Tag: Yarra City Council

Yarra City Council and PayStay have refunded in full the parking fees they charged me on the ANZAC Day public holiday

On ANZAC Day I parked in PayStay zone 33331053, in the vicinity of 193 Brunswick Street Fitzroy, clocking up a fee of $7.46. Whilst I suspected the parking should be free in that zone on a public holiday I noticed a nearby car parked in the same zone had bought a parking ticket from the machine and so to be on the safe side I decided to activate my PayStay app.

This is the transaction details for my parking period:

<http://mikeybear.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/paystay-parking-fee-25-apr-2018.png” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>PayStay parking fee 25 Apr 2018

Later on I looked up the Yarra City Council website to check the situation regarding parking on a public holiday:

<http://mikeybear.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/city-of-yarra-public-holidays-parking.png” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Parking on public holidays / For parking signs that state days of the week, parking and time restrictions on the signs do not apply on a public holiday.

I then emailed PayStay to enquire if their app should let me activate a parking period during a time that Yarra City Council says should not need to be paid for. I received a response saying the app should not let me pay if payment was not required:

<http://mikeybear.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/paystay-email-may-2-2018.png” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>In that situation if the spot you’re parking in doesn’t require you to pay it will show a message informing you that you are not required to make a payment. All information provided on the app is provided from which ever council covers where you were parking.

I then went back to zone 33331053 to check the parking signs and saw they do state days of the week:

<http://mikeybear.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/zone-33331053-sign-1.jpg” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Zone 33331053 / 2P TICKET / 7AM - 6PM MON - SAT

<http://mikeybear.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/zone-33331053-sign-2.jpg” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Zone 33331053 / 2P TICKET / 7AM - 6PM MON - SAT

Having read the Yarra City Council policy on parking on public holidays, and having clarified with PayStay how their app should work, it would appear there is an inconsistency somewhere that amounted to me being charged $7.46 on the ANZAC Day public holiday when I believe I should not have been required to pay anything.

By extension, other people using PayStay in that Yarra City Council zone (or other similar zones) on ANZAC Day (or other public holidays) may also have been billed for their parking when they oughtn’t have been.

On May 2 I emailed Yarra City Council requesting a full refund of my parking fees.  On May 10 I received a written reply as below and a full refund of my fees.

Yarra City Council parking fees refunded May 10 2018

I have asked Yarra City Council if PayStay will , in the future, allow a fee to be charged on a public holiday in a fee-exempt zone.  I have also asked if they will issue refunds to all people who they took money from on ANZAC Day (and all other public holidays) in that and other similarly fee-exempt parking zones.