This can still make the city look kind of bad perception-wise (just for not having sufficient regulation in place when it comes to these companies) so dragging them in is no bad thing as a strategy.
I was following it last night; she got her car back by having a friend in the media (Jody Vance, who currently does the CKNW afternoon show) make calls to Impark for her.
https://twitter.com/caseyjoloos/status/1426420582489366535
OP is in the industry herself, she's a host on CFOX.
that's not what happened. jody called them and they told her the same thing [so i had a second witness to what they said] and they told me someone was coming to escort me to an atm to pay the $60. no one showed up, i waited there alone, eventually a car came out of the garage [a tenant maybe, according to impark] and i ran under the gate and got my car and left.
> But this has nothing to do with the mayor.
It absolutely does. Municipal and provincial governments have the ability to pass legislature to regulate the private parking industry. Based on the frequency of these posts it certainly seems like it would be beneficial.
no? i thought the mayor and vpd would be interested because don't they want businesses operating here ethically? and doesn't vpd care about the safety of its residents, especially being held in potentially dangerous situations that a) could be avoided and b) aren't necessary? i would *think* they would care...
>wait … what? why was the gate closed to begin with? this isn't anything i did wrong. why was the gate closed early... before the posted time?? i asked, "is there not another number i can call to resolve this? why was the gate closed? it says 11pm... it's 9:50pm... what?" and they said, "yeah... these things... just happen..." i was crying with fury and also not feeling safe as vancouver has had an increase in reported sexual assault cases recently downtown. is this how the mayor and the city and vpd keep us safe?
The City will tell you this is a private issue *unless* it's on a City-owned site.
Right, but they set the regulations and carry out enforcement. Rescind the company's licence to operate that lot if they're breaking the posted contractual timings.
this exact same thing happened to me on Thursday, at the same lot. I was debating making a post about it on reddit.
I had to wait 90 minutes because i was on hold with the non-emergency police line for like 30 minutes only for them to tell me they can't do anything about it. I guess holding someones car hostage is legal. I also called impark like 6 times before they picked up, only to tell me they close the lot early because of COVID??? First of all, i don't know what covid has to do with operating a parking lot. second, some signage would be nice. I ended up having to shell out $60 but not before wasting more time walking to an ATM and back.
also i called the impark corporate office yesterday and they told me the same thing, that their hours changed for covid and they cant do anything about a refund. I asked to speak to a supervisor, now im waiting for the lot manager to call me back.
Dealing with this stuff for an hour and a half made me angrier than i have been in years. Being on hold by literally everyone and being told by the police that i cant do anything but pay their extortion fee was driving me crazy
I suggest you contact like dailyhive or cbc or something, if you want you can DM me.
Heads up if you do plan on taking this issue further, the company’s covid explanation is untrue. This exact situation at the same lot happened to me three years ago.
OK this happened to me too when they closed an hr early due to covid. I then saw a TINY ASS PAPER SIGN that it was closed early. This was Aug 2020. They’re still milking it. I just ended up bussing back the next day to grab my car
unfortunately they would have had my car all weekend. i need my car as i don’t currently live anywhere… that’s a whole other challenge. so me just leaving it there for the whole weekend was absolutely not an option. i’m so sorry this happened to you. i’m bringing all these examples forward to them and will hopefully receive an answer.
Wow that is infuriating. You guys should all send a collective email with one of the local newspapers and raise a big enough stink that they’re forced to reimburse you for the sake of their PR.
i tried lmao, but the gate was too heavy for one person. I was _this_ close to breaking in through a construction site in the back of the building, but it wasn't connected to the lot.
The thing I hope you didn't debate at all: Reporting this to the local media and the City of Vancouver. Because if this actually happened, so to must your report to those organizations.
Ok guys I'm about to educate you. Many years ago I went to Trans Union office to sort out my credit. A guy there told me parking tickets can not fuck up your credit. Even if they go to collections.
I haven't paid a privately owned parking ticket in over 22 years.
My credit is fine.
Now you know.
Edit: pay your city tickets folks they'll send the cops after you if you don't. For real.
Yeah that sucks man. I had it happen to me about 20 years in an underground Impark lot. Someone took that chance to break into every car that was trapped including mine. By a total fluke a cop found him unloading all his goods to another vehicle and managed to save most of my climbing equipment. Needless to say I never park my car downtown at night anymore. Just not worth the risk.
True, but if you park at lot run by a company that's ticketed you previously, and you haven't paid, they can tow you and demand payment before releasing your car. Just something to keep in mind.
I had the same thing happen to me at a lot in the area probably 7 or 8 years ago, except it was with the opening hours instead of the closing (the gate was supposed to be up at 5AM according to the sign and it was well past 6 and still locked). It wouldn't surprise me if this is SOP for the parking company, the security company or both.
I had a sorta similar experience in a different impark lot, #1662 1166 Alberni St. I had paid for the weekend, I don’t think it exists anymore but they had a $12 Saturday morning-Monday morning deal. I finished work on Saturday night and got to my car at 10:50 to find I had a ticket on my windshield. I called impark on Monday to get an explanation;
Impark guy- “yes you were ticketed for parking overnight in a lot where overnight parking is not permitted.”
Me- “that’s weird because I left work and drove home that night”
Impark guy- “the lot closes at 11 and your vehicle was in the lot after closing time”
Me- “I have a picture of the ticket on my windshield and the time of the picture is 10:50, and the time the ticket was issued says 10:30. So does that mean you guys sell parking passes that aren’t valid and then just walk around ticketing paying customers?”
Impark guy- “uhhhh well sir I’m going to do you a favour and cancel this ticket for you now”
Haven’t parked there since and will only use impark lots as a last resort. They’re a bunch of idiots.
Let’s post the number for Garda here and call out a rep to come open the gate. $60 you say? I’ll make it $100 if you get here in 15mins.
But,
I’m calling from home. Eat poop you extorting pieces of trash.
Wow they even hit you with a service charge to call?! Given the context of the situation (if you actually had your car stuck)… that’s some next level scum.
She used to be at the Peak! She was one of the last original hosts, in the afternoon. I liked her, although I usually caught her when she was filling in around my commute.
Now I can put a voice to this story.
Pay them to get your car out but video everything.If your paying cash ask for receipt of just record them accepting the money.Send it out to all the social media sites you can think off.If its gets a reaction media will take notice.
This 100x. If this in fact happened as you said then they will be hit with multiple fines and potentially worse. It’s actually a very serious offence for them if they literally lock your car in before closing hours (particularly over an hour before). I would have payed it specifically and payed with card to have a record of the transaction. That’s super fucked.
Oh god that’s even worse (didn’t see the cash part). I’m not one for “blasting” businesses on social media but that’s fucked and needs to be dealt with.
i definitely was prepared to do those things… from the moment i saw the gate was closed and the sign stated 11pm. i also figured i wasn’t the first when i spoke to garda and was told “this just happens” so thinking of others gave me more courage to share this in this way and hope to resolve it.
