Moncton single-mother and student Krissy Coleman was shocked when she left a downtown bar one night to find her car had disappeared from the near-empty lot where she had parked less than an hour earlier.

That shock turned to fear when a stranger with no identification told her he would take her to her blue Chevy Malibu, if she paid him more than $300.

Coleman had parked in the Robinson Street lot, which is across from a pub where she likes to go to see live bands, many times and never had any trouble.

That wasn't the case in the wee hours of Sept. 21, when she walked back to the dark parking spot.

Actually terrifying. Like when you don't know who took your vehicle, you feel violated ... so yeah, it's scary. - Krissy Coleman

"A gentleman approached behind me and came up and said, 'Are you looking for your car,' and I said, 'yes.' And he said, 'Well give me $350 right now and I'll tell you where your car is.' So I said, 'Excuse me?'"

Coleman said the man wasn't wearing a uniform and didn't identify himself or the company he was with. He told her the car had been towed but wouldn't say where it was, she said.

"I told him I would call the police but he had basically just a nonchalant attitude — 'OK, go ahead.'"

At 2 a.m., Coleman found the whole situation "beyond sketchy," so she got a ride home with a friend and called the police in the morning.

"Actually terrifying. Like when you don't know who took your vehicle, you feel violated … so yeah, it's scary."

Towed, then booted

When Coleman called Codiac RCMP, she was told that whoever had her vehicle had reported it to police.

"She said, 'here's the number to call.' So I called the phone number, to no avail, no answer, no information, no voice mail, no nothing."

Coleman said she has parked in this lot many times and always assumed the practice was allowed outside regular business hours. She admits she should have paid attention to the signs. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)

Coleman called the mysterious number several more times, but no one ever answered, so she called police back.

An officer gave her different phone number, saying it was for "a different man, who runs a different company, but he might be able to help you. So I called him."

Coleman eventually did reach someone at the second number. He refused to provide any information about who had her car or where it was and agreed only to take her phone number and call her back.

About an hour later, she got a call back telling her someone would meet her in the downtown lot where her car had been parked.

Towing fee 'exorbitant'

Coleman said the entire situation was "very shady." A friend and her father went with her to meet another man, who finally identified the company that he worked with as P.S.I. Parking Solutions.

I think it's the city's responsibility to stand up for their people. - Krissy Coleman

"He handed me a bill and a debit machine … my dad asked him for a breakdown of why it was $335 to release my car and where my car was located," she said. "He gave my dad the breakdown of, 'We have to pay the towing company and we have to make money too.'"

Coleman received this handwritten bill from P.S.I. Parking Solutions. She doesn't understand why the company towed her vehicle half a kilometre and then booted it, rather than booting it in the spot where she had illegally parked. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)

After paying $333.50, Coleman followed the man from P.S.I. Parking Solutions to her car which had been towed to a private parking lot only half a kilometre away.

To make matters worse, her car had been booted and she had to wait for it to be removed.

"I was actually shocked that there was a boot on my car … I couldn't even fathom why he couldn't boot my car where it was sitting."

In May, the City of Moncton introduced a new bylaw that caps the amount companies can charge to remove a boot from an illegally parked car at $45.

Coleman said charging $333.50 to tow a vehicle a few blocks at 2 a.m. is nothing more than "a money grab."

"Why not just boot my car and take what the city allows you to take from me now … $350 is half a month's rent. It's an exorbitant amount to ask for somebody to pay to get their vehicle back," she said.

"I think it's the city's responsibility to stand up for their people."

'Held hostage for our car'

Coleman's story sounds familiar to Shani and Lloyd Court of Charlottetown.

The couple visit Moncton often, and on Oct. 27 parked in a downtown lot near one of their favourite restaurants.

Shani and Lloyd Court of Charlottetown say they were able to pay the $333 to get their vehicle back after it was towed in downtown Moncton, but they worry about people who are in the city for medical appointments or who are on fixed incomes. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)

When they came out a little more than an hour later, their SUV was gone.

