Parking tickets are the bane of most people’s lives, but what about when a parking ticket is unfair? That was the case for TikToker @petrolectric, as he claimed he was the victim of a “fraudulent” parking ticket in a now-viral TikTok.
“Just got my first parking ticket, not from the city, from a private company,” he said in the video, which has now amassed 1.2 million views as of Sunday. “This was at a CVS lot. I’ve been thousands of times. It’s 60 minutes to park there as long as you’re shopping inside CVS, and it says I walked off. Well, that’s true. I did walk off because I had to walk off the lot to walk into the store.”
“So obviously,” he continued, “A bogus ticket of $26.50. And it says I have to pay within 15 days, [but] I was there for 10 minutes.”
Showing the ticket to viewers, he added that “there’s all this threatening stuff about what [they’re] gonna do.”
“Well, these particular douchebags are called Diamond Parking and what they’re doing is illegal in California, and I would assume most other states,” he said.
@petrolectric These fraudulent parking companies are handing out tickets! Don’t fall for these, they have no legal standing. Anyone else deal with these scumbags? . . . #diamondparking #parkingticket #parkingtickets #privatetickets #parking #parkinglot #parkingfine #ticket #citation #parkingcitation #terriblecompany #parked ♬ original sound – Petrolectric
“Federal law says you cannot fine an amount that’s beyond what the service costs,” he said. “Well, the service was free parking so they can fine me zero. I’m totally fine with paying that because that’s all they’re ever going to get from me, and I hope you do the same.”
Petrolectric didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
In the comments, it became clear that this “fraudulent” parking issue is a lot bigger than just one person.
“I got a ticket from Diamond last Tuesday and the ticket is $86,” one commenter revealed. “Funny, cause I’m not paying the ticket either.”
“I had a similar issue with Diamond Parking,” another added. “I prepaid for parking with an app, but because I parked on the left side and not the right, I got a ticket.”
Other commenters pointed out that it’s difficult for the parking company to enforce the fine. ”Pay within 15 days’ or what?” one user asked.
The Daily Dot reached out to Diamond Parking via email.