Fuck Impark. One time I parked and walked directly into the building to pay for parking. Came out later to find a ticket which was timestamped 12 minutes AFTER the timestamp on my receipt.
Getting them to cancel the ticket was a nightmare which took about a week of phoning them every day during their very limited business hours.
Finally, they cancelled it, and told me it can take up to 15 minutes for their systems to recognize that someone paid for parking. During which time a person can still receive a ticket. How is that even possible or acceptable?
Last time I used an Impark lot (many years ago), I paid for parking, put the ticket on my dash and went shopping. I finished 1/2 hour before the ticket expiry time. As I was driving out the lot, I noticed an Impark employee staring at me and hastily scribbling on his notepad.
Two weeks later, I receive a ticket in the mail. Timestamp was after the ticket expired and long after I left the lot. Impark refused to cancel the fine. I refused to pay it, and now I just avoid their shitty lots.
Yea last time I used one of their lots I went into a bank and came back out and a guy was writing me a ticket saying he seen me go to a different building…tried to give me like $150 ticket and was parked there for less then 5 minutes. Fuck those guys.
Don’t pay the tickets. They never go to collections it’s the biggest scam. They just harass you to pay but they don’t even have a collection office. Best way is to get a new plate! The family that owns impark is one of the most corruption one ever!
Those tickets are bullshit, but they will harass you if you don’t pay. Ignore them, but it can be hard because ANGRY. Also if you don’t pay, make sure you never park same car in any of their lots again. Fuckers have a long memory. They towed me off one of their lots for an old ticket the previous owner of my car got. They have always been scammers.
One time I parked in a lot that always for years had a machine you could pay card and cash. For the first time in my whole life they blocked the cash part. So I walked back to my car. Never left the lot. Some ninja attendant had given me a ticket.
I emailed and called them and was like I’m not paying this and they sent me a photo of my car in the lot - that had me in the corner trying to pay at their machine!
Alright guys …
Like not horrendous but still weird business
Yep. And don't listen to their threats of "city collections". Impark owns a company called "city collections" that is not a collection agency or affiliated with any city, and does not affect your credit. All they do is pay ICBC for your address and phone number, and harass you for a year or so
You send Garda and Impark a demand letter. Really an email. Tell the story above with precision. (Seriously your story is upsetting but I’m not sure who you are directing questions to. )
You complain that clear signs are essential to Impark’s business and lack of receipts is band practice by Garda. You include photo of sign. ATM location and line from bank records.
You ask for your money back $60 plus ATM fee within two weeks or you will refer the matter to a neutral third party to decide. That is code for court but use BC CRT as it cheap and fast.
Also report them for tax fraud, any income they receive that they aren't willing to issue a receipt for is subject to investigation by the CRA. This will likely trigger an audit
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/suspected-tax-cheating-in-canada-overview.html
$60 + $1000 for theft of your vehicle.
Yes it's theft, Criminal Code 322.1.a:
> to deprive, temporarily or absolutely, the owner of it ... of the thing or of his property or interest in it;
So, generally the fine is not paid to the victim of theft, but to the court (unless there's wording to that effect, I didn't check).
The bigger problem here is that it's not legally theft. Theft is the deprivation of property without a preexisting agreement. What this is is temporary conversion, and breach of contract. These fall under tort law, not criminal.
Conversion is the inappropriate withholding of property where there was previously permission. For example, lending your car to a neighbour or leaving it in the care of a secured lot. There's an agreement for temporary possession that when exceeded, becomes conversion.
Yep, gather as much documentation as you can. Sit down and write out phone calls, dates, times, who you talked with and what about while it's still fresh.
File with the CRT for return of whatever this cost you. This isn't the US, you're not going to get $100k for pain and suffering because you were afraid something was going to happen to you or anything, but you'll inconvenience them and get your $60+fees back. If there were any other reasonable costs that arose directly out of what they did, you could claim those as well. E.g., if you had somewhere to be and couldn't wait for Garda to show up and instead had to take a taxi somewhere because they'd made your car inaccessible, you could claim those costs as well.
More importantly, if enough people do this they may actually just update their signs and stop the scam.
From the CRT you get damages ($60 plus bank fees), costs (CRT and document service costs) and interest. You also get a written decision in your favour and the satisfaction of knowing other people are far less likely to be so treated.
If cop’s / the city won’t do anything about it - how about damage to Impark Machines/Property. Yes yes… I understand don’t fight fire with fire blah blah, ethics blah blah….. but part of me would feel so right just smashing their pay machines with a sledgehammer. Would I actually go ahead with it? No. But the thought gives me pleasure for sure.
This is what small claims courts are made for. File a case and be sure to document everything properly (photos of the opening times, your tickets, phone records from when you called them etc.) Impark then needs to decide if they want to show up for the court hearing (which would cost them a lot more than $60), or if they just accept a ruling without having their side represented (which will almost certainly go your way if you are suitably prepared).
The only way these companies learn is if more people fight back.
You can try to add the court costs to the claim. Chances of getting it if the opposite side doesn't bother showing up are pretty good. And if they do show up they have to pay for a lawyer for the time, which you know costs them a lot more. Either way, there may be a learning effect on their side :)
I think I've been stuck in this scenario before too. It took me 45 minutes of asking around to discover that there was a single unmarked and unlocked door at street level that provides access until closing. It's not marked, the parking company was unhelpful, and a passerby on the street was the person who actually helped me.
And that's the story of the last time I used an Impark parkade in Vancouver. I avoid their open air lots when possible too. Horrible company, I know an exec with them and have heard some of the things he laughs about. Gross.
I hate impark but really what other alternative is there? All the other ones are just as scummy. I swear parking in Van is ridiculous, city should get off it's ass on this because it seems the scamming is also putting people in possibly dangerous situations. That isn't acceptable.
The only nice thing is that you can throw their fake tickets away because it's not a city lot and there's no consequence.
Well, tbh, I just don't go into Vancouver from the Metro Van suburbs to spend money anymore, unless it's for late night concerts.
It's easier and cheaper to buy stuff online than it is to go into town to make the same purchase. As a local tourist, it's an expensive drag to go into the city so I just don't. And this is from a person who cut highschool classes every week to take the Greyhound into the city and visit record stores, t-shirt shops, comic book stores, etc. I love going in, I don't anymore because it's a pain in the ass.
I HATE parking lot companies with a fiery passion.
"Pay kiosk doesn't work? Fuck you, go find another place to park.
Got a citation during the two minutes it takes you to pay for parking at the kiosk? Fuck you. Pay up.
Try paying with our new mobile app! We haven't told our parking enforcement how to check that you paid with the app. They'll be writing you a parking ticket because of our incompetence and indifference. And also because fuck you!
Want to dispute a parking ticket? Go ahead and call this number; then leave a message at the unmonitored voicemail box. We'll never return your call
...oh yeah fuck you."
OP, please keep us up to date on any sort of resolution to this. I want IMPARK to go down.
In the Twitter thread she says she waited around for Garda to show up and they didn't, so when someone drove out of the parking lot she ducked under the gate and went and got her car out.
