Empire Parking Services [EPS]
Reviews and Complaints

On August 4, 2022 I parked at the common grounds lot near new realm brewing. I paid the three dollar parking fee and left a ticket on my dash. I came back before my time was up and there was a boot on my car. The guy told me to dispute it and I would get my money back in 2 to 3 days. No one has emailed me back as he said they would, no one answers their phone, the email that I got a week later when I was in the same parking lot and asked the Empire employee who was there checking the lot gave me an email for Daniel the person who supposedly does the disputes but the email address he gave me was kicked back as not found. This is clearly a scam and they have no interest in reviewing any dispute or claims.

I was unfairly booted after I purchased more time on my guest pass. I had a hour left remaining on my guest pass, but I was still booted before 11am. My guest pass expired @12:04pm Please contact me [protected]

An screenshot of my guest pass is below for proof.

I paid $14.10 for 12 hours of parking at 6:15pm on March 17 2022. The timestamp on my receipt stated 5:15pm because they did not change to daylight savings time which is probably intentional. Regardless of their incorrect time stamp, I went to get in my car at 1:15am (only 6+ hours later) and my car is booted. When the “technician” sent by the company pulled in, one of the other car owners said “this isn't right. I paid. I’m calling the APD.” The tech says loudly in an agitated voice “YOU’RE CALLING THE APD?” and literally peeled out, sped around the lot and left. I believe he ran over someone’s foot in the process. Why would he do that? If I was booting cars, I would welcome the police to assure I was protected. Why would he do that? Because he was intoxicated and didn’t want to be arrested by the police. I ended up having walk to a friends house around 2am to get a ride home. Dangerous for me and absolutely illegal on their part. Next, after their driver sped off away from his potential DUI, there was no reason to think he was coming back, and I couldn’t stand around the parking lot until 2-3am or later in the morning because your answering machine message I got when I called, clearly stated that dispute managers wouldn’t get back to customers until 72 hours. Obviously, I could not have left my car there for 72 hours (3 days!?) until they got in touch w me, so I paid reluctantly to get it out. After I paid, I verified the charge on my online credit card statement. Then I called the company to find out when they were going to unboot my car. They claimed I did not make the payment, so I had to pay again and finally they came out. The technician that came out admitted that the guy from early was “probably drunk” and “was probably going to be fired”.

I received a boot on my vehicle on October 26th, 2021. I disputed the ticket and won, was told on November 4th I would receive reimbursement in the mail. As of today (December 21st), have not received reimbursement. I have sent multiple follow up emails, called numerous times and been promised a manager would return my call within 24 - 48 hours, and have not heard back from anyone.

After having dinner at a restaurant at North Highland Ave. Had the surprise of my car booted in front of a large plate "Hilans retail customers only" and confirming that the parking lot was allowed for restaurant customers inside the restaurant.
It's worth remembering the GA Law Code about booting inside a private property, which was the case since it is the parking lot of the restaurant and clearly evidenced that.
Georgia Law Code OCGA 44-1-13 is the Code Section
that allows the towing of trespassing vehicles on private property.
What it DOES NOT do is allow the booting or immobilization of vehicles
on private property in the State of Georgia. In other words, it appears
to be illegal to boot cars in Georgia on private property.
Unfortunately this company doesn't learn either improve its business to function according the law, and deserves more and more law suits.

Latausha G
Attachments
2:16 PM (22 minutes ago)
to disputes

This has been paid however when a person parks in a location that says reserved at a hotel they have paid for parking at and the faded yellow paint in the area looks to say hotel parking only with no cones or restrictions one should be contacted and not booted. When calling to ask questions and not being belligerent but truly confused agents such as Tech 128 should actually explain the situation as opposed to getting an attitude as he did on the call at 1329 on 10/29/2021. It was uncalled for as well as unprofessional and then just hang up in said customer's face. I do not believe that this was a fair booting and charges should be reversed. The training of your agents in how to assist customers may help stop complaints and it may help keep contracts.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Empire Parking Services
Date: Fri, Oct 29, 2021 at 1:35 PM
Subject: Receipt Transaction# 266226
To:

--
Latausha Griffin

Attachments area

Disputes
2:25 PM (13 minutes ago)
to Disputes, me

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for reaching out.

The space you parked in does appear to have a reserved parking sign with a tow truck picture on it. I am unsure on how that could have been mistaken as a place to park. This is definitely a good boot and will not be assisting with a refund.

Thank you for letting us know our tech was rude. I will speak to our tech about how he should talk to people.

