I received a request from FlyerTalk member DLroads, whom I consider a good friend: he just returned from Iceland with his significant other to find out that what he thought was a receipt for paying for parking actually is a parking ticket. He apparently parked his car in a spot near the hotel property where he stayed between 6 minutes and 66 minutes — depending on how you read the sign.
Are You in Iceland Right Now? Your Help is Requested…
The fine for the infraction he allegedly committed is 2,500 Icelandic króna, which is equivalent to approximately $20.00; but if it is paid within three days, the fine is reduced to 1,400 2,500 Icelandic króna, which is equivalent to approximately $11.50. It can be paid in any local bank in Iceland — but DLroads is obviously not in Iceland; so this is where you come in if you happen to be anywhere in Iceland…
…he will send to you via e-mail message or private message via FlyerTalk the information and photograph of the ticket — as well as send the funds to you via PayPal — so that you can pay the lower fine of the ticket on his behalf. You can even keep the difference between the discounted fine and the actual fine to buy yourself a local beer or vodka; and in fact, the difference should actually cover two beers, 2.5 coffees or one vodka.
If for some reason the municipality refunds DLroads on a later date, you can even keep the refund.
Details Pertaining to the Parking Ticket
“We do not think the ticket was justifiable”, DLroads communicated to me. “We put two separate parking payments and put them on the board up front because the machine ‘acted up’ and I guess the inspector did not add them together; but it does not matter now.”
The machine for the parking payments “speaks” only Icelandic; and DLroads is apparently not the first person to complain that the parking tickets look like a parking receipt.
“It is annoying, as the ticket does not have a single word in English”, according to DLroads, “until you search very down at the bottom and there is a small statement ‘this fee can be paid at any local bank using the following information’ and the rest follows again in Icelandic, including the ticket info. The back side is all in Icelandic, and rest assured — it is hard to figure out even if you use Google Translate. Luckily I kept all receipts this time because the machine for the parking acted up and it took me five or six attempts to pay for the tickets; so my biggest concern was duplicated charges, and not a parking ticket.”
He sent an e-mail message to the municipality of Reykjavik; and while they could not help him pay the ticket via the Internet — because they allegedly claim that while they do not have a system to do that, they agreed to open a dispute case on the ticket for him and will notify him in four weeks of the decision. He is currently waiting to hear from them. His biggest concern is that the ticket has a reduced rate if it is paid within three days — which ends today — and if the clock does not stop during the dispute process period, the fine can reach upwards of 60 or 70 dollars.
Summary
If you can help DLroads with his simple request, þakka þér kærlega fyrir hjálpina — which is Icelandic for “Thank you very much for your dedicated help.”
