IMDonehere

I just received notification that I must pay a parking fine incurred in Gent. The owner of the Inn, a most amicable fellow, helped me get a parking receipt. We went to the machine together and he walked me through it. Unfortunately he did it wrong and now I have a 25 Euro fine. He tried to squelch the fine but could not.

Who is responsible for the fine?

hetismij2

Er, Gent is Belgium, and if it was your car you are responsible I'd say.

IMDonehere

Sorry, Het, you are absolutely right about the location, my mistake.

Dukey1

The fine amount could be one heck of a lot more in my experience. It was your car and I am sorry that "he did it wrong." Sounds as if he has done everything possible to get the thing "squelched" so I think it's time you paid up and moved on.

IMDonehere

I just received the notification about 1/2 hour ago and now I have to pay for a wire transfer as well.

PalenQ

What a silly question - who else besides you can be responsible for a fine you incurred - you expecting the hotel guy to pay for your mistake?

Who is responsible for the fine?>

Who would you think is responsible if not you?

IMDonehere

Obviously the instructions were confusing for someone who spoke the language, let alone for someone who did not.

Truthfully, if someone made a mistake on the reliance of my information, I would feel responsible.

nytraveler

Your car - your fine.

maitaitom

My parking ticket experience in San Quirico...

"As the others packed, relaxed a little more and downed one last coffee, I walked to where I had parked the rental car so I could drive back to the hotel and help load us up.

As I approached the car, I wondered, “What’s that on the window (even though I instinctively knew what it was)?" Yep, it was a parking ticket for parking in a “residential only” parking area. In their one minor lapse, the people at the hotel said it was fine for us to park in that area, but obviously the ticket stated otherwise.

The ticket was 35 euros, but by the time I got back to the hotel I decided it wasn’t enough to make a stink about, especially since we loved our time here. It turned out the German guests (who also had a parking ticket) were making stink enough for two. The husband was getting flustered and talking in rather high decibels, and the girl at the desk called a couple of places to see what she could do to help. I just put my ticket next to theirs on the desk and waited for the eventual outcome.

I had made up my mind while listening to her on the phone that if we had to pay, then we’ll pay. Remember, “Attitude is everything!”

Obviously our German friends had a different mindset, because when she got off the phone and softly said, “You both have to pay the ticket,” he picked up the ticket and threw it back on the desk. As his face reddened, he replied (well, kind of yelled) in no uncertain terms he wasn’t paying. He then stormed off (he had another night to stay, so I don’t know how it was resolved, but needless to say his day was pretty much spoiled ... not by the ticket, but how it had affected him).

The girl at the desk said she would take it over to the police station and get it paid, and then she apologized again. “No problem,” we said, and packed the car..."

My advice...pay the fine. It's not worth the hassle.

suec1

Well since you say "he tried to get it squelched" I assume he is aware of the fine. Sure it would be NICE if he offered to pay but since he has not offered, I think at this point you'll have to suck it up and pay it.

IMDonehere

I can use my bank to transfer the funds.

NewbE

I like to try think about what The Ethicist (the column in the NYT Sunday Magazine) would say. I think he would say that the owner of the Inn's good intentions absolve him of responsibility. I think he would add that in trying to help you he did not assume responsibility for the parking of the car, only for assisting you to the best of his ability; that the best of his ability wasn't good enough is not relevant. And, lastly, punishing him for his good deed would be bad karma, would it not? If we all did that, no one would ever help anyone in this world.

Pay the fine. As a percentage of the cost of your trip, surely it's insignificant.

PalenQ

I can use my bank to transfer the funds.>

Maybe to avoid the wire charges contact the hotel owner and ask him to pay it if he can charge your credit card with no additional fees.

But wow - someone tries to help out out of the goodness of their heart and then you want him to pay for any mistake - now that is an Ugly American IMO.

Bedar

You, of course, are responsible. But, look the ticket over and perhaps you can pay it online. This happened to us in Spain. We went to all the trouble of getting a check in euros, sent it off only to have it returned to us, and then had to go online and pay with a credit card !! Look it over and good luck !

IMDonehere

I no longer have the ticket, but have the instructions as how to send the money.

Palenq

I have considered contacting him to avoid extra payment which I will probably do first.

I always expect you to have the nastiest interpretation and comments. As noted, I said the fellow from the Inn was a genuinely nice fellow. Nor did I rant and whine about his behavior. Nor have I asked him to pay for this or threatened him with some false review. SO much for ugly American assertion.

You sir, are nothing but the fundamentalist of these boards. If there is harsh way to look at something and say it, that will be your predictable response.

Christina

Well, I think you are legally responsible, of course. Is he morally responsible? I see your point, if a hotel in its capacity tells a guest something as to how things work in that city, I would think they might feel some responsibility for doing it correctly. I think some very special or rare hotels might want to pay it if it were their fault for the mistake. But I wouldn't count on it, of course.

Tell you what you can do, if you want to pursue this (pay it, of course), you can write him (or email him if that is your correspondence method) with a copy of the fine and say you are going to pay it. You can easily copy and make a PDF file with your email of the ticket. Then you can just say you unfortunately got this ticket due to some mistaken instructions about ....whatever, and you were sure he'd want to know, if only to make sure other guests do not have this same occurrence.

Then see what he does, but hotels are not usually going to send you cash for tickets, anyway, and if you've checked out, they can't lower your bill at this point. He might offer you a discount or free stay, but if you aren't going back, that won't do you any good except it might make you feel better.

smetz1

Did you request his help, or did he notice you parking and come out unsolicited to tell you to do it his way?

Gretchen

You, sir, need to suck it up and pay the d---d bill, one way or the other.
You spray epithets about others around, but you, sir, are an equal abuser. IMO

NewbE

<But wow - someone tries to help out out of the goodness of their heart and then you want him to pay for any mistake - now that is an Ugly American IMO.>
But this was spot on. Sorry, but You're Done Here, indeed. You haven't a leg to stand on.

Fra_Diavolo

You don't need us. Be a mensch.