Do not park in a lot operated by Royal Parking--unless you're looking to add an unexpected "parking…read moreviolation scavenger hunt" to your shopping trip.
I parked at what any reasonable person would assume is part of the T&T lot in Coquitlam (the one by IKEA). I ran in for about 10 minutes, grabbed what I needed, came back feeling efficient... and was immediately rewarded with a parking ticket for allegedly "walking off the lot."
Now, to the untrained eye (and by "untrained," I mean literally every normal human being), this appears to be one shopping plaza. You know, the kind where you park once and walk to nearby stores like T&T, McDonald's, and the other businesses right next to each other. I've been doing exactly that here for over 1.5 years, almost every Sunday, without incident.
Apparently, I've been living dangerously.
The signage is a masterpiece of ambiguity. I parked right in front of a "No Walk-Offs" sign that lists an address, but no lot number, or any other useful information whatsoever about where you are actually allowed to park for T&T. Meanwhile, there's a large Royal Parking sign on the T&T building advertising 90-minute free parking... with no address, just a mysterious lot number that means absolutely nothing unless you're part of the Royal Parking inner circle.
I disputed the ticket, thinking logic might prevail. Instead, I was informed that this is not one lot, but multiple separate lots. Their "evidence" included the exact same vague sign I had already sent them, plus a random "This Way" directional sign in the plaza--which, shockingly, is not a Royal Parking sign and tells you nothing about parking boundaries. Apparently, this has been tripping up unwary customers for years, as evidenced by multiple unfriendly reviews - right here on Yelp and the BBB.
According to Royal Parking, the correct way to shop here is as follows:
Park at McDonald's eat move your car
Drive to the pet store shop move your car
Drive to T&T shop probably question your life choices
So the big question remains: which lot is the T&T lot? Because they are all managed by the same parking company, and give no clear indication of where one ends and the next begins.
At this point, it starts to feel less like parking management and more like a logic puzzle designed specifically to fail and suck exorbitant amounts of money out of honest customers' pockets so that the Royal Parking executives can afford another private jet, or yacht, or mansion in the Caribbean.
Also worth noting: shopping plazas are generally meant to be walkable. This one seems to be designed as a low-speed driving obstacle course where you're expected to relocate your vehicle every time you cross an invisible line.
If the goal here is confusion, congratulations--it's working flawlessly.
Park here at your own risk and expect to pay a hefty fine to these corporate parking parasites, regardless of where you park.