City of Melbourne: unfair parking fine… give me my money back!
The City of Melbourne has unfairly obtained $50 from me.
The money doesn’t belong to them, and they should give it back (plus about $45 in interest)
This is an issue (from many years ago – around June 2002) that has always bothered me, as its an example of how government bureaucracy can unfairly take (I’m tempted to use the word steal) from ordinary people.
At the time, I was working in La Trobe Street, Melbourne.
The company I was working for, needed me to work late one night (on a planned out-of-business-hours, IT upgrade).
The way it worked, was I would start work at 5 PM, and work on the upgrade until about 1AM (or later if needed).
I needed to drive in (as I’ll need to drive home again, as there are no train services when I finished work). So I got to the City at about 4PM, and spent a frustrating 45 minutes looking for a parking spot.
I eventually found one, but when I put a $2 coin in the slot, nothing happened. I tried again with another $2 coin, and still nothing happened. I Just needed the meter to last until 6pm (I think), after which parking meters are not monitored.
I tried a $1 coin, and that worked just fine.
Unfortunately, I only had one $1 coin (but a few more $2 coins)
Besides, I had already put in enough money to get me past the end of the metered time.
I took down the meter details (PM000698 ), and once in the office, I called the phone number on the meter.
I explained what happened, and a nice lady told me I shouldn’t worry. If I get a fine, it will be discarded once the faulty meter is repaired, and I was given a reference number (PINN 141615062).
I figured: thats ok. I spent the money anyway ($5)… I did the right thing,
So I duly got fined. I wrote to City of Melbourne, and quoted the reference number.
A few weeks later, I got a letter saying that there was no fault found with the meter, and I’ll need to pay the fine.
The fine print basically said: if you don’t pay the fine, you will be taken to court, and you might end up paying a lot more than just the fine.
At the time, I tried to get the meter mechanics report on the meter… But nobody bothered to send a reply email. I eventually had to start sending daily emails to corspd@melbourne.vic.gov.au, asking for a copy of the engineers report (but never got a reply). About 2 week later, I get a maintenance schedule, which just shows that the meter (amongst many others) was serviced at a particular date, and no fault was found.
At this point, I feel I have no choice: Pay the fine, or risk paying an even bigger fine.
I pay the fine.
But I also email them, saying that they are effectively extorting the fine from me, so I will use whatever means I can to recover the fine. I also say that I cannot accept the meter mechanics records, as the meter was obviously faulty at the time, and I had already fed the meter with more than enough money to avoid having it expire within the allocated meter parking times.
Again no reply.
I say I will take the matter to the Victorian Ombudsman, but still no reply. I contacted the ombudsman, but I recall that there was very little that could be done…
I would love to organise a City of Melbourne “strike” or an act of civil disobediance… maybe something like: everyone who parks in Melbourne will refuse to put any money into the meters and will refuse to pay the fines.
I’m sure the council doesn’t have the resources to procecute thousands of people per day, and with the spotlight on their inefficient parking systems, they just might be forced to do the right thing and do a better (and fairer) job.
Ah, thats enough ranting for now… I think I’ll just go into a corner and fume for a few minutes… Grrr
You won’t get your money back. TT and ACA are full of “city councils out of control” stories.
As a computer expert you can think of ways to cause the council more than $50 worth of expense without breaking any laws.
I think, here in the states anyway, you probably would have gotten out of the fine if you’d documented (taken really good notes) everything and went ahead and gone to court… still, I’ve paid fines I didn’t feel I deserved because going to court would end up being more costly than the fine in terms of time away from work and general hassle. You’ve already had more than your share of hassle with this one.
It’s the same way here in the US, Illinois to be exact. Those things are designed to take your money, it’s all revenue for the city. It’s a no win situation. Even if you go to court it’s designed for you to lose. If you don’t have proof (and by proof I mean jump through hoops, proof that’s really unattainable) you never win. So I can feel your pain, been there before and probably will be again.
Looks like melbourne has not changed since I left 12 years ago.
In Amsterdam it is the same, the dutch are really layed back until it comes to slapping a fine on your car. What happened to you also happened to me once and it really pissed me off, now if I have to put money in any meter I pull out my mobile phone and take a little film of me putting money in it, ok sounds like a bother but it has already come in handy and to prove I was write and they were wrong, kiss my aussie but you dutchies.
