A Dunedin traveller is questioning the competence of Dunedin Airport management, saying he paid cash due to a faulty parking machine while those with no cash exited the carpark for free. But the airport said though it understood his frustration and machines can be mercurial, his payment had successfully been made for the correct charge. Dunedin man David Whitney and his wife Michelle parked in the airport car park on July 31 and returned last weekend, early on August 9. Mr Whitney went to get their luggage while his wife went to pay for the car parking. But when Mr Whitney came round to see if his wife had paid the parking fee, she was having a losing battle. The machine was refusing to process credit card or eftpos payments. There was no sign advising of any problems. Tired and wanting to get home, Mr Whitney decided cash would do the trick. So he used the last of his holiday money to pay the parking fee of more than $100. Payment was approved and the couple went to their car. On the way, he talked to an airport worker who informed him the machines had not been working the previous day. When he got home, he found out through social media that if the airport had problems with its parking machines it let people leave the airport without paying. But as he had spare cash and had to pay, he had missed out on free parking. Mr Whitney said he contacted the airport later on Sunday about what had happened, wanting a refund, saying it was “grossly unfair” that they were lucky enough to have cash on them. On Monday, airport customer service team leader Cate Gable replied and apologised for the incident, Mr Whitney said. Though one of the machines was not accepting eftpos, other machines were working properly, she told Mr Whitney, in emails seen by the Otago Daily Times. Mr Whitney was unhappy with the response and went back to the airport. Airport acting chief executive Chris Cope replied early on Tuesday and said he was sorry for the inconvenience and frustration Mr Whitney experienced. But the parking charge was the correct charge for the length of stay, and payment was successfully made before he exited the car park. Mr Cope said he was “not certain I fully understand the grounds on which you are requesting a refund”. He was not in a position to confirm the circumstances of every customer using the car park on Sunday morning. “However, the fact that another customer may have been assisted differently, or that a barrier may be raised in some operational circumstances, does not change the validity of the parking charge for your vehicle where payment was made and the parking service was provided.” Mr Whitney said the issue was not about the money — it was about principle and fairness. He replied to Mr Cope, questioning the competence of the management of the airport and the loss of ratepayers’ money from parking machine breakdowns. “For many the first thought may well be that their card has been scammed or for some other reason their bank is denying access to credit facilities,” he said. COPYRIGHT — ALLIED MEDIADunedin Airport carpark. Photo: Gerard O’Brien He thought a technician should have been on call at the very least in the weekend. He knew, through social media, two people had left without paying on Sunday morning. He was prepared to go further over the dispute. Mr Cope rejected the accusation against airport management and said “it was not normal practice for the airport to lift the barrier”. “While this particular payment experience did not meet the standard we aim to provide, it is not a fair or reasonable basis on which to draw a broader conclusion about the competence of Dunedin Airport’s management or staff. We take customer feedback seriously, and where operational improvements are identified, we act on them. That is what we are doing here.” When contacted on Thursday, an airport spokesperson said it was not aware of anyone getting through the barrier free on August 9. A technician was called as soon as possible but no recollection can be made of all five machines being out of use at the same time. The airport acknowledged it should have put a sign up if a machine was broken. Parking revenue was never lost as there was always a way to pay at the customer service desk. There was also a button on the parking machine to alert customer service. The machines can sometimes be a little “mercurial”, which would cause frustration, the airport admitted, and apologised to any customer who encountered this.