Thanks,

Disputes Team

Empire Parking Services

404.605.9242

From: Latausha G
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2021 1:16 PM
To: Disputes
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: Receipt Transaction# 266226

*** WARNING: Email originated from outside the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless sender is verified. ***

Latausha G
2:29 PM (8 minutes ago)
to Disputes

Like stated previously the area has yellow paint in the actual parking space that says hotel parking only it appears. However, I will file my complaint at a higher level for resolution.

Even after paying for the parking through the ParkMobile app they booted my car and when we tried to call the company and speak to them they dint respond called more than 50 times and atlast when the took the call the only response was we will send some one that's and even after 4hr no one showed up . And when I checked online about the complete every one completed and no action was taken against them. Why the parking lot owner appointing for they towing services when they cannot do they job properly

I was illegally booted in a parking lot off of Crescent Ave in Midtown Atlanta on March 21. I was working and had no choice at the time but to pay for the boot removal in order not to be stranded later that night when trying to go home. I started trying to dispute with the company 2 days later- company pretends to have a dispute form on their website which only directs you to a third party answering service that takes down your info. If you're lucky enough to get a return call but miss it- you are screwed and only left with the same third party phone number in which you will call over and over and nobody will ever call you back again.

In 2008 the city of Atlanta mandated booting companies to have a clear 2.5x3 foot sign along with other compliances which was not the case in the lot I parked in. The sign was bent in half and unreadable. I have attached a photo. I have spent months repeatedly calling to request a refund and asking for an explanation on their end as to how they could have legally booted me when they were clearly not in complaince with the mandate. I can not actually get a hold of anyone to talk to and noone will call me back.

On March 10, 2018 my car was parked in a parking garage with other cars while I patronized a local restaurant. I parked there on this particular night while driving my Mercedes; I've parked there several times while driving my Mazda and was never booted

When I returned to my car there was a boot on it and the other cars surrounding me didn't have one. Once I called the technician to remove the boot, I questioned why was my car the only one booted after I just witnessed the man parked beside me get dropped off at his car by an uber.

The technician stated that he followed me into the restaurant, Boogalou and that's why I was booted. I asked him so your profiling on Boogalou's patrons because you're saying had I gone any other place outside of Boogalou I wouldn't have been booted. He begin to back pedal in his answer.

This technician was clearly profiling by the type of vehicle I was driving. In his mind if he boots a luxury car he can cash out. This practice should not be tolerated. There were no signs and as I mentioned before, I've parked in the same place several times before and I was never booted.

On April 20, 2017 my vehicle was booted in a LAZ Public Parking lot after I had paid upfront when parking my car and placed the receipt on my dashboard as the signs instructed. I had not been to this particular lot in years and it was different, so I was very careful to read all posted signs of how and when to pay. I located a payment station where digital machine were now in place (formerly you would put cash into a metal container) and looked around and read all the signs posted at that payment station to make sure I followed the proper procedures. I had a meeting that was not scheduled to last more than 1 hour, but I paid $8 for 2 hours. I assumed on the rare occurence the meeting ran over, I would simply pay the difference upon returning to the lot. I paid and walked to the building where my meeting was held.

Following the meeting and returning to my car, I found 2 boots on my car with an orange sticker on my window - an "IMMOBILIZATION NOTICE". It said do not attempt to move your car, but call 404.671.2490 and that $75 would be required to remove the boots. There was NO COMPANY NAME on the sticker, so I had no idea who I was calling.

Luckily, I had my cell phone with me and called the number. I was abruptly greeted by a male and fast talker, who ignored my inquiries of what company they were and why was my car booted. He rudely stated someone would arrive in approximately 15 minutes, and hung up on me. I called him back to ask the questions he refused to answer and again, he would not give me any answers, and hung up on me a 2nd time. I called again and he answered and immediately hung up. Therefore, I had no choice but to wait in the hot sun (feeling like passing out at this point since I was recovering from 4 surgeries and fighting for my life the past 6 weeks.) I took the time to walk back to the pay station and take pictures of all the posted signage - to which nothing regarding booting was mentioned. I looked around the lot and also found no signage regarding booting. I was completely dumbfounded. Finally, a young man arrive and YELLED "Is this your car?" so I walked over to him and asked him who he was and why my car was booted. He also ignored my inquiries and simply stated I needed to give him $75 to have the boots removed. He was rude and talked at a high speed - because apparently he was in a hurry to get to his next victim. I again, calmly asked him to help me understand WHY my car was booted and the name of the company he was with. He ignored my questions and rudely said "I'm leaving if you don't give me the $75 now" and headed back to his car. After realizing I was getting nowhere with this unscrupulous person and company, I explained to him I had followed procedures and paid prior to parking and assumed since my meeting had run long, i would be able to pay any overage upon returning to the lot. He just said well you were wrong and you are wasting my time! Therefore, what choice did i have but to give him $75 in cash and have the boots removed. However, by that time I was so upset that I told him I would hate to have his miserable & unethical job, being nasty on top of it all. He got into his car and pulled into a parking spot not far from me - awaiting is next victim I assume.