I too have been slapped by many unfair parking tickets when working in the city 13 years ago but again recently when going to a concert.
Years ago I was a courier but seems I was only delivering small packages I didnt have a van just a car but had the appropriate signage and registration to park in loading zones.
At 333 collins st I used to get nabbed everyday by the same nazi and most of which I had reversed but some slipped through the net and I ended up with the sherrif at my door 3 years later.
It was eventually sorted out at fairly large legal costs even though I was in the right and I now rarely will drive into the city for anything.
The most recent one though at a concert in St Kilda the machines were over run and 3 out of 4 machines shut down and only 1 was left working but it would only take $6 when the fee was $21 for the night.
Firstly, who unless you live there or park there often would carry $21 in change in your pocket (which I did scrape together from the consul and ashtray) as well as why would they charge $21 for late night parking.
The parking inspector also pinned us 15mins before the concert finnished and pretty much did everycar that I could see.
Im now looking at ways to get out of it but it’s not looking good.
They will not accept an email and demand proof in writting to contest it which is just a PITA.
I knew that 3 people around me had called the council and got an engaged signal so I saw no point in trying to call them as we were already running a bit late.
I had a ticket on the dash with a pile of coins sitting next to it and a note saying the machine would not take the money and he still gave us a ticket.
I wont be going back to the city for anything again, it sucks, if you dont pay enough to go to these shows etc they sting you for parking and then fine you for not paying enough.
I too got fined recently.
I parked on Queens St just in front of CQ in the 90degree parking spots in the middle of the road.
I got there at 6.20 and waited in the car for my mate to drop off his bag and also til 6.30 so i can pay $4.00 for 1 hr parking to last me til 7.30 which is then free parking.
I paid my $4 at 6.30. To my surprise when i came back to the car i got fined. At the start i thought to myself hmm i guess maybe i got done for waiting 10minutes in the spot before paying for parking, hence the fine would of been at 7.20 or something.
What i found was i got fine at 6.37pm…7minutes after I paid the meter. I’m 100% sure i payed it as i got my friend to check the time before i put the money in.
Offence: Parked – Fail to pay fee and obey instructions on sign/meter/ticket etc. Road Rule 207 (2) (Meter Expired)
Nothing i can do about it since there is no evidence I paid. sigh…. all i can do is pay the $58 fine.
Damo, how can you not go back to the city? Melbourne there already is a lack of things to do, if you cut out the city… it’ll turn out being even more dull.
Here at the Gold Coast, Parking officers are afraid to book illegally parked cars in fear of a severe whooping. They breed em tough up here.
You said that they wouldn’t have enough time to prosecute thousands of people per day if they don’t pay…Well unfortunately the city of melbourne would rather take every ambulance and police car off the road rather than let us park in a parking spot for more than 1 second over time.
I parked at hawthorn one day and there were two opposite carparks, someone had “”turned one of the signs”” facing where I had parked. It said I was allowed to park after 6pm…So I arrived at 5.56, put about 2 dollars (thats the only change I had) in and I had a time at 6…The parking meter wouldn’t let me go past 6! SO long story short, I got a fine at 6.30! I was like wtf, I called up, sent them a PHOTO and they did nothing, they said that it wasn’t there fault someone had moved the sign (it’s council property mind you) and they didn’t even adress the fact that the max time on the ticket was 6! So after a long process, not only did they add on a late fee, but they added “office costs” and threatened to take me to court! They called me up and preety much said “pay today because we are sending a court summons out to you tomorrow” TOMORROW! They FORCED me to pay or otherwise incur costs which were too high for me, as I’m at uni every day. They are criminals and parking fines are unfair and bull&8^%
Lemming, I had the same thing happen to me on Russell St a few weeks ago. We arrived at about 5.40pm at a spot that was metered until 7.30pm. We paid for one hour – til 6.40pm, then returned to put in enough money to last until 7.30pm. We put $4 in (enough for 1 hour) and it only gave us 30 mintes. We figured that putting more money in would be a waste, so left the car hoping that it would be fine. Got back to the car at around 7.30pm and there was a $58 fine on the car from 7.20pm. The parking meters are rigged and the inspectors know it. They come and give fines just before 7.30pm when they know that most cars will be in expired car parks.
