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Jan 21, 2009 9:53 pm US/Central
Rash Of Tire Boots Plague Dallas Parking Lots
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The next time you see a boot on a car in Dallas, there's a good chance it's not from the city.
Eddie Pace and Marcia Scott parked in a private lot in Deep Ellum. When they returned, they found a boot on their tire.
"It's very upsetting. She's got to go back to work. We have places to be," said Pace.
"It's like they're waiting to catch somebody doing something wrong," said Scott. "They make an honest person into a dishonest person."
The two admit they failed to put money in the pay box, but according to the posted warnings, there are no second chances.
"The more I think about it, the more it makes me mad," said Pace.
Most private lots in Dallas are managed by companies that use "hired guns" like Jeff Klundt of Hawkeye Parking Enforcement to make sure drivers pay to park.
"If there is a violation, it's a $100 fine," said Klundt. "Our signs are posted at every lot."
Drivers are handing over $100 to set there cars free. It's drawing sharp criticism from people who call it nothing more than a money-making scheme.
"Oscar" has a monthly parking pass for one private lot. Despite clearly displaying the pass in his windshield, Oscar says he's been booted twice. John Hetzel has a similar story.
"The same thing happened to me. I had a monthly pass in the car, but my car still got booted," said Hetzel.
Barry Annino parked in the very lot he owns. That still didn't stop the Parking Company of America" from booting his car.
"The boot people are more enthusiastic about going to lunch than the customers are," Annino said.
CBS 11 contacted the Parking Company of America, but company representative Eric Ward declined to comment.
It's not just Deep Ellum. Business owners in Downtown Dallas have similar complaints.
Tony Street blames overzealous parking enforcers for chasing customers away from his steakhouse in the West End.
"It was just awful. People were getting booted two, three, four times a day," said Street, owner of the Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse. "Most of the times, it was unjustified."
Street says many of his customers paid to park, but were still booted. Others accidentally put their money in the wrong slot. Others went searching for change to feed the box, only to return to find a hunk of metal strapped to their tires.
The excessive booting has angry business owners posting warning signs of their own in the windows of their restaurants.
However, Jeff Klundt defends his company by using video evidence. Klundt says it clearly identifies those who fail to pay. But often the recordings are made after the drivers leave their cars.
"When they come out here, they do video of the back side of the box, the front side box and then they go to the vehicle and show the boots on the vehicle," said Klundt.
The private boot debate became so heated in Houston, the city council passed an ordinance forcing parking companies that boot to install electronic pay boxes. The boxes produce receipts so drivers can place it on their dashboards as proof they paid.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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