EPS Shops Around Lenox Square Mall "American Apparel" $50.00 Parking Lot Scam Atlanta Georgia

My family drove to Atlanta, GA from Tallahassee, FL and spent Black Friday shopping at Perimeter Mall near Dunwoody, Georgia. The Apple Store at Perimeter Mall ran out of the printer I wanted to purchase, so our family drove over to Lenox Square Mall on what I will now refer to as "Black Saturday" (November 29, 2008). It was approximately 5:15 p.m., and it was raining and very crowded at Lenox Square Mall. My husband dropped everyone off at the front of Lenox Square Mall and then continued to look for a parking place. He finally found a parking space caddy corner to Neiman Marcus where Ameican Apparel is located. He went to find a restroom and then wait for us to return from the Apple Store.

We all returned to the car within 15 minutes of parking. There was a strange looking white van sitting behind a car near us in the parking lot. As we approached our car, the white van took off and then parked at the bottom of the hill in the parking lot. We found a bright orange sticker on the driver's side window and a boot on the front left tire. Then the guy (his name is Travis according to the handwritten EPS receipt) in the white van drove back up the hill and told my husband it would be $50.00 (cash, debit or charge) to take the boot off our vehicle.

I asked why. I was told there were two signs posted stating that it wasn't Lenox Mall property. We stated we had not seen any signs and that we had only been parked for 15-20 minutes. He then said he would give my husband back the receipt, and we could call the police. I went to look for a sign. I found a couple of small signs (white background with thin black lettering) stating that if you left the premise a boot could be placed on your car and it was subject to a $50 fine or towing. I also found readable signs on the parking spaces facing the retaining wall below street level (can you say "shady" or "sly"?). A parking lot that definitely appears to be owned by a group of low life shiesters.

My husband was gone long enough to walk into the mall and use the restroom. It turns out that EMS has people watching the parking lot, and when you walk off their property they tag your car for towing. I wondered why the guy next to us in the silver Mercedes was sitting in his car talking on the phone on and off while we spent 10 minutes dealing with "Travis", the goon in the white van. Maybe the guy in the silver Mercedes was one of the lookouts.

I called my parents who live near Perimeter Mall, and they weren't aware of this parking lot scam or that it was a private parking lot. I have contacted my credit card company (for all I know this is a gang of identity thieves). The hand written receipt my husband was given by (employee/operator number 100 - "Travis") did not have our correct tag# on it! I will be contacting Clark Howard as well as other appropriate consumer advocates.

I will let other Floridians know to be extremely careful where they park if they decide to go to Lenox Square Mall. In the future, I will stick to shopping at Perimeter Mall or North Point Mall when I visit my parents. I will also make a list of every store at Shops Around Lenox at 3400 Around Lenox Road and boycott them as well as blacklist them. So far that list of stores includes: American Apparel, Blue Genes, Bobois, Dantanna's, Merino, Pella, Rhinocerous Boutique, Roche, and Y-3.

If you've been an unfortunate victim of this parking lot scam, please file a report!

Tallysleuth
Tallahassee, Florida
U.S.A.