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A glitch led to more than a dozen travelers, possibly more, being charged the wrong fees for parking in the economy lot this summer at Kansas City International Airport, a spokesman for the airport said this week.
Travelers were charged the rate for the garage parking across from KCI’s terminal instead of the cheaper economy lot rate when a machine in the economy lot went into off-line mode, Joe McBride, a spokesman for the Kansas City Aviation Department said in an email response to questions from The Star..
The Star began asking questions about the incorrect charges in mid-July after an employee was charged $36 instead of $27 for parking.
“As of the original inquiry on July 17th, we had 7 customers reach out to us requesting a refund,” McBride said in the email. “Since July 17th, we have had 7 additional instances, totaling 14 in June and July.”
McBride said that since the end of July, they have not had any more reported problems. The aviation department reported the problem to their vendor, TIBA Parking Systems, and it corrected it by adjusting the economy lot rate in the offline mode, McBride said.
Although the aviation department’s parking contractor, SP+ Parking, audits all cashier shift reports daily, McBride said the audit wouldn’t catch overcharges.
“The system shows these charges as correct charges, so it is nearly impossible to research every ticket to recalculate the charges manually,” McBride said. “We processed a total of 248,611 transactions in June and July.”
When asked if there was an attempt by the aviation department or SP+ to identify travelers who might have been incorrectly charged, McBride said: “No. We do not have contact information on the general customers who exit the facility other than the last 4 digits of their credit card.”
When travelers report being charged the incorrect rate, McBride said staff investigates the matter. If they were overcharged, a refund and apology are issued, and a report is sent to the system provider to investigate any possible software issues.
Customers who believe they were overcharged can contact the aviation department at FlyKC.com. An airport customer experience team member will research the issue and respond to the customer.
Change in parking costs
The overcharges came after parking at the airport increased this spring. It now costs $9 per 24-hour period to park in the economy lot, up from $7 before the change.
The airport’s website, flykc.com, provides a breakdown of the costs of other parking options at KCI.
The new parking rates went into effect on May 1. However, McBride said that because of an issue with a digital parking sign on Northwest Cookingham Drive, travelers were charged the old rates until the sign was repaired on May 9.
The airport notified travelers of the changes a week before the rate increases by posting rate signs at the entry plazas and updating the airport’s website.
McBride said that before this year, the last time garage parking hourly rates were increased was in 2010. The daily rate increased in all parking options, except economy, when the new terminal opened last year.
McBride said the rate increases help fund increased operation and maintenance costs, personnel wages and benefits costs, and contract and debt services.
