Traffic tickets are the bane of most people's lives, but what if a traffic ticket is unfair? This was the case with TikToker @petrolectric when he claimed he was the victim of a “fraudulent” traffic ticket in a now-viral TikTok.
“I just got my first parking ticket, not from the city, but from a private company,” he said in the video, which had already racked up 1.2 million views as of Sunday. “It was in a CVS parking lot. I've been there thousands of times. It takes 60 minutes to park there as long as you shop at CVS and it says I left. Well, that's true. I left because I had to leave the property to go to the store.”
“So obviously,” he continued, “a counterfeit ticket for $26.50.” And it says I have to pay within 15 days, [but] I was there for 10 minutes.”
As he showed viewers the ticket, he added: “There's such threatening stuff in there [they’re] will do.”
“Well, these particular idiots are called Diamond Parking and what they do is illegal in California and I would assume it is in most other states,” he said.
@petrolectric These fraudulent parking companies are handing out parking tickets! Don't fall for it, you have no legal recourse. Does 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 can’t impose a fine that exceeds the cost of the service,” he said. “Well, the service was free parking, so they can’t fine me. I’m totally fine with paying that because that’s all they’ll ever get from me, and I hope you do the same.”
Petrolectric did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok comments.
It became clear in the comments that this “fraudulent” parking problem is much bigger than just one person.
“I got a ticket from Diamond last Tuesday and the ticket is $86,” one commenter revealed. “Funny because I’m not paying for the ticket either.”
“I had a similar problem with Diamond Parking,” another added. “I prepaid parking using an app, but because I parked on the left and not the right, I got a ticket.”
Other commenters pointed out that it would be difficult for the parking company to enforce the fine. “Do you pay within 15 days or what?” one user asked.
The Daily Dot contacted Diamond Parking via email.
*First published: January 14, 2024, 3:00 p.m. CST
Charlotte Colombo
Charlotte is a regular contributor to the Daily Dot and contributes to Insider, VICE, Glamour, The Independent and more. She holds a master's degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London.
