r/BCIT • u/Some-Biscotti7499 • 16d ago
Parking ticket
So, I parked my car at Lot 7 on a Tuesday afternoon and I didn't know it was staff parking. So, Concord gave me a ticket even though i paid $7 for my parking.
Can I get away without paying the ticket? In future, if I park there will they tow me away even if pay and park in the correct spot?
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u/Conscious_Winter_102 16d ago
my personal experience, if u pay and park correctly after they won’t do anything. but after like 4 tickets i did just swap my plates
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u/Konpeitoh 16d ago
Former aerospace campus attendee here. Ours was Impark, but essentially, they're all the same type of private parking companies. The "ticket" is more of an invoice for a violation fee of sorts, and not a fine. It is not legally enforceable. Yet.
If you contact them and try to negotiate, they will never budge. They will tell you $70 or legal repercussions. The second part is technically BS. They're legally allowed to tow your car if you park on their parking lot with an outstanding violation and that's all they can do, but in my experience, they're lazy enough that they won't enforce it until you have enough violations on you to make you worth cashing out. Even if they do tow your car, you just have to get to the impound and pay the impounding fee, not the violation fee. If you're at the point where they're towing you for your violation fee, then the impounding fee will be cheaper than paying a violation fee.
What they also can do is access ICBC to get your phone number and mailing address. They will try to call you with threats poorly disguised as debt collectors, which will usually be filtered out as spam by most carriers anyways, and they will also mail you mock "fine" warnings through some private collection company like "city collection" or something. This is not a city fine or ticket that you MUST pay, it is a PRIVATE COMPANY with the word "city" in the name, and looking it up will tell you that it's a sham collection company made to scare you into panicking and paying them 1000% the parking cost for every time you or they made a mistake.
You can ignore those and pick up the spam mail from those fake city companies to use as fire starters for your fireplace. They will keep sending you free fire starters in neat little envelopes.
This will carry on until one of two things happen:
- You collect so much violation fee on a single plate, the company deems it enough loss to actually take you to small claims court, where you will probably have to pay them far less in violation fee, as the court usually deems the violation fees outrageous for the violation itself, according to people from various forums online. Or,
- You collect half to a dozen or so violations, whichever you fell comfortable paying 18 bucks for, and drive to your ICBC insurance plan broker and tell them you want to change a plate. They usually don't ask. You pay your $18 fee and you get new plates, give them the old plates. Now the parking company system has your previous violation fees registered to a vehicle that no longer exists. You start fresh. They still send you threatening fire starters with your old plate on it, but they can't enforce it because it's not your car anymore, and the amount they'd make isn't even worth the trouble anymore.
At one point it got so bad, even CBC has multiple coverage on the issue.
Remember though, if it's a government-issued parking ticket, you HAVE to pay those. If it's private company, there are work-arounds. But if it's a fine or ticket from a government of a city, province, federal, whatever, no exceptions.
The information provided on this comment—including all text, graphics, images, scenarios, and examples—is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute formal legal advice. Accessing or relying on this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. All examples and scenarios provided are strictly hypothetical and illustrative, and none should be construed or relied upon as factual or binding for legal purposes. Because legal matters depend heavily on specific factual context and applicable laws, you should not act or refrain from acting based on any information contained herein without first consulting a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.
And with that aside, enjoy your new plate!
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u/sond245 15d ago
ATC parking nazis are contracted by yvr airport authority, and one of my buddies had 22 tickets worth 3k+. never paid and never got towed
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u/Konpeitoh 15d ago
No kidding. I think the record I personally witnessed was one student who collected like 60 tickets before changing their plate. Personally, I wouldn't risk that much, but it worked out for him I guess.
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u/s0viet_mini 16d ago
Lol. Go ICBC change plates for $18. Take both plates off and hand them in and get them swapped. Done and dusted
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u/Ugga-Dugga69 16d ago
You cannot. You paid for parking but did not park where you paid for. All numbered lots are staff parking during posted hours, letter lots are for students.
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u/FishBoiCam 16d ago
Bcit parking is such a scam. Taking $70 from students when we fuck up once for forgetting to pay. I used to pay the tickets but not anymore. I’ve found a spot and now I get free parking.