Hi, a bit strange situation so hopefully I will get some advice on how to proceed with this.

I park my car at a free parking space near Pully Port in Lausanne, this parking has (had) sign max 15 hours free from Oct - April. The parking lot was full with cars that were staying for weeks if not months at all times. I usually park the car there for about 5 days a week when I am not in Lausanne and I travel to Geneve.

Today I came to see a parking fine on all the cars around including mine. The parking fine is I have parked in a place where maximum is 3 hours time and I have not put the blue sign. I went at the beginning of the entry and really, they have changed the sign, it's max 3 hours parking now.

Fair enough, I parked it there last Friday and I saw no notice or change of sign. Of course I did not park it there on purpose if I knew that they will change the parking arrangement.

Is there anyway to protest this fine?

Thanks

There will have been the statutory notification of the change which you will be deemed to have read, so no chance.

you only need the notice from the max time you can park there. In your case 15hours. so tough luck you wont win it

TBH, you should be happy you had free parking for so long. Now you should just pay the fine.

Clearly people got tired of as you say people leaving cars there for days and weeks at a time.

5 x 24 Hr=120-15=105hr you overstated

What I like most in this thread is the word "unfair"

It was not maximum 15 hours, from Oct to April it was FREE or unlimited, after April 01 it was max 15 hours stay.

There was nothing wrong in me parking the car there for 1 week when the sign was written FREE in winter. Now that they have changed the sign it's a different story, but last week there was no notice and old sign was there, just like all the other cars.

So yes, it is unfair.

And I found another unlimited parking just 150 meters down the road...Why do you think you should be paying for parking in winter when there are free ones available?

Protest it out this way:

I get your point now but I think you have no chance protesting.
See it on the positive side: you have managed to park for free in Switzerland for a while. There are not too many people who did.

You were lucky to have free parking for so long. Don't waste your time protesting - just pay up!

I don't understand sometimes the attitude of folks (at least in Switzerland) whenever they are confronted with a bill that makes no sense they still don't do anything about it but - pay up.

So far, in 3 years in Switzerland I have been sent 4 or 5 times bills that made no sense. All the times I was successful in protesting. One was about speeding (same car, same color, one number different 6 =/ 8), another was an admin mistake for a debt I had payed too late (which I had the proof I payed it on time) and some other, I don't remember. I never payed but protest it because I knew I had done nothing wrong. And it turned out I was right.

So, no, I don't accept to be in blame when on Friday I entered unlimited/free parking and on Thursday I find out I have a fine for overstaying 3 hours today at 4pm because the parking arrangement was changed probably over the weekend or Monday. I was not the only one, there were at least 3 dozens of other cars.

Why should I feel lucky that I have found free parking in Switzerland "for so long"? In 3 years I have only bought the macaron during the summer (6 months) because many of the parking spaces near the lake become unlimited free parking during the winter months. This is well indicated on the panels, there are small boats parked inside, so why should I feel lucky about that? If I had seen a panel or a notice that the parking arrangement had been changed I would have not parked there. As I said, it's not a big deal, there is another one just 150 meters down the road so I went there. I'd rather walk 15 minutes than to pay for parking when it exists almost everywhere for free. People in Switzerland are not used to it because probably they have never searched for it. It's not the most convenient, you have to walk a bit and you save 30/40/50 CHF a month, it's not a lot but why not?

You mean, you don't like the advice you've been given?

Well, contest it, and if you win, post here and show how stupid everyone was.

OK. Protest the fine vigorously with a long and rambling letter sent by registered letter.

Is that the answer you were looking for??

We hear you but it is not us you need to convince

Idefix.
What exactly are you protesting about?
Even if it was still free parking for 15 hours, you still overstayed your welcome there.
Just learn from it and in furure read the signs and keep to tha alloted free time!

I parked at the local Coop a couple of weeks ago and the ticket machine would not accept my money. I left it and went to Coop. Got back to the car, saw a red slip for CHF40. I didn't have the energy to tell them the machine wouldn't accept my cash (how the heck do I prove that?!) so I just paid the darn thing.

My advice, just pay it. It will give you many more headaches contesting it.

I'm quite certain that the police rely on parking fines as a good source of income in the area I live in.

I've just recently had a annoying parking fine myself recently. Once a week I have to take my 15month old daughter to the nursery in our village, and I got a parking fine outside the building for parking within a white box but not displaying my blue time sign.

What's annoying about this is that a lot of other parents have all just been fined recently for the same offense, and none of us are parked there for more than 5 mins just to drop our children off. The police are clearly targeting this.

Also, the limit there is 6 hours and it's never used by anyone for more than 5 mins (I live in a sleepy small village).

Just wanted to grumble and get that off my chest

And as an aside, my parents in law had the house broken into a week later. No police turned up for ages, and when they did they admitted the likelyhood of catching anyone was very low. Guess there's no profit in solving real crime

In all the examples you provide, there is a mistake made by someone else.

In the one that you are posting about, the mistake was made by you. You made an assumption that things were the same. They were not and you have been fined.

As NAT said in the first reply post, you basically haven't a leg to stand on. You made the mistake by not checking.

This is not about paying for fines that you are not due. If you cannot see the difference, then by all means protest. Presumably there was/is an address on the fine slip - that would be your starting point.

Bring an expensive bottle of wine to the owner of the parking lot as a way of saying you're sorry. That sometimes works.

After food shopping here, you just kind of get used to doing that