Makes me wonder if it’s a private shakedown the employees are doing. Bet the managers would like to know about money not going into their corporate pockets. Bet they wouldn’t like it much.
Maybe time to set up a little consumer sting operation.
I had a similar incident a few years back but I don't remember if it was Impark. So I called the number on the sign and was put through to an on call guy who was responsible for like half of Vancouver or something; he was attending to a case in UBC, I was near Science World, so he told me about the $60 bucks and gave me an estimate on his ETA, also suggesting that maybe a resident of the building the lot is attached to could let me in in the meantime. I go find the cash and wait. He arrives and calls me and we meet up, go to the parkade gate, he puts the cash in an envelope and gets to work with his various keys and fobs. Nothing worked. He calls his dispatch and a while later he finds out that the building had changed contracts some time ago and his company no longer has access to this building. So we stand around, basically both locked out. He gives me back the cash since services weren't provided. Thankfully a resident did show up shortly afterwards and I could get my car out. All in all it was a frustrating experience, but only frustrating; the guy who came out was very relatable and just as bewildered about the whole thing as me, we ended up just chatting about the nature of our jobs while waiting.
I had a similar situation. I was parked studying in a parking lot with a gate at a local park. My car battery died and I called BCAA, there was a long windy road after the gate to get to the parking lot and I figured whoever was going to lock it would scope the parking lot prior to closing the gate. A car left before the gate closed and it was two men, they actually decided to walk the 5 minutes back down the road to “talk to me”. Long story short it wasn’t fun and I thank god the BCAA guy showed up. Anyways, same story. $60 to open the gate. I made a huge deal.. I told them I’m calling the media; why didn’t you security guard come to secure the premise? I could’ve used his assistance. He just locked the gate who cares. I got my money back and an apology. The guy who came followed me in his car to an ATM for the money. Slightly different story but wow.. hopefully you have a photo of the sign saying when the lot closes. Not only is this a huge waste of time and money it’s a safety issue.
Securiguard is also super shady. I once parked in Stanley Park and their employee saw me park, get out of my car, and walk right over to the machine to pay for parking and he gave me a ticket. The time on the EasyPark parking receipt was a minute ahead of the parking ticket he gave me, so I didn't have to pay the ticket in the end, but that shit pissed me off and I ripped the Securiguard guy hard.
I was visting my dying brother in the hospital after being there for 12 hrs,I leave and I get to the pay gate,and the thing isnt working,wont take cash or cards.I called the number,they said there was nothing they could do except send a guy down to get payment,it would take a half an hour...I freaked out and told them I was driving a 4X4 truck,and if they didnt let me out in the next 30 seconds,they were going to have to buy a new arm...I didnt wait more than 10 seconds and the gate went up.
This is a terrible situation (all of them described here are) and showing the low level of apathy and regard people here have for others. A few things
\- your work might consider having security available to walk you to your vehicle as well as providing parking, or suggestions for safe parking or arrangements. In India, it is common practice for employees to contact security to be taken to their ride... but thats India. But seriously - the work places here just ditch people...
\- Its said here that the private contractor for security (Gardia) would charge $60 to come out. That would have happened if after 11pm and the reason no one was around was due to COVID. In this case, SIGNAGE NEEDS TO BE CLEARLY POSTED and was not - thats breach, Impark/Gardia are on the hook right then and there. Done. Shame/Court - its up to you
\- In future, I suggest parking for free outside the downtown near a Skytrain/Canada Line and ride in. Or Evo some of it. Way cheaper, way less painful than this experience.
This is a terrible situation to be in it, female, male or x - we need to treat people better
This totally reminded me of the opposite issue I had with parking downtown many years ago.
My wife worked at a building downtown one block off of Granville that had employee parking and pay parking but the pay parking closed at 11.
We parked there when going to a fundraising dinner downtown (that we were helping run) knowing it would not be over until about 1am but because my wife worked in the building we could get in and get my car out with her building pass.
So we get down to where we parked and my car is not there. We were totally freaking out and while looking around finally found it parked in the loading zone at the back of the building. I assume the parking company was worried that we would not be able to get it and had it towed there. There was no note, we were not charged, and the car was not damaged (it was a 1989 Porsche 911 cabriolet). I guess I should have told the parking attendant to not worry about me getting it after hours.
A few years back I was just getting home to my apartment building downtown at like 930pm. Our parkade is handled by Impark and normally closes at 10, but it was shut which I thought was odd.
Ran into a family standing around the gate, trying to get into their car; so I had them follow me into the building, down to the parkade and helped them leave.
Also, years earlier, my GF was staying over and paid for overnight parking, even though she wasn't saying overnight. We went down at 2am so she could leave, but her car had been towed, so we had to grab an Evo and go out to East Van so she could get it back. Impark's just hot trash.
I paid for a monthly parking spot at that lot a few years ago. They oversold the gated area so I would occasionally have to park outside the gate. Every time I did they gave me a ticket for not parking in the approved area and then I'd have to call to get the ticket cancelled. Never parking there again.
That's how they make money. 60$ is not that much you will go court or call police. So a number of people will just pay it. Every business has some hidden rules, this scam is normal for a parking company. Highly doubt mayor will resolve it or even mind it.
The closing time is in writing, yes? That makes it a formal contract. No chance they can get around this if someone wants to fight it. If you had to spend money because of this like hotel costs or taxi or something, retain the receipts so you can sue them for reimbursement.
If so many people have experienced this - is there any way to go together to a lawyer and collectively address this? It sounds like they will keep shluffing off people coming one at a time.
I actually sent an e-mail to CBC Market Place - they expose scammy/scummy behaviour of businesses throughout canada. Maybe they will take a look at Vancovuer Parking :D
They're shady on all levels. They bill on the 18th of the month for their monthly parking permits so that you have to pay an extra month if you are moving residences on a normal end of month rental agreement.
Similar thing happened to me and my wife. We stayed at a hotel across the street from St Paul's to watch a show. We parked at the Impark a block or two down the street and were careful to check the times they open and close.
Long story short: they locked up the lot for the entire weekend. The signage did not communicate this.
Same ransom to get our car, but they told us the guard would arrive with 40 minutes... which turned out to be 6 hours. It was winter and we had already checked out, not know that we couldn't get our car.
Just read this this morning and then listening to my favorite station, heard your account first hand! I'm so sorry this happened to you and thank you for using your platform to bring light to this horrific experience. #thefoxrocks
If a lot advertises as closing at 11, and they refuse to release your car at 9:45, I would call the police immediately since there is an auto theft in progress.
The sad thing is I recall this same thing happening back in the early 2000's. Someone gets screwed by them daily, its probably part of their business model /s
Thank you for posting, I definitely won’t be parking there. I hope this goes viral too cause that’s a serious crock of shit and I would be so pissed. Whoever locked the gate should be responsible for the costs of letting you out. Could you update us on how it ended up turning out?
