A company that offered customers a chance to pre-book parking spots in advance has been fined $10.95 million by the Federal Court.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Secure Parking’s “Secure-a-Spot” online parking service made “false or misleading” claims.
The service pledged to reserve a parking space for a customer at a selected time and place, but did not “generally” reserve said spaces, the ACCC said in a post-ruling release.
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“Secure Parking did not provide customers with the service it advertised, and it denied customers the opportunity to make an informed decision about which parking service best suited their needs,” ACCC commissioner Liza Carver said.
“Customers may have been seriously inconvenienced when they arrived at their chosen car park to discover the parking space they thought they had booked was not available to them.”
Between July 2017 and June 2022, the ACCC said, more than 10 million bookings were made.
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Secure Parking promoted its services on its website, social media channels, marketing materials, and with direct email marketing, using phrases such as “Book online for a guaranteed spot”.
The court also ordered Secure Parking pay part of the ACCC’s costs, publish corrective notices, and review its complaints handling systems.
Secure Parking admitted liability and made joint submissions with the ACCC in relation to the penalty and other orders, the ACCC said.
Secure Parking operates more than 600 car park facilities in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart.
It is owned by a Japan-based car park operator, Park24 Co Ltd.
In June 2022, Secure Parking rebranded the online reservation service as Secure Parking – Book Online.
The company said in a statement they acknowledged the Federal Court’s ruling.
“Secure Parking takes its regulatory obligations seriously and accepts the penalties and corrective actions outlined in the ruling,” the statement read.
“The ruling relates to representations made in relation to the Secure a Spot online booking service. Secure Parking no longer uses the term Secure a Spot and it was removed from all advertising when the matter was brought to our attention almost two years ago.
“Secure Parking has implemented compliance measures and made changes to its policies and procedures to ensure that it complies with all regulatory requirements. We have also upgraded our online pre-payment platform so that it is compliant with consumer law and the service provided is clear to our customers.
“Whilst Secure Parking acknowledges the ruling; the intention was never to mislead or misinform its customers and we remain committed to providing exceptional service to our customers.
“Secure Parking sincerely apologies to any of our customers that may have been affected by this issue.”
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