TeresaJAT

We had a wonderful vacation in Hungary and Romanaia, driving around the countries for 21 days. We were always very careful about parking so as not to get a ticket. A month after we returned home our car rental company informed us we had gotten a parking ticket in Pecs. The charged is over $180 ($150 for the ticket, rest to the rental company for handling it). We parked on a street on a Sunday evening. Asked a passerby and our hotel clerk if we needed a parking ticket for the car. We were told no, not that evening but would need one the next day. We bought what we needed from the hotel for Monday and went back and put them in the windsheild. My husband had already checked the other cars to see if they had any stickers of tickets on or in them, nothing. The city says we had a violation for that Sunday evening. There was never any ticket on our car so we are really confused. The car rental company has been little help. Should we have our credit card not pay them? (the car company I guess handled the ticket) I don't want them to get stuck with the bill but it doesn't seem right that we were not given a chance to disput or pay the ticket when we were in Pecs. Anyone else have an experience like this?

kerouac

I have escaped such charges so far, but they are increasingly common. It is indeed quite difficult to understand certain parking regulations even when you speak the language. (I remember trying to park in Sydney, Australia once, after carefully reading a very complicated sign along the lines of "forbidden to park Monday-Friday 8am-6pm and weekends from noon" or something like that. So it was Sunday morning and I was parking when a meter maid ran up to say "you're not allowed to park there!" Anyway, I didn't try to contest it so I just went to a parking garage -- which is what I recommend when the rules are not clear!)

If in doubt, do not park on the street -- go to an official parking lot and pay the price.

kybourbon

Normally the car company charges a fee (in your case it appears to be $30) for providing your information to the police and you pay the ticket ($150) to someone else. Sometimes it's a company the police have contracted with to collect fines. The car company doesn't usually pay the ticket and many times Fodorites ignore the tickets and don't pay.

J62

Are you sure it was a parking ticket and not a moving violation, i.e. entering a restricted traffic zone or something else? The latter are very common in Italy, Florence specifically. Your only warning is the signs you zip by without even noticing because you're trying to find your way to the hotel. Camera takes a picture of the car and a few months later you get a bill in the mail just as you did.

No, I don't think it's a scam, but rather a good reminder to the rest of us to be forwarned.

I really don't think disputing the charge will get you too far. The car rental co will produce the violation notice and your signed agreement saying you agree to pay for such violations. Unless you can prove the violation to be invalid, which would be difficult at best, I think you don't have grounds to dispute the charge.

janisj

no - not a scam.

Did the rental company's letter actually say "parking" ticket, or just a ticket/violation? It is possibly a ticket for driving in a restricted area, speeding (they use cameras), or something like that.

There really is nothing to dispute - the authorities contacted the rental company and it contacted you. The police would not have known your car's plate number if they didn't have either a valid ticket or photograph. Seldom will there be a "physical" ticket.

But you could contact the police in Pecs and ask for a copy of the citation (or did the rental company already send you a copy?).

spaarne

Here is the parking regulation for Pecs, http://tinyurl.com/mrbyke. $150 for a parking violation is madness. I've seen many parking violation notices on cars in Europe, including my own. The police always do that. I would refuse to pay. Contest it with your CC company. The fact that the car rental company has been of little help might be a clue.

janisj

Spaarne: What is there to dispute? It isn't the role of a cc company to get one out of parking tickets. They wouldn't win.

bilboburgler

If you had said Roumania or Moldova i might have guessed a scam but Hungary is pretty upright kinda place.

Did you use Hetrz/eurocar etc or Uncle Vlad's knock off joint. If the latter well ... If the former you're going to pay sometime.

tcreath

We've received two tickets after we returned home from two separate vacations. The first was for driving in a restricted area in Salzburg. The second was for speeding near Berchtesgaden. We received both tickets a month or so after we returned home. I think this is fairly common practice.

We also got a boot on our tire while in Cesky Krumlov because we parked in a parking lot that was, apparently, only to be used for local people with permits. In this case we did get a ticket, on our windshield, and we had to go to the gas station and ask for their help. Luckily the ticket was for only around $30-$40 USD.

I agree that $150 seems high, but I don't think you can argue with the rules and policies of the town despite what you think of them.

Good luck!
Tracy

spaarne

<i>It isn't the role of a cc company to get one out of parking tickets.</i> I agree.
<i>They wouldn't win.</i> Don't throw your sword down until the battle is over.

By disputing the charge you will get the attention of the auto rental company. They must produce the parking ticket. I have read other information on the web that Pecs will even provide an English translation of parking tickets. See the contact information in my other post on this thread.

TeresaJAT's husband had established that free parking was allowed on Sunday. In general it is rare that parking requires payment on Sundays, except at beach towns.

The only senario I can picture for a ticket is if the car was blocking a driveway exit or parked in a spot paid for and reserved for a local resident. In either of those cases the car would most likely have been booted ("clamped" in Europe) or towed.

As for the good honor of Hungarian merchants they are no less or more honorable than any I have dealt with. Most likely a scam is being attempted by an employee. I have experienced that in Hungary.

Fight it TeresaJAT. You have nothing to lose. Let us know how it turned out.

janisj

"<i>By disputing the charge you will get the attention of the auto rental company.</i>"

IMO that is silly. The rental company is already aware of the ticket and the traffic/rules regs where they do business.

And the OP's anecdotal evidence is that a 'passerby' and a clerk said - "Sure, park there. You'll be OK." Hardly enough.

I'm all for disputing invalid charges - but I don't see where a credit card company would get involved here. If the OP wants to 'dispute' w/ anyone, it should be directly w/ the Pecs authorities.

spaarne

<i>The car rental company has been little help. </i> said TeresaJAT. There is only one thing they understand -- money. That's not silly.

tcreath

You should be able to get a copy of the ticket. We got both tickets mailed to us directly from the car rental company.

Tracy

TeresaJAT

Thanks everyone for the input.
Spaarne, your website was helpful. It appears we parked in an area that is not allowed. There were plenty of other cars parked there but on the map it is not listed as a parking zone. I still feel we should have gotten a ticket so would could have taken care of it while in town.
We did get a copy of the ticket in the mail, sent from the city, all in Hungarian! (but then that is their language
Live and learn!
Thanks again to everyone!

TeresaJAT

My husband just got home and we got out the city map for Pecs with our hotel on it. We in fact did not park where the rental company reported we had. We in fact parked in the green zone for which a parking rate is not listed on the map Spaarne provided.
'Korlatozott Forgalmu Ovezetek' is written about the green zone but we were unable to get a translation for that. Will have to do some telephoning!