Battle Between Parking Lots, Customers Continues 補班日以假日計價 宜蘭月租停車場惹議

Having to work on Saturday is already tragic to some, many car owners are upset to find out they were charged by weekend parking rates even though certain Saturdays were designated as official makeup workdays by the government. Consumer protection officials say this practice is unfair to consumers.

Most parking lots charge different fees for workdays and weekends or holidays. As workers have to work on six makeup workdays this year, many parking lot customers that are on a monthly plan were irate to be charged extra on the makeup days.

Parking Lot Customer: “They said makeup workdays are weekend days, but the makeup workday on Jan. 27 should be regarded as a weekday. They change the definition of weekday and weekend all the time. That's not OK with us.”

Customers say by parking lot operators' definition, a long weekend that extends to a weekday should be counted as a weekday and be free of charge for people on monthly plans. Operators disagree, saying everything is spelled out clearly in contracts and both makeup workdays and long weekend days are regarded as national holidays and subject to holiday fees.

Parking Lot Operator: “Whether a makeup workday falls on a Saturday or not is a non-issue. It's just simply a Saturday or Sunday, and subject to weekend and national holiday fees.”

Three complaints have been filed in Yilan County so far this year, and with three more makeup workdays to go this year including March 25, consumers want the issue settled as soon as possible.

Wang Ya-lin, Consumer Protection Official: “Operators say a weekend is a weekend whether it's a work day or not. Meanwhile, Mondays through Fridays are also considered holidays if it's a day off. This is unfair to consumers.”

Consumer protection officials say makeup workdays being treated as a weekend is unfair to consumers. The county's transportation department says some of the parking lots in question are public parking lots and they should follow the public holiday schedule. Meanwhile, they will ask operators to stop charging weekend fees on makeup workdays. Operators that refuse to comply could face fines of NT$3,000 to NT$15,000.

民眾開車進入停車場停車，以平日月租的方式繳交費用，根據業者公告，租金為1000元，平日定義為週一至週五，國定假日除外。但今年補班日高達6天，宜蘭有平日月租的民眾，在補班日到停車場停車，被業者以假日多收錢，相當氣憤。

周姓民眾表示：「因為業者如果是定義說，那一天補班日是假日的話，那照理說彈性放假1月27日那一天，照理說也要視為平日，讓他隨便定義說哪一天是平日，哪一天是假日，那對我們來講不合理。」

民眾認為，如果按照業者的標準，那連續假日有休到平日，應該也算平日月租，不該收錢。但業者並不認同，表示合約都已清楚載明，補班日與連假平日都算國定假日，需以假日收費。

業者認為：「補班剛好遇到禮拜六，所以根本就沒有所謂補班不補班的問題，就是很單純禮拜六禮拜天，跟國定假日就是要另外收費。」

宜蘭縣消保官今年已收到3件，停車場補班日以假日收費的消費爭議案件，接下來還有3天補班日，本週六25日將進行清明連假補班，就怕類似爭議還會發生。

消保官王雅琳說明：「業者就變成說是，我的補上班日因為是禮拜六，所以也是假日，那星期一到星期五因為是連續假期，也是假日，這對消費者顯失公平。」

消保官認為，補班日收費標準如按照業者的解釋，對消費者顯失公平。縣府交通處說，由於發生消費爭議的停車場，部分屬於公有停車場，國定例假日應依照人事行政總處公告，補班日不該算假日，不合理的收費標準，會要求業者限期改善，否則將依照停車場法，開罰3000元至1萬5000元。