Hello Windsor Residents,

I want to make Windsor residents aware of a potential scam at a private parking lot directly in front of the wonderful facility, Adventure Bay/ Windsor Aquatics Centre, by sharing with you my personal experience from this past Tuesday November 11th. apologies for the length of this account, but I wanted to give you all of the facts.

Help/ Beware/ For Your Information:
Yesterday I had an interesting experience with a friend. We are left to imagine that it is some sort of scam that we have found ourselves wrapped up in. We can't figure how to get out of it... we can't figure how we got in to it... we can't figure out what we did wrong because we followed the rules.... insight and help is very much appreciated.

If you can't help then take notice and please amend your parking options accordingly in both London and Windsor.

My friend Cori-Anne and I car-pooled to Adventure Bay indoor water-park (Cannon Cove) in Windsor with our three kids, collectively.

We parked where we have parked before right in front of the facility on the corner of Bruce Avenue and Riverside Drive. It is a large parking lot and one would assume (we didn't pay attention or didn't care to notice) was a city parking lot.

The parking lot was in fact a private lot called Compark. We paid the $5 for the parking chit/ voucher that was valid for 10 hours starting at 9:55am. We were in the water-park until 2:30pm. We were ticked at 10:35 by the private parking lot's enforcement officer with a ticket for failing to display a parking chit on our dash for almost $40... less if we paid right away.

The problem is WE DID HAVE OUR PARKING CHIT IN THE CORRECT PLACE ON OUR DASH ABOVE THE STEERING WHEEL JUST UNDER THE WINDOW. Two ladies with three kids under three all ready to eat and nap aren't really going to waste our time/ energy argue for nothing.

We immediately called the phone number on the back of the ticket and drove to their office so that we could explain this misunderstanding and show them both the ticket and the chit, we paid them to park in their lot. No problem. We followed the rules.

They were completely inflexible and most un-cooperative. They said they had photos to prove that we had not displayed the chit properly. So we waited for photos (most puzzled as we knew it was visible). The photos showed no view of the chit from the angle the photos were taken. (The photographer must be good at this.) The ticket was not going to be reversed/ cancelled. They were standing their ground. We asked for our other options. What could we do now? Could we go to court to argue it there in front of a judge?

They were most uncooperative and unwilling to share with us any further options or even listen to our argument. It just wasn't making sense. Don't we have a right to go to court? We took photos from the same angle of the van with the chit in the same place and got the same non viewing photos as they did.

So we called the non-emergency police phone number and inquired as to our options. They policeman called the Windsor Compark parking office and was reassured that we could go online and file a complaint there. Funny, we weren't given that option when we asked what options or recourse we had. But after looking into the online option... there really wasn't one. Again, this seems like a well rehearsed scam. Pass the buck!! We were hitting road blocks everywhere we went.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we called the head office in London and were met with even more bullying and terribly aggressive and demanding behaviour.

We looked in to the Better Business Bureau. Guess what? They have a rating of an F. No surprise there... so now what?
Here is a link to the Better Business Bureau report on them:
ww.bbb.org/ western-ontario/ business-reviews/ parking-facilities/ compark-complete-parking-services-in-london-on-1053986

Here is a list of the Compark parking lots in the area, both in Windsor and London. DO NOT PARK IN THEM!
http:/ / www.comparkservices.com/ lots.html

Here is the parking lot that we parked in:
https:/ / maps.yahoo.com/ place/ ?lat=42.31735240088182& lon=-83.04895877838135& q=491 Riverside Dr W Windsor, ON N9A Canada& bb=42.31995443,-83.0554229,42.31475026,-83.04249465& addr=491 Riverside Dr W Windsor, ON N9A Canada

Any ideas? The police say that we could try to call the judicial system. We called there and they said they don't deal with this, call the parking enforcement. We call them and they say that it isn't their responsibility as it is private property to call a lawyer.

This doesn't make sense. Any ideas?

Have you heard of this before? Has anything like this happened to you?

It's certainly left a sour taste in my mouth, and it isn't even about the $40 fine.... This really seems like a well rehearsed scam!!! How many people/ Windsor residents has this happened to before, and how many will it happen to in the future? Parking in Windsor? Beware!!!!

Today at Superstore on Dougall I loaded groceries in car put cart away and as I went to leave I realized I didn't have iPhone. I went back inside to customer service and searched then returned to Winners but no luck. Had even tried calling it from both stores. I went home and once again called and a very kind man answered the phone! I was so surprised and a little shocked but he waited at customer service for me to meet him. I was very grateful and gave him $20 which hesitated to take but I insisted. Thank you very much Sir, not only for getting my phone back to me but for restoring my faith in the kindness of people! #Randomactofkindness #SpottedinWindsor #iPhone

The the very tall (at lease 6'3) younger security guard at met hospital: my best friend was having emergency surgery and I was aimlessly wandering around trying to get outside of the OR area and couldn't find a way until I bumped into you (while headed out on break) and you took the time to turn around and walked me thru the maze and right to the doors.
I wish I would have gotten your name, I've seen you there multiple times over the past couple of years and have always thought you were cute !

Sincerely , lost girl

I work downtown at one of the financial institutions on Ouellette and park my car every day in the same parking lot on Riverside Dr...which is a great parking lot!!! Always clean and under surveillance which I like because it's getting darker and darker earlier in the day now. This morning around 9:05am I pulled in, and proceeded to put my money in the machine (before the gate opens to allow me access) and for some reason it kept rejecting my toonie...so I switched out a toonie and tried again...with no luck :( all of a sudden a man came around the corner and said "hey, not working for ya? Well, don't worry...go ahead" and then he waved his parking pass over the reader and the gate opened! I thanked him and offered him my $5,00 but he refused...THANK YOU KIND MAN! It was one of the nicest things anyone has done for me. There are still kind and generous people in the world!!! You made my day and YOU HAVE BEEN SPOTTED!! I will pay it forward in some way today, I promise :)

To the lady 2 cars ahead of me that told the drive thru worker at kildare and ottawa I deserved breakfast on you, thank you so much. I've paid it forward to the man behind me.

Your gesture brought tears to my eyes. I've been so stressed lately about situations happening in my life, it was the first time i've smiled in a long time.

So again thank you so much.
Signed:
The lady in the silver intrepid

ST. CLAIR COLLEGE TEXT BOOKS FOR SALE -
Business, Interpersonal Violence, Math, Chemistry, Computers, Communication.
Cheep - Email me if you want to buy some of the books.
ColleenRitaDucharme@gmail.com

A huge thank you to the man who stopped to help me get my car out of the turning lane on 42 by Lauzon today. I had been sitting there (waiing for my dad to get there) for a good 15 minutes, seeing a bunch of people getting mad that I was blocking the turning lane. I am so grateful for your help and couldn't remember if I even said thank you after you helped me. Thank you!!!

To all those who have and do serve. THANK YOU!!!