The deny, stonewall-then don’t-show-up-defense didn’t work for an L.A.-based parking company Monday in small claims court.
Commissioner Roberta Kyman held parking giant, Ampco System Parking, liable for a nearly $2,500 claim filed by a local physician, who said one of its workers banged up her car.
After Ampco, which runs garages nationwide, didn’t appear in court to challenge the charges, Kyman held the parking giant responsible for the full claim of $2,452.49.
Psychologist Vivian Krepack testified that Ampco workers ran her 1999 Toyota Landcruiser into a pole last February while she was at work.
Valet parking attendants at Krepack’s office garage, which is located under the Wells Fargo Bank across Wilshire Boulevard from Douglas Park, frequently move cars around in order to make room for visiting patrons.
At the end of the day, Krepack retrieved her keys from the attendant, backed her dark green Landcruiser out and drove home. But when she got out of her car that night, Krepack said she noticed the front fender was bent, one of the headlights was smashed and traces of white paint were smeared across the damages.
Krepack said she immediately called “Jose,” the building’s main parking attendant who was in charge of her car that day.
“He didn’t say, ‘I didn’t do it,’” she told the court. “And he didn’t say, ‘I did it.’”
Instead, the attendant referred her to Ampco’s head office, Krepack said. Krepack then initiated a series of calls and letters, but said she was given the corporate run around for weeks. In March, Krepack said the company finally responded — by denying all responsibility.
But Krepack didn’t let it rest there. Armed with photos of both her damaged car and the scuffed-up white pole she suspected of causing the damages, she sued the company in Santa Monica small claims court.
Commissioner Kyman awarded the claim, plus court costs. Ampco officials did not return calls Monday seeking comment.
In a later interview, Krepack accused Ampco workers of repeated incidents of neglect. Krepack said a different Ampco valet parker dented another one of her cars while she was shopping in Beverly Hills last year.
Krepack filed a separate small claims lawsuit for the $900 ding she received while shopping. That case is scheduled to be heard on April 30.
“They never call me back,” said Krepack, who added that the company appears to hold a monopoly on parking in Los Angeles. “They write me letters saying, ‘We’re not responsible,’ when they had my keys all day.” Garbage trucks biggest item on spending ticket tonight
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 8, 2003. Read the original PDF.