Christchurch shoppers fume over $45 parking fines

STACY SQUIRES/The Press

WRONG SIGNAL: Jacqui White was fined for parking too long while Christmas shopping.

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Two Christchurch shoppers have lost their Christmas spirit after being hit with $45 parking fines at Westfield Riccarton.

Jacqui White is fuming after being given a ticket for exceeding her parking limit at the mall last Sunday, while another shopper, Sarah Wyeth, contacted The Press yesterday with a similar complaint.

Westfield Riccarton will consider waiving the tickets, but says parking limits are well displayed.

White said the Christmas spirit seemed to be lacking at Westfield after she spent more than two hours and $400 there, but was then hit with a fine worth more than 10 percent of her purchases. Wyeth spent $350 and was "on the warpath" after receiving her fine.

White, an economics lecturer, said after battling to find a park and then dealing with long queues in the mall, she returned to her car to see the ticket.

She said she "probably" exceeded her time limit, but believed the penalty was a bad move, particularly as retailers needed shoppers after a tough trading year.

"It sends the wrong signal as far as I'm concerned, especially when the retailers out there are looking for shoppers to spend money at this time of year," she said. "In bad times, retailers want more customers.

"I spent money there and was then penalised more than 10 percent of what I spent. In the leadup to Christmas, how many families will be hit by the same kind of fine?"

Wyeth said she probably would have accepted a $10 fine, but could not believe the "outrageous" fine imposed at the car park.

She said signs did not mention fines.

Westfield Riccarton centre manager Louise Green said the mall provided free car parking for up to four hours for "the vast majority" of shoppers, but there were one-hour and two-hour parks close to Pak 'n Save.

After shopper feedback, the mall decided to introduce a parking monitoring system that identified those who had exceeded clearly marked time limits.

"Our preference was to issue an infringement notice, rather than towing or clamping vehicles," Green added yesterday. "We recognise some shoppers may lose track of time, and Westfield Riccarton is happy to consider waiving infringement notices for bona fide shoppers."

Green said if shoppers believed their stay would be longer than the designated time period, they should tell the customer services desk.

All time limits were displayed around the car park, she said.

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