a look.

Erwin did not pay the fine in principle, because he emphasizes that he is being made guilty of no guilt. Later, “Park Expert” “took” a debt collector to him, who already demanded that Ervin pay in cash – 37 euros. In order not to get into bigger problems, Ervin transferred the required amount of money. The driver does not feel that he has been robbed.

It should be noted that there are obvious absences in the camera images sent to Ervin along with the notification of the violation, due to which it can be considered that the merchant may be targeting the driver unreasonably. Namely, each picture was taken on a different day (date).

The Consumer Rights Protection Center (PTAC) stated that the merchant has an obligation to cooperate, while the consumer has the right to receive additional information about the violation he is accused of.

PTAC informed that “Park Expert” had previously come to the attention of consumer rights advocates for unsatisfactory communication, which PTAC is accustomed to improve. The supervisory authority said that the specific merchant “carries out not very honest commercial practices”, and informed that there are many complaints about “Park Expert”: last year, PTAC consulted dissatisfied people 85 times, this year already 38 times. “Bez Tabu” has also repeatedly told the drivers’ disputes with “Park Expert”.

“Bez Tabu” asked for an explanation about Ervin’s problematic situation. The merchant ignored questions about whether providing additional information, such as viewing video recordings, helps to clarify in this and similar situations. It is not clear whether and what “Park Expert” did, or checked anything at all. At the moment, it is no longer possible to verify the movement of Ervin’s vehicle in the parking area in November, as the camera recordings have been deleted.