NewsContact Denver7

Actions

Contact7 fights $75 parking ticket for man who paid for spot

Posted at 5:45 PM, Nov 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-29 19:45:13-05

Editor's note: Contact7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact7 stories here.

DENVER -- At the corner of 18th and Market Streets in downtown Denver is a parking lot where Nathan Gardner said he paid to park on Nov. 9 and entered his parking spot "127."

"My girlfriend and I were going to a concert," said Gardner. "When we came out of the concert, we came up to the car and noticed there was something beneath my wiper."

It was a $75 ticket because, as it turned out, on his receipt the spot showed the number 27 instead of 127.

"I didn't realize the '1' didn't hit right. I know I hit it, so I got a $75 fine for not being in the right spot," said Garnder.

But when he and his girlfriend emailed Parking Revenue Recovery Services to explain they did pay and have proof, the company only responded with an email to settle for $55.

It's not the first time.

The company has an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau and 123 complaints from consumers.

Just two weeks ago, a Denver7 investigation showed others complaining about getting tickets on technicalities, and the company even decided to change the wording on its tickets.

It was a similar story in a Denver7 report in January.

Jon Conway, the executive vice president of Parking Revenue Recovery Services, said he would not talk on-camera about its appeal policies, but claimed it is cracking down on fraud because people pass receipts from car to car.

Gardner said, in his case, that is clearly not true, and he has proof he paid for his spot.

"Any logical person could have thought through this rather than being a money-grabbing company," he said.

After Contact7 started asking questions, Conway pointed out to Contact7 that we can't fight every appeal, but he said he would remove the ticket with credit card proof from Gardner.

"Dealing with people like that, you just can't get through to them without some third party saying, 'Hey this is wrong.' It needs to be a bigger picture, which Denver7 has done."