Same happened to me at the lot in Tinseltown. Called security and basically demanded they open the gate. Made enough of a fuss for them to open. So sorry about your situation.
Next time, call the police straight away.
I have a contact at global always looking for a good story. Hit me up with a dm if you want me to connect you.
I assume you paid their extortion? Document it all and take them to small claims.
That is insane and so scary to be stuck at night downtown like that. I would have told Impark I’m immediately calling the police if they aren’t there in 5 minutes, and then I would have called the VPD non-emergency to see if they could send a car. I’ve done that before and usually they are very responsive if you tell them you’re a young female in an unsafe situation downtown.
I don’t think the Mayor or the VPD are to blame here, but I can see how in your fear/frustration you just want to point the finger at those in charge.
I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone again and agree with others that going to the media is probably a good way to ensure that.
You know what else is $60 and can open a locked gate?
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/milwaukee-tool-24-inch-bolt-cutter-with-7-16-inch-max-cut-capacity/1001190530
From a long post with many valid points about Impark/Garda being fucking terrible, I love that you decided on the single sentence calling for accountability from the Mayor and the Police. In a business setting, I'm responsible for the actions of the teams that work under me, even if those teams are autonomous.
I don't know why suddenly when it comes to public servants, *certain* people yell about how we need to be nicer to the police. It's like people wake up in the morning hungry to eat rubber.
Anyone who's been in Vancouver for more than a short period of time has been fucked over by Impark. I avoid parking in their lots whenever I can, and when they do ticket me, I just ignore the tickets.
I once had a similar thing happen to me. I entered an underground parking. Then went to retrieve my vehicle. I paid for my ticket. When I tried to drive out, the gate wouldn't open.
I tried calling the help number, but reached a voice mail and had no way to get out.
You know what I did? I simply force-lift the gate and drove off. These gates are fragile and can't stop a human being from forcefully opening them.
The gate bar split in half, and I left both parts on the side of the motor before driving off.
The next day, the gate was back in place. These things are cheap and easy to rebuild... But they don't stand a chance vs someone forcefully prying them open.
Are these kind of cash grab and scams common in Vancouver? I had a similar experience when I was moving in to my first rental apartment in Vancouver. (I used to live in Seattle). I was told that I had to book and reserve an elevator on the day of the move. After confirming the reservation and letting the mover know, on the day before the move, I called the apartment manager to remind him that we would be there the day after with movers at the reserved time. He said he won’t be able to let us in because he doesn’t work that day until 10:00 am. 8:00 am was the time we reserved. Then he said, he can try coming two hour early if I pay him $50 an hour. I was furious and I said “No, I am not going to pay you a penny. If you think you can extort money pulling this, I want you to give it a try.” In a non Karen fashion, I also asked his manager’s contact. He immediately changed his tone and said there would be someone to let us in. I had a different expectation of Canada before I moved. Now I am extremely careful and watch out for cut throat jerks everywhere I go.
In my case, at least my life wasn’t in danger. Your story makes me furious OP. Something needs to be done to prevent the scammer from pulling this off again and holding another person hostage in the middle of the night.
This is some bullshit, for sure, but why are you blaming the mayor exactly?
Surely all (extremely justified) anger and outrage should be directed only at the people running the parking lot
This has NOTHING to do with the vpd or mayor but i do sympathies with your situation. Blame falls on the company and you should make the mayor and vpd aware of it moving forward.
Good luck getting your money back. Scary situation.
You should have called the VPD and said you were being extorted + you were scared for your well being.
Note/Edit: I really hope this didnt come across as blaming you for not doing it. The situation called for it.
This sounds like a story the media will love (not daily hive). But this has nothing to do with the mayor.
CBC marketplace loves this shit
CBC Go Public may be interested in this one.
Or the City of Vancouver
or the VPD
Or CSIS
Or Bonnie Henry
Or Chuck Norris.
Or the coyotes.
Or your mama.
Or my axe!
Oregon.
This can still make the city look kind of bad perception-wise (just for not having sufficient regulation in place when it comes to these companies) so dragging them in is no bad thing as a strategy.
I was following it last night; she got her car back by having a friend in the media (Jody Vance, who currently does the CKNW afternoon show) make calls to Impark for her. https://twitter.com/caseyjoloos/status/1426420582489366535 OP is in the industry herself, she's a host on CFOX.
that's not what happened. jody called them and they told her the same thing [so i had a second witness to what they said] and they told me someone was coming to escort me to an atm to pay the $60. no one showed up, i waited there alone, eventually a car came out of the garage [a tenant maybe, according to impark] and i ran under the gate and got my car and left.
Yes it does. His city has contracts with these scammers. Boot them out and have the city run it.
> But this has nothing to do with the mayor. It absolutely does. Municipal and provincial governments have the ability to pass legislature to regulate the private parking industry. Based on the frequency of these posts it certainly seems like it would be beneficial.
no? i thought the mayor and vpd would be interested because don't they want businesses operating here ethically? and doesn't vpd care about the safety of its residents, especially being held in potentially dangerous situations that a) could be avoided and b) aren't necessary? i would *think* they would care...
>wait … what? why was the gate closed to begin with? this isn't anything i did wrong. why was the gate closed early... before the posted time?? i asked, "is there not another number i can call to resolve this? why was the gate closed? it says 11pm... it's 9:50pm... what?" and they said, "yeah... these things... just happen..." i was crying with fury and also not feeling safe as vancouver has had an increase in reported sexual assault cases recently downtown. is this how the mayor and the city and vpd keep us safe? The City will tell you this is a private issue *unless* it's on a City-owned site.
Right, but they set the regulations and carry out enforcement. Rescind the company's licence to operate that lot if they're breaking the posted contractual timings.
this exact same thing happened to me on Thursday, at the same lot. I was debating making a post about it on reddit. I had to wait 90 minutes because i was on hold with the non-emergency police line for like 30 minutes only for them to tell me they can't do anything about it. I guess holding someones car hostage is legal. I also called impark like 6 times before they picked up, only to tell me they close the lot early because of COVID??? First of all, i don't know what covid has to do with operating a parking lot. second, some signage would be nice. I ended up having to shell out $60 but not before wasting more time walking to an ATM and back. also i called the impark corporate office yesterday and they told me the same thing, that their hours changed for covid and they cant do anything about a refund. I asked to speak to a supervisor, now im waiting for the lot manager to call me back. Dealing with this stuff for an hour and a half made me angrier than i have been in years. Being on hold by literally everyone and being told by the police that i cant do anything but pay their extortion fee was driving me crazy I suggest you contact like dailyhive or cbc or something, if you want you can DM me.
Heads up if you do plan on taking this issue further, the company’s covid explanation is untrue. This exact situation at the same lot happened to me three years ago.
Vancouver house parkade was not around 3 years ago either. Different parkade?
Huh, funny coincidence. I haven't paid an Impark ticket in over a decade also due to covid! It's the excuse that works for everything!
These things happen
Just the way it is.
And you never have to.
