Impark: NOT Motorcycle Friendly.
 

Well, just had called City Collections Ltd. and agent for Imperial Parking (IMPARK).

This summer I got a parking ticket in an Impark lot. I had purchased a ticket, stuck it in my handle bars (as they have to be visible on you dash) and went about my business.

It would appear someone stole my ticket and I ended up receiving a parking violation. I thought, no big deal, I'll write a letter, dispute it and be done with it.

I send the letter off the next day and never hear from Impark. No news is good news?

Last week I receive a collection notice for DOUBLE the amount of the violation. I call them not wanting my credit affected.

The operator tells me that they won't make an exception for motorcycles. If your ticket is not properly displayed on the dash of your vehicle you recieve a violation. If I can not display a ticket on my dash properly I should not park in that lot. Apparently "there are certain conveniences motorcycles can not enjoy" according to the operator.

According to the operator, the collection agency will not discuss the matter with Impark as "she used to be an employee there" and knows they will not honour my dispute. She then "does me a favour" and reduces the collection amount to the amount of the violation. WHAT THE FUCK?

So I have until Thursday to sedn them $37.45 or they will have no choice but to proceed with civil action and adversly affect my credit rating.

The call was then abruptly ended as I lost my temper, said more than a few choice words.

So now, according to Impark themselves, they never recieved my letter (bullshit), won't honour my dispute and I have to take it up with the collection agency. Well the collection agency is useless.

So I pretty much have to send them $37.45. I don't want the hassle of persuing this further, but I won't park in an Impark lot again. I use an Impark lot at work, they made $50 a month off my parking, now over a $37.45 violation they refuse to let me dispute they'll lose that money.

I'm sending a nice little note to that affect with my cheque.

Imperial Fuckers.

Jim.

good job. Impark sucks major *&%$*(. They always screw me over one way or another. And they are not polite about it either.
:(

-D

Yes Jim, the SYTEM DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK.

infact, the system sucks. letters do very little..

what you need, is some good ol' fashioned vigilante justice!

Actually the collection agency that called you is a part of Imperial Parking, same address...similar number!!!...I got a ticket at BCIT with a clearly displayed parking pass hanging from my rear view mirror of my car...I wrote dispute letters (faxed & ignored X2)...I got called a couple of times but didn't call them back...refused to pay the fine and decided to change my plates for $18 instead (so I wouldn't get towed as my plate is in their system and they have a lot of lots in town)...I have an excellent credit rating and the banks don't give a shit about a $38 ticket if you have a good credit rating already...I just increased my credit and set up a new credit line for my bike with no questions asked...Change your plate for $18 as a message to them to screw off! Unless it a newer style machine I grab the stub before I leave my bike or alternatively write the ticket number down if it is the newer style machines as I know Imperial Parking is run by assholes, epecially the ticket checkers!

Your credit will not be affected by a parking ticket. I forgot the exact amount but my friend owns a collection agency, and an amount less than x amount of dollars is a class whatever, and your credit is not affected by it. Sorry i dont have more info, but I think that's all the info you need. :thumbup

I guess I should be getting a call or letter fairly soon too then....but mine was out of pure neglect:p . Parking tickets....bite my bum and suck my stuff.

I work at BCIT and got two tickets from Impark for my car I used to have but I didn't pay them.

I had a similar experience with Impark, and filed a complaint using their website. After you submit it, you get an email back verifying that your dispute was sent in and to do nothing until you hear back from them. That way you have proof that your dispute was sent in..it worked for me....just a suggestion.

Jim did you pay with your debit card or credit card??

If yes you will have the proof that at that time of day you purchased an Impark ticket, take it in and tell them to suck the cr.... well you get the idea of what to tell them.

Got the same shafted deal.... but I had bought a string of tx when I was at a hockey game last season and gave them the consecutive number of my ticket.... the eager beaver impark guy decided to give me a ticket 3.5 hours into the 4 hours I had bought... guess he was too lazy to stick around to come back...
Almost makes me want to kick the $h!! out of them and those nasty tow truck drivers.....
Take the complaint to head office in person...
Do they have a front office ???

Rockshoxbiker said that he talked to the people at Impark about the same subject...what to do if you park your bike in thier lot. He was told that you should buy the ticket, and hold on to it...the entire stub. Then if you get a ticket, they will dismiss it when you show them the stub, and say that you didn't want to leave it on your bike incase it got stolen.

Regarding the Cr Bureau....I've heard mixed commentary on wheather it will affect your credit rating. At work I do loans and mortgages, and I've pulled about a hundred Cr Bureaus on people (even some members of this site!). I haven't ONCE seen parking violations show up on anyone's Cr Bureau...I usually pull from transunion. I had parking ticket written off by Impark two years ago, it didn't show on my Bureau.

If someone came to me for a loan, and they had A1 credit, except for a parking ticket written off....I don't think it would affect my decision at all.

Not everyone has A1 credit tho ;)

Jim.

Hope this doesn't come too late
 

Late reply but I don't have regular access to the Net over here. I hope you have not paid yet because your credit rating will not be affected by unpaid parking tix. Gov't issued tickets are a diff. story but Impark and all those other vampires have absolutely no way of changing the status of your credit rating. I know this from personal experience. I used to work in the financial industry, pretty much the same job as Harps and can confirm what he said about pulling up credit reports. The only thing you will have to put up with is the hassle of collection agencies calling you or sending you threatening letters. BUT IN REALITY THEY ARE POWERLESS!! .... as long as you don't park in their lots anymore. Such a small amount will be written off after a year or so, trust me-I've been there :thumbup I'm an honest guy and always pay the coupla bucks to park in a lot but I absolutely refuse to pay an unfair ticket out of principle!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto.

They make the phone calls, and they act tough, but they can't affect your CB rating. It can get kind of fun. I'm not rude to them by any means, they're just doing their job after all, but it's fun to just act a little crazy and hang up. But, if you don't have the time to mess with them, paying them is an option as well. You can of course haggle with them and get the thing dropped quite a bit. My lawyer (lucky he's a lawyer) told me once that he mumbo jumbo'd his way out of a parking ticket in collections down to just about the original price of the ticket. :) But then again he's a lawyer and he always tells the truth right? :p

With impark, don't leave your tix on the bike...take the tix with you...and phone in if you get a tix...that's what i did when i rode to work! the lady i talked to a couple times was pretty nice, and cancel my tix with no question asked!