The Courts immediately called Codiac RCMP but were soon approached by a man who told them their Nissan had been towed.

Court said he asked for $333.50 in cash but eventually did provide a debit machine.

"To say that we were shocked would be an understatement when we saw that bill," Shani Court said.

"I felt that we were being held hostage for our car. We needed our car, they knew we needed our car. I felt like we were taken advantage of."

Court said even though she and her husband had one another for support and were able to pay the $333, she worries about others who may be not be in the same position.

"Imagine if someone came for a medical appointment … and they decided we're going to go downtown and take a break and they accidentally park in the wrong place," she said.

"It's almost like then you would pile misery upon the misery they're already going through."

Chamber seeks review

City spokesperson Isabelle LeBlanc said there has been no directive from Moncton city council to begin work on a new towing bylaw, but Coun. Shawn Crossman said this is being discussed.

You might even go to the extent of suggesting it was gouging. - John Wishart , Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce

"We're going to have a discussion on this matter, we need to get our legal department back involved in this."

Crossman said he wants to know if a new bylaw is warranted or whether there could be an update to the current booting bylaw.

Coun. Shawn Crossman says Moncton council will discuss whether a new bylaw is needed, or whether it's possible to update the current booting bylaw. (Pierre Fournier/CBC)

John Wishart, the Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, is joining the call for a bylaw review.

"I think it's important that we find some kind of balance between the rights of the property owners, with fairness to motorists who park … and also something that protects the reputation of the city."

Wishart said property owners have the right to protect and police their lots, but he hopes council will move to regulate the practice of towing, as it did with booting.

"The $45 [booting] fine, I thought was a fair amount," Wishart said. "I know in the past, booters were charging $180 and that was out of line, and I think we're starting to see the same thing with towing. I mean $290 plus tax is, I don't think, right.

"You might even go to the extent of suggesting it was gouging."

John Wishart of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce is calling for a review of the bylaw that caps the booting fee at $45. He believes property owners have the right to police their lots, but the city also has to protect its reputation and people who park illegally from being gouged. (Moncton Chamber of Commerce)

'It was almost like extortion'

Wishart said what happened to Coleman and the Courts also raises concerns about the professionalism of those who are policing the parking lots.

"What single woman is going to feel comfortable being approached by somebody in that circumstance at two in the morning?" he asked.

"I don't think it's too much to ask that they wear uniforms, that they have some sort of signage on their trucks so that they're easily identifiable and that there's some kind of etiquette around how they approach people who have parked illegally."

Krissy Coleman, reunited with her Chevy Malibu, advises people that the days of being able to park anywhere after hours in Moncton are gone. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)

Shani Court said the night she parked it was raining and dark, and she simply didn't see the private parking sign. Even so, she doesn't dispute that she deserved a fine.

"I'm a business owner myself, so I understand that the business owners want to protect their parking lots. But I think that they should also have an interest in knowing how the company that's doing this is dealing with this because it seems very shady."

Court said they weren't told where their car was, they had no choice but to drive to the lot with a stranger in a car that wasn't marked, and they weren't told who had towed them.

"I felt like we were very much kept in the dark — it was almost like extortion — here give me this money and you get your car."

A little decency goes a long way

Coleman said in her encounter with P.S.I. Parking Solutions, "decency" would have made all the difference.

"Had he handed me a business card or in some way, shape or form given me some sort of idea how to get my car returned to me or identified himself as an employee of a company that was reputable … then I would have definitely been more comfortable with the situation."

This is the private lot at Sangster and Campbell streets where vehicles illegally parked by Krissy Coleman and Shani and Lloyd Court were towed. (Vanessa Blanch/CBC)

And Coleman has a suggestion for the property owners who hired P.S.I. Parking Solutions to police their parking lots.

"There's got to be better companies in the city that could help you secure your lot," she said. "There's just a better means all around than taking money out of other people's pockets to secure a parking lot at one in the morning."

CBC News has contacted P.S.I. Parking Solutions multiple times to ask about concerns raised by those who've been towed, but no one from the company has returned calls.