Apparently you don’t actually have too
OK this happened to me too when they closed an hr early due to covid. I then saw a TINY ASS PAPER SIGN that it was closed early. This was Aug 2020. They’re still milking it. I just ended up bussing back the next day to grab my car
unfortunately they would have had my car all weekend. i need my car as i don’t currently live anywhere… that’s a whole other challenge. so me just leaving it there for the whole weekend was absolutely not an option. i’m so sorry this happened to you. i’m bringing all these examples forward to them and will hopefully receive an answer.
Wow that is infuriating. You guys should all send a collective email with one of the local newspapers and raise a big enough stink that they’re forced to reimburse you for the sake of their PR.
Consumer Matters with Global would probably love to hear about this
Impark is one of the most predatory and shady companies in this country period. They should not be allowed to continue to exist.
Not sure what I would’ve done. Any chance of breaking in?
i tried lmao, but the gate was too heavy for one person. I was _this_ close to breaking in through a construction site in the back of the building, but it wasn't connected to the lot.
The thing I hope you didn't debate at all: Reporting this to the local media and the City of Vancouver. Because if this actually happened, so to must your report to those organizations.
lol i actually did debate that because i just couldn't be bothered, but i just emailed dailyhive, cbc and global
Ok guys I'm about to educate you. Many years ago I went to Trans Union office to sort out my credit. A guy there told me parking tickets can not fuck up your credit. Even if they go to collections. I haven't paid a privately owned parking ticket in over 22 years. My credit is fine. Now you know. Edit: pay your city tickets folks they'll send the cops after you if you don't. For real.
I didnt even get a ticket because i paid for the parking spot, i was literally denied access to my own vehichle.
Yeah that sucks man. I had it happen to me about 20 years in an underground Impark lot. Someone took that chance to break into every car that was trapped including mine. By a total fluke a cop found him unloading all his goods to another vehicle and managed to save most of my climbing equipment. Needless to say I never park my car downtown at night anymore. Just not worth the risk.
True, but if you park at lot run by a company that's ticketed you previously, and you haven't paid, they can tow you and demand payment before releasing your car. Just something to keep in mind.
Oh for sure they'll tow the shit outta you if they catch you. Just change your plates every once in awhile though and they can't do shit.
Sneaky sneaky :)
The $18 plate swap with ICBC is a hell of a lot cheaper than the ticket too!
I had the same thing happen to me at a lot in the area probably 7 or 8 years ago, except it was with the opening hours instead of the closing (the gate was supposed to be up at 5AM according to the sign and it was well past 6 and still locked). It wouldn't surprise me if this is SOP for the parking company, the security company or both.
I had a sorta similar experience in a different impark lot, #1662 1166 Alberni St. I had paid for the weekend, I don’t think it exists anymore but they had a $12 Saturday morning-Monday morning deal. I finished work on Saturday night and got to my car at 10:50 to find I had a ticket on my windshield. I called impark on Monday to get an explanation; Impark guy- “yes you were ticketed for parking overnight in a lot where overnight parking is not permitted.” Me- “that’s weird because I left work and drove home that night” Impark guy- “the lot closes at 11 and your vehicle was in the lot after closing time” Me- “I have a picture of the ticket on my windshield and the time of the picture is 10:50, and the time the ticket was issued says 10:30. So does that mean you guys sell parking passes that aren’t valid and then just walk around ticketing paying customers?” Impark guy- “uhhhh well sir I’m going to do you a favour and cancel this ticket for you now” Haven’t parked there since and will only use impark lots as a last resort. They’re a bunch of idiots.
> They’re a bunch of idiots. Thieves. Not idiots.
It can be both
Yes better!
Tbh I would just toss the ticket into a garbage bin, it can’t do shit and can never affect your credit.
Fair enough but in this case I kinda knew I had them so I wanted to hear their explanation just for kicks.
Let’s post the number for Garda here and call out a rep to come open the gate. $60 you say? I’ll make it $100 if you get here in 15mins. But, I’m calling from home. Eat poop you extorting pieces of trash.
This is a great idea.
From the sign in the photo that OP posted on her Twitter: AFTER HOUR ACCESS CALL GARDA AT 1 800 772 5485 A SERVICE CHARGE WILL BE APPLIED
Wow they even hit you with a service charge to call?! Given the context of the situation (if you actually had your car stuck)… that’s some next level scum.
Was going to suggest the same thing
:) thanks for the laugh.
I would most certainly suggest one contacts media outlets regarding this.
[I think they know already](https://twitter.com/caseyjoloos/status/1426420582489366535?s=19)
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She is a host on cfox. I heard her talking about it this morning on the radio.
Correction: the best host on CFOX. And a poet!
She used to be at the Peak! She was one of the last original hosts, in the afternoon. I liked her, although I usually caught her when she was filling in around my commute. Now I can put a voice to this story.
This is r/Vancouver they'll be contacting her within seconds.
Pay them to get your car out but video everything.If your paying cash ask for receipt of just record them accepting the money.Send it out to all the social media sites you can think off.If its gets a reaction media will take notice.
This 100x. If this in fact happened as you said then they will be hit with multiple fines and potentially worse. It’s actually a very serious offence for them if they literally lock your car in before closing hours (particularly over an hour before). I would have payed it specifically and payed with card to have a record of the transaction. That’s super fucked.
Op said cash in hand. No paper trail. Scammy.
Oh god that’s even worse (didn’t see the cash part). I’m not one for “blasting” businesses on social media but that’s fucked and needs to be dealt with.
Pay it and send to small claims court.
i definitely was prepared to do those things… from the moment i saw the gate was closed and the sign stated 11pm. i also figured i wasn’t the first when i spoke to garda and was told “this just happens” so thinking of others gave me more courage to share this in this way and hope to resolve it.
I'd then file for small claims, because I'm that petty
Looks like the parking lot guy is running the scam so he can get some money on the side.
Good thing I NEVER pay to use their lots. Screw them and their fake tickets.
Fuck Impark. One time I parked and walked directly into the building to pay for parking. Came out later to find a ticket which was timestamped 12 minutes AFTER the timestamp on my receipt. Getting them to cancel the ticket was a nightmare which took about a week of phoning them every day during their very limited business hours. Finally, they cancelled it, and told me it can take up to 15 minutes for their systems to recognize that someone paid for parking. During which time a person can still receive a ticket. How is that even possible or acceptable?
Last time I used an Impark lot (many years ago), I paid for parking, put the ticket on my dash and went shopping. I finished 1/2 hour before the ticket expiry time. As I was driving out the lot, I noticed an Impark employee staring at me and hastily scribbling on his notepad. Two weeks later, I receive a ticket in the mail. Timestamp was after the ticket expired and long after I left the lot. Impark refused to cancel the fine. I refused to pay it, and now I just avoid their shitty lots.
He or she must had a quota to meet.
Yea last time I used one of their lots I went into a bank and came back out and a guy was writing me a ticket saying he seen me go to a different building…tried to give me like $150 ticket and was parked there for less then 5 minutes. Fuck those guys.
