Imagine getting a $3,400 credit card charge instead of $34.

Alex England got one. Actually, his company credit card took the hit, and when the accounts officer called for an explanation, they traced the overcharge to parking fees from Stonnington carparks.

The charge for Lucas Williams was only $300, so one could say he got off lightly. But the 31-year-old had to cancel his credit card and stay home over the weekend.

“I had plans to go out on Saturday night but they had to be cancelled because the bank said it would take up to five days to reimburse and it cleaned out my bank account,” Mr. Williams said. “It’s very inconvenient. It ruined my weekend.”

The problems were traced to parking machines at 14 carparks owned by Stonnington Council in South Yarra, Prahran, and Windsor, where upgrades caused a technical glitch. The upgraded machines added two zeroes to the end of parking fees charged to 2,728 credit cards, and in a few instances, charged the transaction twice. Some motorists, who had patronised the carparks months ago and couldn’t even remember the occasion, found their credit cards had been hit retroactively.

In all $1.3 million was incorrectly charged, and now the Council is scrambling to reimburse everyone.

Speaking for the Council, Stonnington Mayor Tim Smith apologised for the bungle.

“We acted immediately we discovered the error and have directed our provider to reimburse customers by the end of today,” said Mayor Smith.

Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au