After researching this problem, I have found this is occurring DAILY across Atlanta. This company needs to be held accountable for their unethical procedures. Either put signs regarding the full process and/or booting of all vehicles that do not leave their space within 1 minute of being over what they have already paid, or STOP THIS PRACTICE. It is not right and the employees are anything but professional. In any company I have worked for throughout my career, behavior such as theirs would have them immediately fired. Are we going to let these kind of people and companies continue to rob us of our hard-earned money? I had to pay $83 that day for parking so that I could attend a meeting with a job recruiter. I didn't have that kind of money - particularly without a job at the moment!)

One lat thing - I continued looking at signage as I drove out of the lot. They have only 1 CYA sign referring to booting posted high on a pole as you enter the lot. The problem is that the lot can only be accessed from a 1-way street and the sign is on the pole that is to your back as you enter - SO NO ONE CAN SEE IT! Even more unethical.

My sister and I parked our vehicles at the Marriott Marquis on 12-17-16 and she paid for both parking ticket and brought mine back to me to place on my windshield. The technician # 128 booted my car saying that it was swap tickets and he witnessed it. That was a lie. She paid for mine and hers and because he witnessed her passing it to me, he mistakenly thought I was parking in a space she previously parked in. The technician would not remove the boot until I paid $75.

This company is getting away with illegally booting vehicles.

I stepped away from my car to use the ATM machine at SunTrust which is located at the back of the building after hours. My car was parked in front of SunTrust. When I returned, my car was booted. I was told I was gone for 20 minutes. I was told that SunTrust has a parking deck for clients.
I called around 6 times to get assistance from the number given, but to avail.
I also called the police department. They did come and was very professional, but stated that there wasn't any thing he could.
My concern is that this company has a " We are always right disposition".
My concern is this company has no one in place to listen to legitimate disputes. My concern is I was hung up on 4 times total trying to speak to someone to handle my concern like any respectful business would be concerned about how their business is being operated.
My car was booted at 4:20. I stayed in the parking lot until 6:43 pm
trying to speak to someone who had some type of authority to make a decision based on being wrongfully booted. I hope you take the opportunity and read the concerns of your company and make necessary changes. At the end of the day, to treat people unfairly for money should not be your core value. As for me $75.00 is a lot of money being unemployed, but caring and being fair isn't one of your value statements.
Again evaluate what you are doing and make changes.

GA law does not allow booting of vehicles on private property! I walked off the lot of a starbucks for 10 minutes and when I returned my car was booted!
I was so stressed out (I was late for a wedding) that I tried to leave after paying the ransom (the eps guy was parked near my car waiting for my return!) and he had not removed the boot. The boot was not damaged at all but the guy started filming me to harass without my permission!

This evening, July 30th, we visited Atlanta Fish Market and my daughter 's boyfriend parked at the Pharr Road Shopping Center lot. He made an error and didn't see the low entrance signs which state the parking is open to the public after 6 p.M. Although open to the public, you still need to pay for the parking. When we returned to the car, it had two boots and a sticker that stated the fine would be $75. Understanding the situation, we called and waited for technician 103 (or V03) given the poor handwriting to arrive at the lot.

When we asked the technician why he had placed two boots on the car given the possible damage to the vehicle, he threatened with charging $150 dollars ($75 per boot). We Informed him that it was only 75 dollars and he proceeded to say "who told you that" and threatened to charge $300 to remove the two boots. We noted that the window sticker said $75 and then he asked for the credit card for the payment. I believe he would not have tried to extort additional money if my daughter's boyfriend had not spoken with a Hispanic accent and surname. The EPS technician made an assumption we could not read the fine print on the notice and was attempting to double or triple the payment.