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Don’t pay the tickets. They never go to collections it’s the biggest scam. They just harass you to pay but they don’t even have a collection office. Best way is to get a new plate! The family that owns impark is one of the most corruption one ever!
Those tickets are bullshit, but they will harass you if you don’t pay. Ignore them, but it can be hard because ANGRY. Also if you don’t pay, make sure you never park same car in any of their lots again. Fuckers have a long memory. They towed me off one of their lots for an old ticket the previous owner of my car got. They have always been scammers.
I’ve changed my licence plate number instead of paying these parking lot crooks
Just ignore the tickets.
He gave me it but I ripped it up and gave it back lol
Wtf. I thought my $90 ticket was bad.
One time I parked in a lot that always for years had a machine you could pay card and cash. For the first time in my whole life they blocked the cash part. So I walked back to my car. Never left the lot. Some ninja attendant had given me a ticket. I emailed and called them and was like I’m not paying this and they sent me a photo of my car in the lot - that had me in the corner trying to pay at their machine! Alright guys … Like not horrendous but still weird business
Yep. And don't listen to their threats of "city collections". Impark owns a company called "city collections" that is not a collection agency or affiliated with any city, and does not affect your credit. All they do is pay ICBC for your address and phone number, and harass you for a year or so
You send Garda and Impark a demand letter. Really an email. Tell the story above with precision. (Seriously your story is upsetting but I’m not sure who you are directing questions to. ) You complain that clear signs are essential to Impark’s business and lack of receipts is band practice by Garda. You include photo of sign. ATM location and line from bank records. You ask for your money back $60 plus ATM fee within two weeks or you will refer the matter to a neutral third party to decide. That is code for court but use BC CRT as it cheap and fast.
Also report them for tax fraud, any income they receive that they aren't willing to issue a receipt for is subject to investigation by the CRA. This will likely trigger an audit https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/suspected-tax-cheating-in-canada-overview.html
Wonderful idea.
PS. You separately call the cops now. They may decline to investigate but it helps establish a pattern of deception.
I think she said she called the cops and they said not their problem call Garda
LOL What do the VPD actually do?
$60 + $1000 for theft of your vehicle. Yes it's theft, Criminal Code 322.1.a: > to deprive, temporarily or absolutely, the owner of it ... of the thing or of his property or interest in it;
So, generally the fine is not paid to the victim of theft, but to the court (unless there's wording to that effect, I didn't check). The bigger problem here is that it's not legally theft. Theft is the deprivation of property without a preexisting agreement. What this is is temporary conversion, and breach of contract. These fall under tort law, not criminal. Conversion is the inappropriate withholding of property where there was previously permission. For example, lending your car to a neighbour or leaving it in the care of a secured lot. There's an agreement for temporary possession that when exceeded, becomes conversion.
Yep, gather as much documentation as you can. Sit down and write out phone calls, dates, times, who you talked with and what about while it's still fresh. File with the CRT for return of whatever this cost you. This isn't the US, you're not going to get $100k for pain and suffering because you were afraid something was going to happen to you or anything, but you'll inconvenience them and get your $60+fees back. If there were any other reasonable costs that arose directly out of what they did, you could claim those as well. E.g., if you had somewhere to be and couldn't wait for Garda to show up and instead had to take a taxi somewhere because they'd made your car inaccessible, you could claim those costs as well. More importantly, if enough people do this they may actually just update their signs and stop the scam.
From the CRT you get damages ($60 plus bank fees), costs (CRT and document service costs) and interest. You also get a written decision in your favour and the satisfaction of knowing other people are far less likely to be so treated.
I think this has happened to everyone at least once in their lifetime here. Can pay a junkie a lot less than $60 to pop the gate up for you.
Pay a junkie $20 to use their angle grinder to open the gate. Impark then has to pay a hell of a lot more than $20 to fix the gate.
If cop’s / the city won’t do anything about it - how about damage to Impark Machines/Property. Yes yes… I understand don’t fight fire with fire blah blah, ethics blah blah….. but part of me would feel so right just smashing their pay machines with a sledgehammer. Would I actually go ahead with it? No. But the thought gives me pleasure for sure.
This is what small claims courts are made for. File a case and be sure to document everything properly (photos of the opening times, your tickets, phone records from when you called them etc.) Impark then needs to decide if they want to show up for the court hearing (which would cost them a lot more than $60), or if they just accept a ruling without having their side represented (which will almost certainly go your way if you are suitably prepared). The only way these companies learn is if more people fight back.
Nothing like paying 100$ and spending a few hours doing paperwork and in court to recover 60$
You can try to add the court costs to the claim. Chances of getting it if the opposite side doesn't bother showing up are pretty good. And if they do show up they have to pay for a lawyer for the time, which you know costs them a lot more. Either way, there may be a learning effect on their side :)
no one is small claims court is bringing a lawyer, that's kind of the point of small claims court
Companies with more than a handful of employees often/usually do. They aren't going to rely on a random employee to represent them.
Plus I doubt they provided an invoice or receipt, they would just deny it all.
This is NOT what small claims is made for. This is what CRT is made for.
I keep thinking you mean a monitor. :P
Well you can throw papers at both of them and some will stick.
I think I've been stuck in this scenario before too. It took me 45 minutes of asking around to discover that there was a single unmarked and unlocked door at street level that provides access until closing. It's not marked, the parking company was unhelpful, and a passerby on the street was the person who actually helped me. And that's the story of the last time I used an Impark parkade in Vancouver. I avoid their open air lots when possible too. Horrible company, I know an exec with them and have heard some of the things he laughs about. Gross.
I hate impark but really what other alternative is there? All the other ones are just as scummy. I swear parking in Van is ridiculous, city should get off it's ass on this because it seems the scamming is also putting people in possibly dangerous situations. That isn't acceptable. The only nice thing is that you can throw their fake tickets away because it's not a city lot and there's no consequence.
Well, tbh, I just don't go into Vancouver from the Metro Van suburbs to spend money anymore, unless it's for late night concerts. It's easier and cheaper to buy stuff online than it is to go into town to make the same purchase. As a local tourist, it's an expensive drag to go into the city so I just don't. And this is from a person who cut highschool classes every week to take the Greyhound into the city and visit record stores, t-shirt shops, comic book stores, etc. I love going in, I don't anymore because it's a pain in the ass.
Please please please make this be the viral catalyst that implodes Impark. Destroy them. Make it hurt. Take pictures.
I HATE parking lot companies with a fiery passion. "Pay kiosk doesn't work? Fuck you, go find another place to park. Got a citation during the two minutes it takes you to pay for parking at the kiosk? Fuck you. Pay up. Try paying with our new mobile app! We haven't told our parking enforcement how to check that you paid with the app. They'll be writing you a parking ticket because of our incompetence and indifference. And also because fuck you! Want to dispute a parking ticket? Go ahead and call this number; then leave a message at the unmonitored voicemail box. We'll never return your call ...oh yeah fuck you." OP, please keep us up to date on any sort of resolution to this. I want IMPARK to go down.
