Utah startup company “unethical,” says Better Business Bureau
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SALT LAKE CITY – The Better Business Bureau has received several reports from consumers detailing the unethical behavior of a Utah startup company, Parking Solutions. According to a press release sent on Tuesday, the company is implementing “questionable business practices”, in particular in a parking lot on the 400 South.
One such negative experience came from Jenn Davis, a Salt Lake City resident, when she stopped at Jamba Juice on 400 South, the statement said. Davis told KSL TV she was driving her 18-year-old son home from the hospital, where he had just had surgery, when the couple stopped for drinks.
After having had the drinks, Davis walked over to Jimmy John’s located in the same parking lot. Her son, unable to walk, remained in the car.
As she returned from sandwiches, a man pulled up in Davis in an unmarked Toyota Corolla and asked her where she had parked, the statement said. Davis told the office that she thought the man wanted to park in his place because the parking lot was packed, but instead he pulled over next to his car and drove away.
The man, later identified as a Parking Solutions employee, put four boots on his car – while Davis’s son was still inside. In a statement to KSL.com provided after the publication of this article, Parking Solutions said its employee “was acting as a parking enforcement officer”. The company also added that the employee was wearing a uniform and identified himself as an employee of Parking Solutions.
“It is perfectly legal and ethical in the state of Utah to stop a vehicle with an immobilizer (a boot) if someone breaks the posted rules. . . “the statement reads.
Davis videotaped the meeting and reported the incident to the Better Business Bureau. She told KSL TV that she was away from her car for about 20 minutes. In its statement to KSL.com, Parking Solutions claims that Davis left the property of the Fourth South Market and went to Jimmy John’s, despite several signs “clearly visible from the parking lot of the Fourth South Market in question.”
According to the Better Business Bureau statement, in the Davis video, the employee can be heard refusing to accept the credit card as a form of payment to remove the boots and, instead, repeating “debit or cash” several times. .
Davis then tells the employee that she has no other way to pay than credit cards, to which he suggests Davis should get a cash advance from a local payday loan store. Parking Solutions said in a statement that the employee asked Davis to get a cash advance at a credit union, not a payday loan store.
The man then threatens to tow his car because it did not pay immediately, the statement said.
“Can you tow a car with someone in it?” Davis asks in the video, the release said. The employee does not answer directly and rolls up the window of the car.
In the office press release, he notes that Utah code 41-6a-1409, subsection (4) (e) states that “a vehicle immobilizer accepts cash and card payments. debit or credit for the withdrawal of a vehicle immobilizer or any service rendered. , made or provided as part of the immobilizer removal. “
According to Davis, it wasn’t until she called a nearby police officer that the employee then said he could get special permission to accept a credit card. She was charged $ 75 to remove the boots, the statement said.
“We only accept personal credit cards with owner approval, due to the high rate of credit card fraud when personal credit cards are used,” Parking Solutions said in its statement. .
He then had Davis sign the receipt eight times “until he was satisfied his signature on the tablet matched that on his card,” the statement said.
“It’s just a dirty way to go,” Davis told KSL TV.
The Better Business Bureau said that aside from not accepting a credit card, the company was not operating outside the law – just in an unethical way.
“They have an ‘F’ rating because they don’t respond to complaints. They don’t care. I mean, obviously they don’t care,” said Jane Rupp of the Better Business Bureau. people, get the money, get out and that’s it. “
Jimmy John employees confirmed Davis’ statement, according to the office. Travis Taylor, the restaurant’s human resources manager, told the office they hired employees “specifically to sit in the parking lot and warn customers,” the statement said.
“We’re doing everything in our power to try to let people know what’s going on so they don’t pay $ 80 for a sandwich,” Taylor said.
One of these employees is present on the 400 Sud site from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to warn customers of Parking Solutions’ behavior.
“We have 13 1 star reviews related to getting the boot,” Taylor said.
Taylor told the office that more than 400 drivers have been saved from towing in the past two months thanks to the measures.
Jimmy John’s has a different owner than the other properties in the lot, and restaurant patrons are not allowed to park on the shared lot – instead, they must drive to the restaurant’s designated lot or park on the street. The owner did not immediately respond to KSL TV’s request for comment.
In June, another woman reported that another Parking Solutions employee branded her a criminal after starting her car in the same lot.
Violet Wilson, 81, said a Jimmy John employee warned her about the start-up company but was unable to move her car in time before it got started. Wilson told the office that the Parking Solutions employee asked for money or debit to remove the safe and kept calling her a criminal.
Wilson did not get the employee’s name, but the press release said his description did not match that of the other employee.
Parking Solutions did not immediately respond to requests from the Better Business Bureau, the press release notes. KSL TV also tried to contact the startup company before the broadcast, but was told the owner was out of town.
“You don’t even have to leave the property and they can start your car,” Davis said.
Contributing: Andrew Adams, KSL TV
Editor’s Note: Parking Solutions sent KSL.com a statement on this on July 10. This story has been updated to reflect the company’s statement.