On July 4, 2016, my daughter visited a store, Cook's and Sherlock's, in Decatur, GA which has a lot that is shared with 2 other businesses. The other 2 businesses were closed for the 4th and there may have been 3 other cars (at least one was an employee's) in the lot. At least a dozen signs identified the merchants and we were visiting the 1 that was open so we parked and took the sidewalk to the front door. We inquired inside about a tasting that was advertised on the front window, shopped for a crab claw peeler that a friend has, and walked to the ice cream shop to contemplate the alternate styles of peelers offered. With our ice cream, we returned to the store, chose a peeler and a kitchen towel and went to our car to find a boot on our car (still 1 of less than 5 in the lot). We were then informed by Technician # 147, that we were not allowed to leave the premises and directed to a sign at the street that stated such (unlike the dozen other signs throughout the lot that only indicated the merchant).
A refund is requested for the above-mentioned reasons:
inconsistent signs
penalizing a customer
no adverse effect to my also visiting the ice cream shop as due to 2 of 3 businesses being closed, the lot was never close to capacity

Date of incident: May 28, 2016
Location: Chipotle, 198 West Ponce de Leon, Decatur

We have been regular customers to this downtown Decatur restaurant (198 West Ponce de Leon Ave), where we eat at least once a week. On Saturday, May 28th, we parked at the parking lot around 6:45PM, we bought dinner and ate at your establishment. After finishing our dinner, we decided to go for a walk around the block, where the Decatur Art Festival is taking place this weekend. The parking was almost empty, except for a few cars.
After 30-45 minutes, we returned to the parking lot. Our car had been immobilized by the EPS Parking Services. According to the EPS technician, customers are not allowed to leave any vehicles on the parking lot. EPS technicians has been instructed that once customers leave the restaurant, they must leave the parking lot. However, there are no signs indicating this rule, and the manager of your establishment confirmed to us that this is NOT Chipotle’s policy.
As most restaurants downtown, Chipotle understands that one of the main assets of this location downtown is its proximity to other cafes and stores, allowing clients to enjoy a meal at Chipotle and then walk around, visit other businesses, and be part of the Decatur community. The Chipotle manager who assisted us in this situation clarified that there have been recently a number of disputes with the EPS company, given their immobilization of Chipotle customers’ vehicles. Despite his efforts, we still had to pay a $95.00 Vehicle Immobilization Fee to EPS Parking Services.
There was no clear indication or signs about this rule. Signs only indicate that parking is for 'Customers Only' and most people in our situation assume that spending over $20 for a meal justifies our status as customers.
Now, customers must leave all property and parking within a minute of finishing their meal, or risk a $95.00 fine. Literally, the EPS technician notes at what time you leave the restaurant. He explained to us how he puts the boot the moment he sees that customers don't walk to their car.
We enjoy this restaurant and the food, however this experience has ensured we will no longer visit this location. I personally find it unacceptable that our patronage leads to us having to rush out of the property, or risk being embarrassed and hassled by a Parking Services agency. We will take our business elsewhere, to a restaurant that allows its customers to go for a walk after eating!

I paid to park in the medical arts lot. I keyed in the rooftop parking rate $4 and paid the $4 at the machine. I arrived before 8am. At 4:30 I came to my car and there was a boot on the car. I verified that the parking ticket was displayed in the window. I then noticed on my receipt that although it has the $4 payment and the time I arrived, it also said rate 2 hours parking and had a 2 hour parking expiration from when I arrived. The fee was still $4. I called the number provided and explained that I was on the rooftop, I paid the cost of $4, however, my ticket did say something different. I explained that I always pay for rooftop parking and I would never key in 2 hour parking. She explained that I would have to inform the attendant when he came #130. So...About 15-20 minutes later the attendant came and said I had to pay $75 to get the boot off. At this point I am bewildered. I explained I paid the correct fee, parked at the correct location, and had no idea why my ticket would say 2 hour parking but regardless, I paid for rooftop parking. He told me that since my ticket said 2 hour parking that was all I paid for. I was getting frustrated. I informed him that I paid $4 which was the price for rooftop parking. He told me that if I didn't want to pay the $75 he was leaving. I asked for his boss' name. He said that I would receive the answering service b/c they were gone for the day. I tried to reemphasize my point. He said that he didn't want to hear it and left...I then called the service again who confirmed that management was gone. They said that I would need to pay the $75 and try to get it resolved later to leave. I had to pick my kids up at school so I was stuck. I asked if there was anyone else I could talk to or if someone else could come other than technician #130. They said no, that technician was the only one who served that area and management was gone for the day. I had them send the technician back out. Paid the $75 and he took the 2 boots off in less than a minute. This incident has left me highly frustrated and I am aggressively trying to do all I can to get my $75 back...I paid the fee...This was/is ridiculous! If I had looked at my ticket – which I will do from now on – what was I to do anyway since there is no attendant at the parking station – only a machine! If the tickets print incorrectly, why is it my fault. I paid the correct fee for rooftop parking but b/c the ticket said something else, regardless of the amount I paid – the correct amount – I received a boot on my car!