Budget sent us a fraudulent parking violation bill

[Polly Metallic]

I’m not sure if this is an error or a scam, but they claim we’re being charged $117 for a parking violation in Ft. Lauderdale. We flew into Orlando and spent the entire ten days in Orlando and Ormond Beach. Ft Lauderdale is a loooong way from Ormond Beach, and we definitely didn’t go there. Has anyone ever had something like this happen?

 

[dioxide45]

Chances are, they associated it to the wrong rental agreement, perhaps someone got the ticket the same day you dropped off the vehicle or something close. Did they provide a copy of the ticket with a date?

 

[davidvel]

I doubt Budget has a fraudulent parking ticket scheme going. Likely some kind of clerical error.

 

[beejaybee]

What a headache to try to prove your innocence! Ask for a copy of the violation when you contact them to refute the charge.

 

[am1]

I doubt Budget has a fraudulent parking ticket scheme going. Likely some kind of clerical error.

Which should be considered fraud as they are trying to get money from someone innocent. A sorry and some kind of compensation should be in order.

 

[dioxide45]

Which should be considered fraud as they are trying to get money from someone innocent. A sorry and some kind of compensation should be in order.

Clerical errors happen and that doesn't make something fraud.

 

[davidvel]

a

Which should be considered fraud as they are trying to get money from someone innocent. A sorry and some kind of compensation should be in order.

No. A mistake, clerical error or misunderstanding isn't fraud. There must be an intentional deception to deprive someone of something, that is successful. We don't even know what OP has told Budget yet or what any response has been. OP hasn't paid the fee (unless placed on CC.)

Maybe we'll get more facts and it will show Budget has an elaborate scheme to falsely bill renters for fake tickets, but I doubt it.

 

[zentraveler]

I’m not sure if this is an error or a scam, but they claim we’re being charged $117 for a parking violation in Ft. Lauderdale. We flew into Orlando and spent the entire ten days in Orlando and Ormond Beach. Ft Lauderdale is a loooong way from Ormond Beach, and we definitely didn’t go there. Has anyone ever had something like this happen?

That is probably a mistake, although who knows. We got an expensive ticket/credit card charge from Hertz months after we left the Marriott outside of Paris. We had rented a car, but there was never a time when I drove or parked illegally, and there was no documentation provided whatsoever about what we had purportedly done wrong. I disputed it with our credit card company and they deleted the charges.

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

I’m not sure if this is an error or a scam, but they claim we’re being charged $117 for a parking violation in Ft. Lauderdale. We flew into Orlando and spent the entire ten days in Orlando and Ormond Beach. Ft Lauderdale is a loooong way from Ormond Beach, and we definitely didn’t go there. Has anyone ever had something like this happen?

What did they do/say when you contacted them?

 

[Luanne]

Ahh Florida. I was driving a rental car I had picked up in Tampa and got pulled over. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong, so I was curious. Turns out the car had supposedly been on an impound lot. I was able to show the rental contract and my id and they let me go. The officer was very nice and told me they had "tagged" me using their scanner. I asked if I would be continually pulled over for this problem and he said no, since his car was the only one with the scanner. He did tell me to call the car rental agency the next day and let them know. I did call and they didn't seem concerned at all. I never did get pulled over again though. I don't remember which company I rented from on this trip.

 

[Icc5]

I’m not sure if this is an error or a scam, but they claim we’re being charged $117 for a parking violation in Ft. Lauderdale. We flew into Orlando and spent the entire ten days in Orlando and Ormond Beach. Ft Lauderdale is a loooong way from Ormond Beach, and we definitely didn’t go there. Has anyone ever had something like this happen?

Did your rental have paper plates? We got charged for toll violations when we had a rental in Arizona (no toll roads). Turned out someone earlier had stole the plates and the rental company replaced with paper plates.
I had to send Florida copy of my credit card purchases to show we were in Arizona when the toll violations happened in Florida.
Bart

 

[BingoBangoBongo]

Florida does use an odd font for their license plate letters, so I could see how a letter could be mixed up and lead to a ticket being issued to the wrong owner, but the make and model would likely be different. Unless they were both jacked up F150’s with dual diesel exhausts.

 

[Polly Metallic]

The letter said Propark had billed Budget for the alleged parking violation. Budget then paid the fees on our behalf to “protect Budget from incurring late fees, penalties, and potential vehicle seizure.” The letter said we had to pay $87.80 for the violation plus $30.00 handling fee by 7/21/21 or Budget would bill it to the credit card we had used for the rental.

