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Customers frustrated with Charlotte’s AvidXChange Music Factory parking

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Parking problems at Charlotte’s AvidXChange Music Factory have many customers frustrated and forking up a lot of cash.

A few months ago, the Music Factory partnered with private, New York-based parking enforcement company RiseTek Global.

Since then, customers who park at the Music Factory must use their phone to pay a $21.50 parking fee that’s enforced by RiseTek.

But some customers say minor errors, like a phone typo or a parking validation issue, have led them to receive $75 parking citations from RiseTek.

Daniel Bowden was issued such a citation shortly after the partnership began. While he says he initially forgot to pay his $21.50 parking fee, he was playing volleyball at VBGB, a venue that offers parking validations.

“The next morning, I woke up and saw a ticket on my windshield, and I was surprised because I didn’t even realize that was going to be a thing,” said Bowden.

Bowden says he thought if he emailed RiseTek proof that he was at VBGB and purchased items from there, they’d waive his fee. They told him his reasoning wasn’t valid, and he’d still be responsible for the fine.

In an email sent to Bowden, a representative from RiseTek said, “I can only override the citation if you made a minor error putting in your license plate when you paid to park.”

But that’s precisely what happened to Alan Cavanna, who said his $75 citation wasn’t waived.

“I had made a typo – a small one-digit typo when typing in my license plate. To me, I thought, ‘well, I did pay.’ They took my money, so I’ve paid for parking,” said Cavanna. “Even then, all they would do was reduce the amount I had paid for parking. They never reduced the fine.”

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It’s a headache that’s happened to at least a dozen other people, according to Google reviews.

One reviewer said, “Validated my parking at VBGB, and then I get a $75 ticket; emailed the company, and they said the license tag I typed doesn’t match my tag, even though they received the money.”

Another reviewer said the same thing happened to him: “upon reaching out to customer service, they refused to grant an exception.”

The whole issue also begs the question: in what capacity can private companies even issue parking citations in the first place? 

Queen City News reached out to local attorney Walter Bowers, who said that private companies could, in fact, issue parking citations as a civil matter rather than a criminal one.

Queen City News also reached out to RiseTek Global for a comment on the parking citation issues, but they never responded.

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