Complaint Review: Park Select - Wilmington North Carolina

To Whom It May Concern:

Park Select is a private parking lot management and monitoring company that has been in business for over thirteen years offering parking lot owners customer specific parking solutions and a towing alternative that works to keep their lots available for their use without the negative repercussions of towing. We establish parking plans for privately owned lots, such as "private permit parking only" plans, "public pay parking" plans and others. Then we provide the hourly enforcement necessary to make the plan work. When a vehicle parks without authorization or payment and is identified as belonging to a person that is not visiting the establishment to which the lot belongs, that vehicle is given a parking invoice for a fee of $25. We have found that such fees discourage repeat parking violations and are more effective than towing unwanted vehicles.

Invoices that go unpaid and undisputed after 21 days are increased to $50 to cover the cost of collections and a plate trace is performed to find the registered owner of the vehicle and collect the fee.

Park Select recognizes that not all situations are not the same and mistakes can occur. Therefore, should a mistake occur, we offer a dispute arbitration process to decide each situation fairly and objectively. As printed on each Park Select invoice, disputes can be submitted via email or US postal service for up to 21 days from the date of the violation. Disputes are arbitrated by a third party contracted by Park Select. Decisions are based on information that is recorded at the time of the violation, any plate history that may be available from previous violations, signage or lot pictures on file, terms of the parking lot's usage and any submitted information from the plate owner. Based on this information, arbitrators have the authority to void the fine, reduce the fine or enforce the fine. Our methods are fair and effective and our processes allow for each dispute to be reviewed and given proper attention.

The notes on file for this plate suggest that Mr. Moffitt called on the 8th and disputed an invoice that had been turned over to collections. He told the operator that he believed our company was "not legit" and did not want to provide his telephone number or other information that might allow his case to be properly disputed. Telephone operators ARE NOT Dispute Arbitrators and have no authority to decide in disputed cases. Had Mr. Moffitt simply cooperated instead of providing incomplete and conflicting information his case would likely have been reviewed and dismissed more quickly by the Dispute  Arbitrator. The notes also include an entry stating that Mr. Moffitt called the following day; and, while he says that the operator was unprofessional, the operator's notes recorded that Mr. Moffitt was "abusive and used foul language." As you can see, two differing perspectives have recorded the conversations very differently.  In any event; the information was still given to a dispute arbitrator, as is company policy. The average time for arbitration is two weeks. It was decided by the arbitrator that the plate number in question "may have been recorded incorrectly by the enforcement officer by simple human error". If that was the case, the incorrect plate would have been turned over to collections when the fine went unpaid by the violator. This would explain why Mr. Moffitt's plate number and the vehicle information did not match, and why Mr. Moffitt says he never received the original invoice (which is always placed on the windshield of the violating vehicle). Therefore, the fines associated with Mr. Moffitt's plate have now been voided.

That having been said, I take offense at Mr. Moffitt's derogatory and inflammatory statements regarding a business that has served the downtown Wilmington area for many years, providing a solution to parking abuses that works for dozens of lot owners. Our clients, INCLUDING THE COASTLINE CENTER, are long term accounts that appreciate our service. While there are occasional and regrettable mistakes that result in some inconvenience like the one demonstrated here, our method of parking enforcement is still the most successful, fair and cost effective option available to lot owners. This is why we have a 99% customer retention rate. The "humble opinion" offered by Mr. Moffitt is an uneducated one. Before Park Select came to Wilmington, downtown suffered from predatory towing and booting practices that hurt business ad didn't work to alleviate the parking violations. A mistaken invoice can be rectified much easier than a mistaken tow.

In My Humble Opinion, had Mr. Moffitt been a nicer man and provided the dispute information without all of the theatrics, he may have received a quicker resolution, and avoided using this forum altogether.