The parking meters are crazy
This has happened to me about three times already -- I go to pay the meter and I have to wait for it to reset itself or something. But this "wait a moment please" ends up being like "wait 15 minutes please".Too long.
So now I don't wait, I look for another meter. The other day about three sets of people were frustrated by this. They stood and waited, look around to make sure they weren't being Punked or on Candid Camera or something, scratched their heads and left. All this within about 15 minutes, the time it was taking one meter to reset itself.
Yesterday as I was about to put money in the meter a dollar came sliding out. So this was nice. I got free parking yesterday.
Eight times out of 10, the meter won't take your credit card. A lady, I think a tourist, was asking me for help yesterday because the meter would not accept her credit card -- for a dollar, she tried for a good five minutes, I watched her. I told her that it wasn't her card, it was the meter, they are temperamental. I gave her a dollar and she was happy. She used it to pay for parking and ran into one of the stores to shop. We almost lost another paying tourist in the Grove due to this
silly nonsense.
Now that I think about it, I didn't get free parking yesterday -- I gave the dollar to the lady, sort of a "pay it forward" for parking, not coffee.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:00 AM
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6 Comments:
These machines are so tempermental. And poorly lighted. Have you ever watched someone try to put a credit card or dollar bill in the pay station by Jaguar -you can't read the instructions in the dark. Why can't they print the instructions larger or install some sort of light? Oh to have those old parking meters back.
A community that is hospitable and cares about encouraging commerce does not take advantage of the public with parking meters and towing.
A community that promotes good-will by inviting the public to it’s business district, rewards its business owners with happier customers and more sales.
A community is rewarded with more taxes, happier business owners, happier property owners and happier visitors.
Get rid of the parking meters and towing and everyone wins.
Harry Emilio Gottlieb
That is so naive, anonymous #2, so naive.
I, personally, find that these meters, temperamental or not, are 1,000% better than trying to find loose quarters in your car.
It is naive to equate not having metered parking and being friendly. $1.00 per hour is nothing. In New York, where there is almost no street parking, parking is often $20 or $25 per hour.
The problem with the grove is not the cost of the parking, it is the inadequacy of the parking. You hardly ever hear anyone complain about the cost, but about the inconvenience of these machines.
I hope they just fix them, but I also hope that they don't take them away.
Actually, I loved the experiment they did in the Gables with the phone service.
They need to illuminate the parking stations, make the instructions bolder and more readable, and have the meter people check the working order of the stations as often as they give out tickets. If a parking station is not working I am not going up and down the block looking for one that does; I merely put a note on my dashboard that meter is not working. It is their responsbility to keep the meters in working order.
Make sure to check your credit or debit card statement if you are told your card is 'declined' (there is always plenty of money in our accounts so there is no reason for it to be declined). Both my husband and I were still charged even though we were told that our card did not go through.
Sometimes you have to go to a third or fourth machine to find one that actually works. It's ridiculous. If I ever get a ticket because the machines don't work I'd fight it, because it's their own fault that they don't work.
That, and the ones in the dark corners are broken on purpose to make you a sitting duck so you can get mugged.
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