I phoned Budget and read them the riot act, explaining we hadn’t been farther from Orlando than Ormond Beach. Today I got an email saying they were able to “identify a discrepancy with the account information.” They made it sound like our credit card had already been billed and they’d refund the money. I haven’t checked yet to see if they billed us. Per the letter they shouldn’t have billed us until the 21st.

 

[dioxide45]

The best way to solve these issues is to contact the company. It looks like it worked here. Too many people jump to say to dispute the credit card charge. That isn't the right step. Always contact the merchant first to fix the mistake.

 

[dioxide45]

I phoned Budget and read them the riot act

What does the riot act have to do with the parking ticket?

 

[bogey21]

I phoned Budget and read them the riot act.

No riot act for me. Most of the time I have success when dealing with situations by first making sure I am talking to a competent Representative and calmly explaining the situation. Whenever I get a Rep who doesn't seem to have a clue I thank them for their help and call back until I reach competent one...

George

 

[Polly Metallic]

What does the riot act have to do with the parking ticket?

There was no parking ticket. They offered no evidence there had ever been a parking ticket, much less one that involved our vehicle. I was polite but I let them know it struck us as a scam since we hadn’t been within hundreds of miles of Ft Lauderdale. If they tried to charge us $117 with no evidence except their say so, we’d certainly put up a fight.

 

[Polly Metallic]

No riot act for me. Most of the time I have success when dealing with situations by first making sure I am talking to a competent Representative and calmly explaining the situation. Whenever I get a Rep who doesn't seem to have a clue I thank them for their help and call back until I reach competent one...

George

It wasn’t as if I shouted and swore at them, but I let them know we’d fight any charges since it had to be an error on their part. They managed to find their “account discrepancy” without too much trouble. They should check their information more carefully before issuing fines.

 

[dioxide45]

There was no parking ticket. They offered no evidence there had ever been a parking ticket, much less one that involved our vehicle. I was polite but I let them know it struck us as a scam since we hadn’t been within hundreds of miles of Ft Lauderdale. If they tried to charge us $117 with no evidence except their say so, we’d certainly put up a fight.

I guess there are different ways of going about things, my first inclination would be to say to them that there must be a mistake, not recite laws and accuse them of a scam. Perhaps that only came up after they protested and said it was indeed your ticket?

 

[Passepartout]

Sounds like all's well that ends well. Move along. Nothing to see here.

 

[davidvel]

Sounds like all's well that ends well. Move along. Nothing to see here.

What? This is a train wreck. rubbernecks rejoice.

 

[zentraveler]

The best way to solve these issues is to contact the company. It looks like it worked here. Too many people jump to say to dispute the credit card charge. That isn't the right step. Always contact the merchant first to fix the mistake.

Just to clarify, I got nowhere when I tried to talk to Hertz about being billed for a ticket, with no ticket attached or referenced. I would have been happy to solve it that way, but Hertz couldn't be bothered dealing with Hertz France which is why I finally disputed the charge, which was handled very readily by Chase with my description of the fees.

 

[Luanne]

The best way to solve these issues is to contact the company. It looks like it worked here. Too many people jump to say to dispute the credit card charge. That isn't the right step. Always contact the merchant first to fix the mistake.

I often put charges in dispute while I am working with the company to resolve it.

 

[am1]

Sounds like all's well that ends well. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Until the next time they do it to someone else. I sure a few pay it or do not even realize the charge on their card.

 

[jmhpsu93]

I rented a car in Boise a few years ago (Hertz). We had a rock hit the windshield and it caused a miniscule scratch/chip in the windshield which I never noticed. They tried to charge me almost a $1,000 for it. I received a very threatening notice in the mail about it and they basically called me every day. I called the local Safelite for a quote on what it would cost, roughly $200 for the most expensive windshield for that make/model, even though the Hertz location presented me with a receipt for the window replacement that was almost $1K.

I found it odd that the person chasing me down for money was from a collection company outside of SLC, Utah. After doing some sleuthing I discovered they were a company that owns a bunch of independently-owned Hertz locations. I called Hertz corporate and they said there was nothing they could do (I was Presidential at the time). I would up letting my insurance handle it, and the rental company continued to chase me for the $500 deductible and I just ignored them for about two years. I have no doubt this was a scam and that they were hoping my insurance would cover it all.

Since then I've never given the benefit of the doubt to rental car companies, and will never rent from an independent location again. I check my receipt when I get it and look out for zombie CC charges afterwards.

While I doubt there's any kind of scam operation going on at the Orlando location, they don't exactly have an incentive to not overcharge you and they're so short-staffed right now there's probably zero quality control.