Should I be annoyed at this?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I had the following experience at a parking garage the other day and believe I was charged unfairly before I write a letter of complaint I want to know if the teeming millions agree with me or not.

The parking rate structrue is

Less then a half hour ------------------------->$3.00
Over a half hour and one hour or less ---->$6.00
Over an hour but less than two hours ----->$9.00

The rest doesn’t matter for my story.

I pull into the entry lane and press the button for an entry ticket. The time stamped on it is 11:36. I then park my car, wait for my father and assist him in getting his luggage. I then tell him to wait by the door while I bring my car around.

At the exit boot there are two lanes open out of four and each lane has over 4 cars waiting. When I get to the pay booth and give the attendent the ticket the time is 00:37. I was then charged the $9.00 rate because I was there over an hour.

I feel this is wrong because

  1. If I was in the line at 00:37 I had to be out of my space prior to that so I used their space for less than the hour
  2. If there were less cars in front of me I would have been checked out earlier than 00:37 and again fall under the hour or less rule.
2

I don’t blame you for being annoyed.

But I don’t see how they could have a strict, definite procedure in place that would fix the problem, because how is the attendant supposed to know, in general, exactly when you left your parking space or how long you were waiting in line? The time stamped on the ticket and the time when you actually reach him are the only definite things he has to go on, and he has to follow policy; there’s a good chance he doesn’t have the option to give you a break.

They could build a couple minutes’ grace period into their billing; in fact, that’s probably a good idea, but you’d still be annoyed if you missed the grace period by a minute.

3

No support here. The clock says 1:01, so you pay the $9.00. If they allowed people to plead the lower rate based on stories like yours, they would have to set up a courtroom to hear all the variations on why people should get a break. And that would delay everybody, giving them grounds for a break. See where this is going? It is better to have an objective yardstick than open it up to everybody begging for special treatment because of their unique circumstances.

4

Sure, it’s OK to feel mildly annoyed by missing the cutoff by one minute.

However, it should have been obvious to you how you would be charged. It’s very exact: your time starts when the ticket is printed, and it ends when you present it to the cashier. They couldn’t possibly monitor how long people were actually parked. Just like when you’re driving in traffic, you need to be aware that sometimes there will be a lot of cars on the road which will slow you down.

There’s going to be lots of times in your life when you lose out because of something like one minute, and also times where things go in your favor.

Sometimes it just Karma, Manny.

5

Yeah, and what about the slack time on the other end, when you were finding a space? What if the ramp is really full and you have to go all the way up to the top and park on the roof? That’s extra time driving up and down that you didn’t spend actually parked. What about after a special event when everyone is trying to get out at the same time? We’ve spent 20 minutes waiting in line to exit a parking ramp after a concert, play, etc.

Agreed that they have to have some concrete number, and the timestamp is it. Not really worth getting worked up over (and I can find some truly trivial things to get worked up over, believe me).

6

I used to work in a parking garage but that was 15 years ago when I had to mentally calculate the amount owing. That gave me leeway to charge people a little less if I knew they’d been waiting in line for a long time, so I usually would. Unless the person was a real jerk and drove up with a lot of attitude, then I would be a stickler. It is amazing how many people treated me like shit - all I could do was smile while I charged them the full price while my brain was screaming “asshole!!!”.

I doubt the machines all of the garages seem to use give the attendant any leeway.

If it makes you feel better to write a letter to the parking company, then go for it.

7

Several years ago, my friend had to run up to her lab at UT to pick something up. There was a game going on at the time, so parking was a bitch- so we ended up pulling into one of the newer parking garages.

We drove all the way up to the top, and then all the way back down, without finding a parking space… so we headed back to the entrance. We’d been in there for about three minutes, up and down, and so we figured we’d just explain the situation to the attendant and go on our merry way. According to the ticket we’d gotten, as long as we were out of there in five minutes, we wouldn’t have to pay… so no problem, there.

Unfortunately, the attendant wasn’t at his station when we got back down to the floor level. There was nobody there- and the bar was across the exit, so we couldn’t just leave. We ended up sitting there for another three minutes before he came ambling up- apparently, he’d decided to go to the bathroom. And since, at this point, we’d been there for six minutes, he wanted us to pay for the full hour- which would come five dollars.

Man, was I pissed. I tried to explain that we’d waited on his ass for three minutes, and hadn’t even gotten out of the car. I tried to explain that there wasn’t a parking spot. No go- he wouldn’t open the gate 'til we paid.

We were in a hurry, and so we gave him his five bucks, and left.

It’s been five years or so, and I’m still pissed off about that.

8

You know, those guard rails aren’t really all that strong. A friend accidentally backed into one head-on (tail-on?) and shattered it while making only a small scratch in his bumper. I’d imagine that coming at it sideays would make it even less strong.

Also, I used to drive a Dodge Daytona, so I could slip right under those things (only ever did it once, when the entrance to a friend’s apt complex was blocked and no one attending)

9

I can see why it would be annoying, but an hour and a minute is more than an hour, and often the rate is calculated via a computer that reads the barcode on your ticket. It isn’t the parking attendant’s fault that the line was long, and they often can’t make exceptions. And even if they could–what’s the cutoff? A minute? Five?

Quick hijack… people used to come into my restaurant at 3:59 and take their time sitting and getting comfortable, then order drinks and then take their time gazing at the menu, and then get angry when they couldn’t order the 11:00-4:00 lunch special.

“But it’s only (insert time here. 4:07, 4:11, 4:15)!”

“Yes, but I’m sorry, lunch specials end at 4pm sharp.”

“But we GOT HERE BEFORE 4!!”

“Yes, but you ordered at (4:07, 4:11, 4:15, or whatever).”

“BUT WE GOT HERE BEFORE 4! It took FIVE MINUTES to get our drinks!”

“Yes… I understand. And it took you a minute and a half to be seated and take off your coats. Perhaps next time I may suggest that you arrive a little earlier. Our lunch special ends at 4.”

“BUT WE GOT HERE BEFORE 4!”

I’m sorry, so let me get this straight. Because you walked in the door a minute before 4pm, suddenly time has magically stopped and it will remain 3:59 until you decide otherwise?

/end of hijack.

Anyway, my point is, the parking attendant is just doing their job by the rules that are laid out. If you had been in the garage for 59 minutes, you would have been charged for less than an hour, as laid out on the price board that you read as you drove in.

It sucks, that’s for sure, but them’s the rules.

10

The payment structure for parking garages has always bugged me. We have computers, why don’t we charge by the hour with a minimum. Why isn’t it something like $6/hr, $6 minimum. So in this case, if you go over by one minute, you’d get charged $6.10 instead of $9 or whatever the next cut-off is. Sure, they don’t make as much money that way, but they can adjust their rates to compensate for that. At least this way people don’t have this feeling like they’re getting screwed when they’re just a couple minutes over the cut-off.

11

They are probably copying the cell phone model.

12

I think Buscemi gave the definitive response to this situation in Fargo.

To wit: