Payment refused!

Parking lot scammer bites on granite with Vöslau woman

Anyone who stops short here on the yellow hatching is photographed by a local resident who lives in the house behind and receives a demand for payment of 395 euros from a lawyer.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Doris Seebacher, ZVG Liste Bad Vöslau)

A lady from Bad Vöslau (Lower Austria) successfully defended herself against a parking lot rip-off at the Bad Vöslau drinking fountain that had been going on for years. However, the number of unreported cases of those who have already paid is high.

Summer 2025 - Ms. M. parks her car briefly in front of the drinking fountain at the Vöslauer Bad, district of Baden, to fill up a bottle of medicinal water. The area is a public traffic area owned by the municipality. A rude awakening weeks later. A German law firm threatened her with an action for trespassing, which she could avert by paying 395 euros. The reason: she had parked her car in the driveway of a residential building.

Good news: the lawsuit was withdrawn
Ms M. refused to be intimidated and hired a lawyer. The lawyer examined the situation and quickly realized that the plaintiff had no right to sue for adverse possession for the area in question near the fountain, as his driveway was almost 100 metres away. The opposing lawyer obviously saw it the same way, as a settlement offer was subsequently made, which the Vöslau resident also rejected.

As a result, the lawsuit was withdrawn and the plaintiff also had to pay the lawyer's fees. Thanks to the statement of claim, Ms. M. now also knows who this is. Namely a gentleman who lives in an adjoining residential building, but who does not have access via the road that she allegedly blocked.

Mr. G. was first charged 395 euros. In a further letter, this time from a notorious Viennese company, this amount was first reduced to euros and then to 205 euros again in a further letter.(Bild: Doris Seebacher)

Mr. from Sooß also refuses to pay
Mr G. from Sooß also received a demand for payment of EUR 395 from the same law firm. His wife stopped off briefly in August 2024 to pick up their children from the baths. He also replied that he would not pay and thought that was the end of the matter. But far from it. In mid-October 2025, he suddenly received a claim from a notorious Viennese company. The company had bought up the receivables by assignment and was now trying to collect a smaller sum of money from citizens who had already been confronted with payment demands. "A real bargain at 130 euros," jokes Mr G. Two weeks later, the "final reminder" - now for 205 euros. Mr. G. will also ignore this and, if necessary, take legal action against it.

The Bad Vöslau list demands of the municipality: "Simply provide one or two places in front of the drinking fountain so that people can fill up their drinking bottles."(Bild: ZVG Liste Bad Vöslau)

The number of unreported cases of those who have already paid is high
And Ms. M. and Mr. G. are not the only ones who have received these demand letters. The first case popped up three years ago. The number of unreported cases of those who have simply paid a penalty notice since then for fear of follow-up legal action is high. "We fear that there could be a three-digit number of people affected," says Johann Pichler from the Bad Vöslau list, which is now working hard to find a solution to this problem. "It is important to us that all those affected no longer fall for this rip-off and these threatening letters," says Pichler.  

The municipality has already put up a board with the warning: "Please do not park here, risk of being reported". But: "Unfortunately, we have no legal recourse here," says Dieter Geissler, Head of the Traffic and Infrastructure Department of the municipality of Bad Vöslau. And there are also no plans for additional parking spaces, as there are plenty of them in the surrounding area.