BATON ROUGE - A couple's night out with their granddaughter and friends took an unexpected turn last Friday night when their car was booted, despite having proof they'd paid for parking.

Denise and Shane Laiche said they used a downtown parking lot on River Road at Convention Street while attending dinner and a show.

Denise explained that she scanned a QR code on a parking sign around 5:30 p.m., entered her information, including license plate and credit card information, and quickly received a confirmation code along with a link to a receipt via text message. Confident they had paid, the family enjoyed their evening.

When they returned to their car around 10:30 p.m., they found it immobilized by a boot and a sticker demanding $100 for the boot and another $50 for unpaid parking.

"Shock, shock, because I knew we had paid for parking," said Denise.

The Laiches called the number on the sticker placed on their vehicle and even spoke to a booting company employee nearby, but were told there was nothing to be done. They would have to pay the $150 to get the boot removed and could dispute the charge later. A police officer told them similar incidents happen frequently. 

To make matters worse, the couple was required to drive down the street to return the boot to avoid further fines. 

After reaching out to WBRZ, it was found that the payment had been mistakenly applied to a three-year-old outstanding balance in Nashville, not their current parking fee. Denise was not aware of any outstanding balance, recalling only that the Nashville lot required payment to exit.

Metropolis, which operates the Baton Rouge lot as well as others across the city and at the airport, acknowledged the mix-up and agreed to refund the booting fee and the charge applied to the wrong parking spot.