Long distance parking violation

October 13, 2005 6:52 PM

I got a parking ticket on a rental car in Reykjavik, Iceland recently (meter expired.) I'm back in the US now. The ticket is all in Icelandic (but there is a web address) and I don't see any obvious location for a credit card # or really anything to make heads or tails of it. How do I pay it?

I'll gladly pay it but I don't know how. I assume that if I don't, they will contact the rental car agency who will probably destroy me with some sort of fee via the credit card I used to pay for it (in ISK too, even worse!) Is that true? What are travelers supposed to do in this situation?

posted by neustile to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

What are travelers supposed to do in this situation?

Not pay?
posted by delmoi at 6:54 PM on October 13, 2005

Are you planning on ever going back to Iceland? If not, I wouldn't bother. I mean, it's not like you robbed a bank... it's just an expired meter ticket.
posted by Justinian at 7:00 PM on October 13, 2005

Again, I am trying to avoid a charge from the rental company, which I am sure would not just be the face value of the ticket. And yes, I will be going to Iceland many times in the future and I don't see how that affects me if I'm not using the same car..?

Let's rephrase: has anyone who has gotten a foreign parking ticket on a rental car had the car company charge you for it later?
posted by neustile at 7:05 PM on October 13, 2005

Have you considered calling the rental company? While this is the first time you've dealt with this situation, it's certainly not the first time they've dealth with it. They'll know what to do.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:13 PM on October 13, 2005

There's a phone number on that Web page: [phone]. I'm sure someone there speaks English and can tell you how to pay your ticket.
posted by nicwolff at 7:25 PM on October 13, 2005

What about finding a local Icelandic speaker (perhaps a language professor?) who can decipher your ticket?

Failing that, the Iceland Police Commission website, in English, is here.
posted by mdonley at 7:31 PM on October 13, 2005

The official representatives of Iceland in the US are the embassy (and its consulates, if there's one close enough to you to be helpful). They may or may not know exactly what to do, but they should both speak english and be able to put you in touch with someone who can tell you how to solve your problem.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 8:04 PM on October 13, 2005

I got a ticket with a rental car once and forgot to pay it. A month later the rental car company just charged my credit card for the ticket and a $5 service charge. I rented with them again, it was no big deal, happens all the time to them.
posted by darkness at 8:30 PM on October 13, 2005

Alternative to going through Icland's embassy, you could write the American embassy in Rekjavic. Those folks are usually helpful.

Curious, did you run into any old men missing an eye?
posted by Goofyy at 11:17 PM on October 13, 2005

I'd be amazed if you called the number suggested above (585 4500 - you'll have to sort out the calling Iceland thing) if you couldn't sort it out. Iceland is one of the most literate countries in the world and the English and Americans comprise theit largest tourist groups: I imagine that fluency in English is pretty common.
posted by nanojath at 12:12 AM on October 14, 2005

The car company likely won't contact you or charge you for it, BTW. If you don't pay the ticket, the officials will contact the owner of the car, discover that it's the rental company, and the rental company will give them the records of who was driving the car that day. Then the officials will contact you directly. At least, that's what happened to me when I tried to dodge an out of town ticket on a rental car.....
posted by Framer at 3:55 AM on October 14, 2005

I recently rented a car overseas (from Hertz if it matters), and the small print on the back of the rental agreement spelled out exactly what the extra fee was that they would charge you, above the ticket. I don't recall what it was but you should be able to figure yours out.
posted by smackfu at 6:58 AM on October 14, 2005

The rental car company will absolutely hunt you down. Anybody who says otherwise is full of shit. Me: parking ticket in Germany. Hertz: charged the card I used to rent the car. In the states, I got caught on a red light cam running a red light on Independence Ave in Washington, DC. Don't worry the road was closed for the Tour of Hope and a cop waved me through the intersection. The rental car company came right after me that time, too. Call 'em up and striaghten it out.
posted by fixedgear at 7:24 AM on October 14, 2005

I recently rented a car overseas (from Hertz if it matters), and the small print on the back of the rental agreement spelled out exactly what the extra fee was that they would charge you, above the ticket. I don't recall what it was but you should be able to figure yours out.

This happened to me with Hertz in Italy. I got a ticket and couldn't figure out how to pay it, so I just let Hertz deal with it. About 60 days later, I got a letter from Hertz saying that the ticket had been paid and my credit card had been charged the cost plus a small additional fee (less than $20).

I'm still pissed about the ticket. It's not like I was the only person around there parking in a crosswalk.
posted by MarkAnd at 7:52 AM on October 14, 2005

To follow-up, I looked at my rental agreement and the Hertz fee in Portugal is "an administrative charge equal to 10% of the fine or E 10,00, whichever is greater." Which is really not that bad.
posted by smackfu at 8:13 PM on October 16, 2005