I was thinking about protesting this, but after reading your various posts, I know it will be a waste of time and energy. I think I will pay the fine, and never drive to the city again. >:-(
Melbourne is corrupt at every level – why did I move here?
Petrina, i’ve actually spoken to the ticket guys about topping up in the past.
With parking areas in Melb you are not actually allowed to top up a meter. You are only allowed to park in a certain area for the indicated time, once the time is up you are required to move the car to another area. EVEN if you move into a vacant spot next to you the ticket inspectors can still fine you.
They have those portable PDA/PCs which record ya rego based on the area u parked with time and date stamp. I thought since i was in the car waiting it wouldn’t be considered as such parking and the fact that they fined me 7 minutes after i left the car. If i got a fine like at 7.25 i wouldn’t of been so annoyed at the fine, cuz it would of meant the inspector saw me in the car and recorded i parked the car for X amount of minutes prior to paying.
Sorry if i don’t make much sense, i only saw this post from the automated email thing. I’m currently in the process of packing my things to leave AUS!!!!!
i’m off to London and having no car over there i won’t get caught out with parking fines =)
Good luck to all of you in Melbourne.
Would any of you be willing to speak on camera for a story on parking fines in Melbourne for A Current Affair.. ?? Please email me directly skemter@nine.com.au
Thanks.
Hi Lemming! Just wondering if you have any records regarding your parking fine in 2010. Ive recently had exactly the same thing happen in what seems to be the same location on Queen Street. Id love to know the meter number you were parked at if you can remember????
Im about to go to court!
Ugh… I’m currently fighting with MCC about a fine I received whilst waiting to turn into a loading dock uncer Melbourne Central. There was a queue of vehicles up the ramp into the loading dock so I drove around 2 blocks (can’t turn left onto Swanston) twice hoping to find a loading zone but everything was full. So I joined the queue. The parking officer started taking photos of my ute without saying anything first. Apparently if a private car is sitting in a loading zone, they can’t fine them without asking the driver to leave first. But they’re so desperate to bump up their revenue, they’ll do anything to get our hard earned money.
To top it all off, the officer was extremely rude & refused to give me his name and ID, which they are meant to. I made a formal complaint but “the officers recollection of the events on that day differs with mine” so they can’t do anything.
MCC are corrupt. The way they have treated me is ridiculous. I’ve already written another formal complaint to the manager but no response as of yet after a week…
I am due to go to court on Monday over this issue. Wish me luck! Ill let you know how I go.
I parked in Queen street Melbourne in April this year. There was 18 minutes left of the meter so I topped it up to an hour by placing another $3 in the meter (its a $4ph fee). I was shocked to find a parking fine placed on my windscreen approx 15mins after I put money in the meter. Ive done some research and think it may have taken me more than 5 minutes from the time I parked my car to the time I put money in the meter (I had a 4 month old and it can take me a lot longer than 5 minutes to get organised). Aparently there are sensors that detect your arrival however it still doesn’t make sense as it didn’t take me 45 minutes to park the car and put money in the meter, it only took between 5-10 tops. I still don’t understand how the meter deducted itself only 15-20 minutes after my arrival. I am appearing in court tomorrow.
Good luck Casey (I think you’ll need it). I think the first comment on this post is probably the best way to deal with this situation: don’t get mad, get even… find a legal way to cause the council a lot of expense… legally… a flashmob protest springs to mind…
Casey please let me know how you go. I’m also contesting a fine with the City of Melbourne council. I would like to know how much it would cost if I lose and also looking up free legal advice at the moment.
This is what happened to me. I had a work function at the Melbourne Zoo. The PA forgot to request for an all day parking ticket so I drove my car there bought the first ticket before 9 and came out at 1.36pm to move the car and bought another ticket. I went out to the car at the end of the day to find a parking ticket. I already have three letters from them. I’m now requesting the CCTV video to prove that I did move my car, however the last letter is saying that “the offence is still complete due to a deeming provision in Rule 205(2) as reproduced below. ‘a driver parks continuously on a length of the road, or in an area, to which a permissive parking sign applies, from the time when the driver parks on the length of road, or in the area, until the drive, or another driver, moves the vehicle off the length off road, or out of the area, to which permissive parking sign applies.” In the end I think I will still lose to them so considering giving up at the moment. Please let me know if I should.
Thanks