Parking Store closure drives customer crazy

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This article was published 15/10/2020 (1850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Outdoor city pools opened in early July, while indoor pools began to reopen later that month. Winnipeggers have been able to browse for books at city libraries for the last four weeks. And the public was granted access to city hall, with capacity limits, on June 23.

But the Winnipeg Parking Authority’s Parking Store on Portage Avenue has remained closed since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Some Winnipeg drivers say that’s created a lot of confusion and frustration.

Corinne Goldrup has been trying to get her monthly parking pass reduced or cancelled for the past six months, but COVID-19 and the closure of the Parking Store continues to cause problems for her.

“They (Winnipeg Parking Authority) said I could cancel my parking if I wanted to. I have since cancelled my parking, but they continue to take money out of my account,” said Goldrup. “The last time money was taken out of my account was Oct. 5. This has been seven months from when I asked for a reduction and they have taken a total of $1,065.75 out of my account.”

Goldrup has parked in the gravel parking lot by The Forks, between Shaw Park and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights for almost six years. She works as a provincial analyst in the area.

“I did email the Winnipeg Parking Authority on April 1 and asked if they’d consider a reduced rate if I wasn’t using the parking lot,” she said. “I didn’t hear back from anybody until April 23. The monthly fee still came out of my account… and it turns out I didn’t use the parking lot at all for the whole month of April. So, basically I paid $152.25 for no service.”

Goldrup has kept track of the days she parked in her spot and calculated how much she would have spent if she had paid the daily maximum rate instead of the monthly fee.

“If I was going to be paying the daily maximum rate for parking for the number of days I actually parked in the lot, I would have been paying $341,” she said. “At this point, I want $724.75 back.”

Goldrup advised her bank to stop the November payment for the parking spot. She hopes that will prevent further withdrawals from her account.

Goldrup said she used all the available methods to contact the parking authority but has received little response. She filled out the online cancellation form in August, called 311 and even reached out to city councillors and the mayor’s office.

“I’m kind of at a dead end. It’s quite a bit of money,” said Goldrup. “I thought that they would be kind of reasonable. They have a rule if you want to cancel your parking, which I did and I filled out a form, they would still withdraw for another month after that. They’ve gone beyond that.”

The City of Winnipeg said the Parking Store is still closed to the public. However, all services, including parking, permits and penalty notice appeals are available online or by phone. There has been no service interruption throughout the pandemic, a city spokesperson said.

“Residents phoning 311 can select ‘all other city services’ to speak to a customer service representative about parking and their call will be forwarded to staff at the Winnipeg Parking Authority if needed,” the spokesperson said. “The Winnipeg Parking Authority will follow up with residents on any inquiries received, either by telephone or email.”

There has been a steep 48 per cent decrease in penalty notices from January to September in comparison to last year due to the coronavirus. Revenue from parking tickets is down a whopping $2.77 million, or 46 per cent, during the same period.

Goldrup has been asking for a reduced rate for her monthly pass, however the city said it is not offering discounted or prorated parking permits at this time.

The city added there have been no changes to residential parking permits during the pandemic. It is still accepting applications for permit renewals and new permits.

“We expect all current applications and payments to be processed by the end of the week.”

The Free Press asked why the Parking Store hasn’t reopened when so many other businesses and city buildings have.

“I’m curious myself,” said Coun. Jeff Browaty, chairman of the city’s innovation committee.

kellen.taniguchi@freepress.mb.ca