Summary Kansas City International Airport overcharged drivers due to a parking glitch in the economy lot. 14 travelers reported being charged the wrong fees due to machine errors in June and July. 1,175,386 passengers went through MCI in July, showcasing a significant 4.
3% increase from the prior year. How do you tell someone they have overstayed their welcome? Kansas City International Airport (MCI) has confirmed that it overcharged drivers, although not on purpose. Instead, a parking glitch resulted in drivers stationed in the economy lot being mischarged.
A spokesperson for the airport, Joe McBride, confirmed this information to The Star after over a dozen travelers reported they had been charged the wrong fees. What happened? According to McBride, the drivers affected were parked in the cheaper economy lot . There, they were charged the same rate as if they were stationed in the garage parking across from the terminal.
The spokesperson confirms that the machine in the economy lot went into “off-line mode,” The Star reports. “As of the original inquiry on July 17th, we had 7 customers reach out to us requesting a refund. Since July 17th, we have had 7 additional instances, totaling 14 in June and July.
” The issue is that the extent of the problem is not known. Because of the amount of people that parked there during the months of June and July, it is unclear how many of them were impacted by the faulty machine. “The system shows these charges as correct charges, so it is nearly impossible to research every ticket to recalculate the charges manually.
We processed a total of 248,611 transactions in June and July.” McBride says that there have not been any more complaints since the end of the July, indicating that the problem has possibly been fixed. Why didn’t the system catch it? The airport offloads its parking operation to contractor SP+ Parking.
McBride says that they audit all cashier shift reports daily, but warned that it wouldn’t have caught the overcharges as it is marked down as correct. In addition, because they do not collect information about customers, it is difficult to reach out to customers who have been flagged as potentially incorrectly charged. “We do not have contact information on the general customers who exit the facility other than the last 4 digits of their credit card.
” Should a passenger be impacted by the faulty parking charges, they are requested to contact the aviation department at FlyKC.com. There, an airport customer service staff member will respond, ultimately, issuing a refund and an apology should the mischarge be confirmed.
A report is then also sent to the system provider to reconfirm whether there are any software issues attached as well, McBride says. Kansas Airport growth Kansas Airport has had a busy summer so far. Its main airlines include Southwest Airlines, Spirit and American Airlines.
In July, the airport reported that 1,175,386 passengers both arrived and departed through its facility, representing a 4.3% increase compared to the same month one year prior. In June, MCI broke records for its busiest month in history.
One month later, it broke that very same record again. In a statement, Kansas City Director of Aviation, Melissa Cooper said: “Breaking an all-time record in passengers in June was amazing enough, but breaking that record the very next month is incredible. People in the Kansas City region have demonstrated a strong desire to fly, and the airlines and the terminal meet that demand with efficiency.
We thank the traveling public and all airport partners for this milestone, and we share this success with them.”.
