Ticketing glitch: Car park user charged three times more

Wilson Parking has refunded customers at the Elliott St carpark who were overcharged due to a systems errror. Photo / David Thomas

A motorist has been left stunned after a systems error left him with a $50 car parking ticket - $35 over the nightly tariff.

But the car park operator says the "minor systems error" only affected its Elliott St Car Park on Sunday evening and it was confident all the affected customers had received refunds.

Waikato man David Thomas parked his car at the Elliott St car park from 2.30pm on Sunday to 8.30am on Monday, expecting to pay $15 for the overnight fee.

But when he returned to the vehicle on Queen's Birthday Monday, he was charged $50.

He said he had no choice but to pay the hefty fee because otherwise he would not have been able to get his car out of the car park.

David Thomas was gobsmacked when a system error forced him to pay $50 for leaving his car overnight at the Elliott St carpark in Auckland's CBD.

Thomas said he hadn't been expecting it to cost that much and recalls reading about a public holiday rate.

He appealed to Wilson Parking who has refunded him the $35 difference, and apologised for the system overcharging him.

Thomas contacted the Herald to let other car park users know in case they had also been overcharged and were unaware.

A Wilson Parking spokesperson said it fixed the systems error that occurred on Sunday quickly so only a very small number of transactions were impacted.

"We are confident that affected customers have all contacted us and have all obtained refunds."