Wilson parking fine couple before ticket due to expire

Patrick Cummuskey, 31, and his wife Vanessa came back from a meeting three minutes before their parking was due to expire to find a $65 ticket issued at 3pm. Photo / Supplied

An Auckland couple who paid for a park in Wilson Parking were shocked to find a hefty fine 32 minutes before the time-limit ended.

Patrick Cummuskey, 31, and his wife Vanessa parked their car at an Auckland Central Wilson Parking building on Customs Street East yesterday and paid for one hour of parking, ending at 3.28pm.

"I know Wilson Parking are very pedantic about things so we made sure we got back before the parking permit was about to expire," Cummuskey said.

But the pair came back from a meeting three minutes before their parking was due to expire to find a $65 ticket issued at 3pm.

"I was appalled.

"It was blatantly clear it was issued before it was expired," he said.

The couple immediately tried to look for a parking officer in the building but no one was around, Cummuskey said.

"My wife then called the number on the ticket and managed to get through but she got hung up on.

"I got home and lodged an appeal with Wilson through the online web form."

The company recently contacted the couple and have apologised and waived the ticket, Cummuskey said.

He said this might have been a simple case of an enforcement officer "that didn't look properly".

But it wasn't the first time he's had issues in a Wilson Parking building.

"In the exact same car park a year and a half ago, I got ticketed two minutes over the time limit so I make a point of not parking at Wilson from now on."

He suspected he wasn't the only person in this situation.

"The more concerning thing is that this happens again and again and there will be a lot of people that don't contest the tickets."

"It's a behaviour I'd rather not see happen."

A Wilson Parking spokeswoman said the breach notice was "issued in error and was promptly waived".

"This was communicated to the customer via email and we have apologised for the inconvenience."

She said the staff member who issued the ticket was a new staff member and would be provided with further training.

"This is not a common occurrence, but if a breach notice is issued in error, it is cancelled and appropriate remedial steps are taken accordingly."