Couple outraged after being forced to pay twice to park at major airport – told ‘only way out’ is to pay again

A COUPLE were made to pay twice for a parking space despite having proof of payment – and were not allowed to leave before paying.

The couple paid almost $200 to be able to leave the garage.

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Jeff and Sherry Courterier returned to their home state of Florida after a three-day vacation and parked in the new parking garage at Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C.

The multibillion-dollar building’s most prominent feature was a digital parking reservation system that allowed travelers to reserve parking in advance.

Upon arrival, a parking attendant would scan a QR code sent to the traveler’s email after payment processing and they would be allowed to enter the garage.

The Courteriers used their QR code – worth $96 for three days of parking – to enter the garage and then used it again to enter the fourth level and park.

However, when they tried to use the QR code to exit, the attendant had difficulty verifying the code.

“She looked at the screen several times, looked at my prepaid receipt and my QR code, and explained to us that we needed to pay an additional fee to leave the area, only then would we be able to get out of the parking lot,” Jeff explained to the CBS affiliate WKMG-TV.

“We said, ‘Well, that’s not right, we had already paid, here’s proof that we paid and we’d like to leave.’ She explained again that the only way we would get out was that the gate wouldn’t go up until we paid the fee.”

He said he asked the attendant to release them manually, but she refused.

“I said, well, there has to be a button somewhere that you can press to let us out, which is nothing more than for emergency purposes. She said no, the only way you can leave is by paying the fee extra.”

Seeing vehicles lining up to leave the garage, the Courteriers felt pressure to meet their demands and paid an additional $72 for five days.

In total, the couple paid $168 to raise the gates.

“I don’t like it at all, I don’t like it at all,” Jeff said.

“I think we were, for lack of a better word, detained, after proving that we had paid for parking and that everything was legitimate up to that point. To turn their problem into a customer’s problem and expect them to try to get their money back is wrong.”

The couple contacted the airport for a refund, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

WKMG-TV reached out to the airport on its behalf and quickly received a response from Angela Stark, the airport’s senior vice president of Public Affairs and Community Relations.

She said it was the result of an unfortunate glitch in a fledgling system.

“As with any new system, there will be difficulties despite the best efforts of our team and partners to have a smooth experience,” she wrote in an email.

“It is a shame that the system apparently missed Mr. Courterier’s entry into the reserved parking lot. Therefore, our parking attendants were forced to charge you the daily rate upon departure.”

If they want to spread the word about the new reservation system, they need to make it work. They need to educate employees on how to treat the customer if there is a problem so something like this doesn’t happen to someone else.

Jeff CourtierCBS affiliate WKMG-TV

She also added that the airport is working with its suppliers to ensure no other issues come to light.

“This is the first time the MCO has adopted a parking reservation system,” Starke said.

“Even if the program works well, we will continue to monitor it for any errors.”

The Courtiers were not satisfied with the response, saying that if the QR code was verifiable before, there is no reason why it wouldn’t work on exit.

“First of all, if he let me through two gates, the one outside the parking lot and the one inside the parking lot, I have a hard time believing he missed my entry,” Jeff said.

“Secondly, if we could have provided proof that we paid for this reservation, they should have let us out the gate at the end of the process so we could leave.”

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Jeff told the outlet that he thinks the airport knows about the glitch and instead of allowing people who paid to leave, they are forcing people to pay additional fees.

“The person I spoke to on the phone at the airport said they knew there was a glitch in the system, and staff were instructed to inform customers that they would have to pay the additional fee until they could exit the toll booth. cabin when they leave the airport,” he said.

The attention that came from the WKMG-TV report reached the airport, which promised the couple a full refund.

However, Jeff feels it is a matter of principle.

“If they want to get the word out about the new reservation system, they need to make it work,” he said.

“They need to educate employees on how to treat the customer if there is a problem so something like this doesn’t happen to someone else.”