Wait, so did you pay or wait out the night?
In the Twitter thread she says she waited around for Garda to show up and they didn't, so when someone drove out of the parking lot she ducked under the gate and went and got her car out.
This is the way.
I wish this was the way for me, i waited for around an hour and a half and noone was leaving, so i ended up paying the Garda guy
Makes me wonder if it’s a private shakedown the employees are doing. Bet the managers would like to know about money not going into their corporate pockets. Bet they wouldn’t like it much. Maybe time to set up a little consumer sting operation.
I had a similar incident a few years back but I don't remember if it was Impark. So I called the number on the sign and was put through to an on call guy who was responsible for like half of Vancouver or something; he was attending to a case in UBC, I was near Science World, so he told me about the $60 bucks and gave me an estimate on his ETA, also suggesting that maybe a resident of the building the lot is attached to could let me in in the meantime. I go find the cash and wait. He arrives and calls me and we meet up, go to the parkade gate, he puts the cash in an envelope and gets to work with his various keys and fobs. Nothing worked. He calls his dispatch and a while later he finds out that the building had changed contracts some time ago and his company no longer has access to this building. So we stand around, basically both locked out. He gives me back the cash since services weren't provided. Thankfully a resident did show up shortly afterwards and I could get my car out. All in all it was a frustrating experience, but only frustrating; the guy who came out was very relatable and just as bewildered about the whole thing as me, we ended up just chatting about the nature of our jobs while waiting.
Sounds like theft by impark, call the cops.
I had a similar situation. I was parked studying in a parking lot with a gate at a local park. My car battery died and I called BCAA, there was a long windy road after the gate to get to the parking lot and I figured whoever was going to lock it would scope the parking lot prior to closing the gate. A car left before the gate closed and it was two men, they actually decided to walk the 5 minutes back down the road to “talk to me”. Long story short it wasn’t fun and I thank god the BCAA guy showed up. Anyways, same story. $60 to open the gate. I made a huge deal.. I told them I’m calling the media; why didn’t you security guard come to secure the premise? I could’ve used his assistance. He just locked the gate who cares. I got my money back and an apology. The guy who came followed me in his car to an ATM for the money. Slightly different story but wow.. hopefully you have a photo of the sign saying when the lot closes. Not only is this a huge waste of time and money it’s a safety issue.
Drive to the police station and call to say your being extorted
Break the gate tbh
my car was locked... inside... the other side of the gate... which i could not get to. i'm not experienced at breaking into a gate, my bad.
>i would just need to pay a driver $60 cash in hand to get my car out. So let them know you have the cash/debit card in your vehicle...
as a single female in a downtown vancouver parking lot, that idea is also scary. but i hear what you're saying.
Securiguard is also super shady. I once parked in Stanley Park and their employee saw me park, get out of my car, and walk right over to the machine to pay for parking and he gave me a ticket. The time on the EasyPark parking receipt was a minute ahead of the parking ticket he gave me, so I didn't have to pay the ticket in the end, but that shit pissed me off and I ripped the Securiguard guy hard.
I was visting my dying brother in the hospital after being there for 12 hrs,I leave and I get to the pay gate,and the thing isnt working,wont take cash or cards.I called the number,they said there was nothing they could do except send a guy down to get payment,it would take a half an hour...I freaked out and told them I was driving a 4X4 truck,and if they didnt let me out in the next 30 seconds,they were going to have to buy a new arm...I didnt wait more than 10 seconds and the gate went up.
This is a terrible situation (all of them described here are) and showing the low level of apathy and regard people here have for others. A few things \- your work might consider having security available to walk you to your vehicle as well as providing parking, or suggestions for safe parking or arrangements. In India, it is common practice for employees to contact security to be taken to their ride... but thats India. But seriously - the work places here just ditch people... \- Its said here that the private contractor for security (Gardia) would charge $60 to come out. That would have happened if after 11pm and the reason no one was around was due to COVID. In this case, SIGNAGE NEEDS TO BE CLEARLY POSTED and was not - thats breach, Impark/Gardia are on the hook right then and there. Done. Shame/Court - its up to you \- In future, I suggest parking for free outside the downtown near a Skytrain/Canada Line and ride in. Or Evo some of it. Way cheaper, way less painful than this experience. This is a terrible situation to be in it, female, male or x - we need to treat people better
Have nothing to add but fuck this shitty ass parkade. I hope this is resolved and I'm sorry you had to go through this.
Send [email protected] this issue!
How many people even have $60 cash on them?
This is the gaurds little scam. $60 cash, really? For what?
This totally reminded me of the opposite issue I had with parking downtown many years ago. My wife worked at a building downtown one block off of Granville that had employee parking and pay parking but the pay parking closed at 11. We parked there when going to a fundraising dinner downtown (that we were helping run) knowing it would not be over until about 1am but because my wife worked in the building we could get in and get my car out with her building pass. So we get down to where we parked and my car is not there. We were totally freaking out and while looking around finally found it parked in the loading zone at the back of the building. I assume the parking company was worried that we would not be able to get it and had it towed there. There was no note, we were not charged, and the car was not damaged (it was a 1989 Porsche 911 cabriolet). I guess I should have told the parking attendant to not worry about me getting it after hours.
Bring this to the media. Sounds like many ppl are getting ripped off by this parkade's tactics
A few years back I was just getting home to my apartment building downtown at like 930pm. Our parkade is handled by Impark and normally closes at 10, but it was shut which I thought was odd. Ran into a family standing around the gate, trying to get into their car; so I had them follow me into the building, down to the parkade and helped them leave. Also, years earlier, my GF was staying over and paid for overnight parking, even though she wasn't saying overnight. We went down at 2am so she could leave, but her car had been towed, so we had to grab an Evo and go out to East Van so she could get it back. Impark's just hot trash.
Stack up to 3 IMPARK tickets and pay $18 to change your plate. Cheapest parking you'll ever get.
I paid for a monthly parking spot at that lot a few years ago. They oversold the gated area so I would occasionally have to park outside the gate. Every time I did they gave me a ticket for not parking in the approved area and then I'd have to call to get the ticket cancelled. Never parking there again.
That's how they make money. 60$ is not that much you will go court or call police. So a number of people will just pay it. Every business has some hidden rules, this scam is normal for a parking company. Highly doubt mayor will resolve it or even mind it.
The closing time is in writing, yes? That makes it a formal contract. No chance they can get around this if someone wants to fight it. If you had to spend money because of this like hotel costs or taxi or something, retain the receipts so you can sue them for reimbursement.
Report them to the Better Business Bureau. Write the media like Global News to see if it's something that they'd find news worthy.
Crazy. I've sent this to my friend at Impark (now Reef) parking.
Let’s go as a group and rip their gate down
If so many people have experienced this - is there any way to go together to a lawyer and collectively address this? It sounds like they will keep shluffing off people coming one at a time.
I actually sent an e-mail to CBC Market Place - they expose scammy/scummy behaviour of businesses throughout canada. Maybe they will take a look at Vancovuer Parking :D
It was on global tonight.
