11 Investigates: Parking company sent out over 800 tickets by mistake for events at PPG Paints Arena
It’s a popular spot for events with easy parking in the Lower Hill neighborhood.
“Me and my family had tickets to Tom Segura back in May and I drove separately, my brother drove separately, and my other brother drove separately,” said Rachele Mongiovi.
Three cars parked at the Logan Lot outside the arena, each paying $45. Mongiovi told Channel 11 she didn’t give it another thought until a month later when she got a ticket in the mail from a third-party company.
“It was saying that we owe $88 after we’d already paid the forty-some dollars, which is absolutely ridiculous as we already paid,” Mongiovi said.
The company is called Parking Revenue Recovery Services and it’s not the first time this has happened. They were the subject of an Attorney General’s Office investigation in Colorado where the AG said the company was required to refund over $30,000 to drivers who were ticketed after they’d paid for parking.
11 Investigates got answers from PRRS Executive Vice President John Conway. He told Channel 11 over the course of five events at the Logan Lot at PPG Paints Arena, 822 violations were accidentally sent out by his company. He said the lot was not put on an “event hold” for the dates triggering the tickets as they run the lots for the arena district.
“It just sounds like it’s 2024 how do you not have a software system that tells you when there is an event vs. daily parking. I just think if it weren’t for the news contacting them, they would just keep going and charging people double for events after events,” Mongiovi said.
According to Conway, all the tickets issued were voided, hundreds of apology letters mailed on Thursday and refunds are in place for the dozen people who actually paid the fine. While he expressed to Channel 11 his apologies and mistake, Mongiovi isn’t sure its enough.
“I just think something fishy is going on with the company. I would hate to see them continue doing this and not rectify the situation for future events,” Mongiovi said.
So, what’s to stop this error from happening at the next event? Conway said they’ve changed the system so that multiple people will have to verify the violations in the system before any tickets are sent out.
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