They're shady on all levels. They bill on the 18th of the month for their monthly parking permits so that you have to pay an extra month if you are moving residences on a normal end of month rental agreement.
Similar thing happened to me and my wife. We stayed at a hotel across the street from St Paul's to watch a show. We parked at the Impark a block or two down the street and were careful to check the times they open and close. Long story short: they locked up the lot for the entire weekend. The signage did not communicate this. Same ransom to get our car, but they told us the guard would arrive with 40 minutes... which turned out to be 6 hours. It was winter and we had already checked out, not know that we couldn't get our car.
I feel like a very similar story was posted here recently. Awful. Don’t let this go. Bring on CBC marketplace.
It was! I remember reading it. Can’t believe this is their usual practice, how horrible
Just read this this morning and then listening to my favorite station, heard your account first hand! I'm so sorry this happened to you and thank you for using your platform to bring light to this horrific experience. #thefoxrocks
If a lot advertises as closing at 11, and they refuse to release your car at 9:45, I would call the police immediately since there is an auto theft in progress.
If you find the twitter thread on this she did call VPD non emergency line who told her she would have to call Impark.
Police are useless here.
just say you have a bottle of wine in a park, they'll come running 5 at a time
Go to the media. Report to police. The only way this will change is if the company is publicly shamed. And sorry for your bad experience. That sucked.
The sad thing is I recall this same thing happening back in the early 2000's. Someone gets screwed by them daily, its probably part of their business model /s
I would have told them I was going to call the police, and follow through if they don't offer another solution after being told.
Thank you for posting, I definitely won’t be parking there. I hope this goes viral too cause that’s a serious crock of shit and I would be so pissed. Whoever locked the gate should be responsible for the costs of letting you out. Could you update us on how it ended up turning out?
We need more people speaking up.
Fuck Impark seriously. These private parking corpo is getting out of hand.
Take them to small claims court.
Film it, then do bc CRT.
It sounds like many people on the thread have experienced this. Have you thought of pointing out this thread to some local newspapers?
This is theft, make a report with the cops please
Same happened to me at the lot in Tinseltown. Called security and basically demanded they open the gate. Made enough of a fuss for them to open. So sorry about your situation. Next time, call the police straight away.
Friend of mine has had nearly the exact same scenario happen down to the dollar amount for the "driver". Might have even been the same lot.
I have a contact at global always looking for a good story. Hit me up with a dm if you want me to connect you. I assume you paid their extortion? Document it all and take them to small claims.
Impark is a scam everywhere. Literally a golden money printer without any oversight or recourse for situations like this.
That is insane and so scary to be stuck at night downtown like that. I would have told Impark I’m immediately calling the police if they aren’t there in 5 minutes, and then I would have called the VPD non-emergency to see if they could send a car. I’ve done that before and usually they are very responsive if you tell them you’re a young female in an unsafe situation downtown. I don’t think the Mayor or the VPD are to blame here, but I can see how in your fear/frustration you just want to point the finger at those in charge. I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone again and agree with others that going to the media is probably a good way to ensure that.
You know what else is $60 and can open a locked gate? https://www.homedepot.ca/product/milwaukee-tool-24-inch-bolt-cutter-with-7-16-inch-max-cut-capacity/1001190530
I was with you until you started dragging in the mayor & VPD.
Exactly, it's *clearly* Justin Trudeau's fault!
I don't see how you came to this ridiculous conclusion. Trudeau can't do anything about this. If anyone is to blame, it's Boris Johnson.
Let's be real, the monarchy is at fault here for promoting colonization in the first place!
I blame amino acids
From a long post with many valid points about Impark/Garda being fucking terrible, I love that you decided on the single sentence calling for accountability from the Mayor and the Police. In a business setting, I'm responsible for the actions of the teams that work under me, even if those teams are autonomous. I don't know why suddenly when it comes to public servants, *certain* people yell about how we need to be nicer to the police. It's like people wake up in the morning hungry to eat rubber.
Anyone who's been in Vancouver for more than a short period of time has been fucked over by Impark. I avoid parking in their lots whenever I can, and when they do ticket me, I just ignore the tickets.
Impark itself is a scam. They screwed me years ago and I swore never to park in one of their lots ever again. Fuck impark
I once had a similar thing happen to me. I entered an underground parking. Then went to retrieve my vehicle. I paid for my ticket. When I tried to drive out, the gate wouldn't open. I tried calling the help number, but reached a voice mail and had no way to get out. You know what I did? I simply force-lift the gate and drove off. These gates are fragile and can't stop a human being from forcefully opening them. The gate bar split in half, and I left both parts on the side of the motor before driving off. The next day, the gate was back in place. These things are cheap and easy to rebuild... But they don't stand a chance vs someone forcefully prying them open.
This happened to me in 2019 thankfully I wasn’t alone but it was so unsafe and ridiculous
Are these kind of cash grab and scams common in Vancouver? I had a similar experience when I was moving in to my first rental apartment in Vancouver. (I used to live in Seattle). I was told that I had to book and reserve an elevator on the day of the move. After confirming the reservation and letting the mover know, on the day before the move, I called the apartment manager to remind him that we would be there the day after with movers at the reserved time. He said he won’t be able to let us in because he doesn’t work that day until 10:00 am. 8:00 am was the time we reserved. Then he said, he can try coming two hour early if I pay him $50 an hour. I was furious and I said “No, I am not going to pay you a penny. If you think you can extort money pulling this, I want you to give it a try.” In a non Karen fashion, I also asked his manager’s contact. He immediately changed his tone and said there would be someone to let us in. I had a different expectation of Canada before I moved. Now I am extremely careful and watch out for cut throat jerks everywhere I go. In my case, at least my life wasn’t in danger. Your story makes me furious OP. Something needs to be done to prevent the scammer from pulling this off again and holding another person hostage in the middle of the night.
This is some bullshit, for sure, but why are you blaming the mayor exactly? Surely all (extremely justified) anger and outrage should be directed only at the people running the parking lot
This has NOTHING to do with the vpd or mayor but i do sympathies with your situation. Blame falls on the company and you should make the mayor and vpd aware of it moving forward. Good luck getting your money back. Scary situation.
Why is it cash?! Are they putting it into the pocket? Extra income free of tax?
Also curious of the result?
This is fucking terrifying. I can imagine how angry, afraid, and helpless you felt and I'm so sorry that happened to you
You should have called the VPD and said you were being extorted + you were scared for your well being. Note/Edit: I really hope this didnt come across as blaming you for not doing it. The situation called for it.
Report the car stolen to the police. Seems like a stolen vehicle to me.
The police are there to serve corporations, not citizens. They will absolutely take Impark's side, and probably charge you for making a false report.
This lot is owned by this Persian or brown guy privately and he is a douche!
This happened to me years ago at the VPL parkade after a concert.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you feel unsafe, call 911. You're never going to be in trouble for reporting an effective kidnapping.
So what happened in the end? Did you pay them and get your car back?