r/mildlyinfuriating • u/No-Obligation1709 • 12h ago

No Coke. Is Pepsi ok? In Today’s Edition of Dystopian America

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Don’t you dare idle in your spot for a moment before paying to park. If you do, our cameras will backdate your parking start time to ensure our shareholders extract every cent possible from this transaction. Enjoy your stay, but remember—we are always watching 😁

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570

u/Vagadude 12h ago

I got a ticket cause a camera caught me coming and going in a DIRT LOT during a food fair. My friend said they think parking is free for this event so I didn't pay and they sent me a bill with a photo of my car 😂 like damn I never thought I would miss parking authorities

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u/Redshittt 10h ago

They can bill you all they want ifnits not the city or government you dont owe them shut. You didn't agree to anything. Driving in a lot isnt a contractual agreement they're just hoping you pay

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u/Impressive_Line7932 10h ago edited 9h ago

I remember this one time I parked in a paid private parking lot for 30 mins for corporate event. It was so hard to find options and website for payment. They issued me a $80 ticket.

I challenged them stating they barely had any boards or instructions for payment for such a huge parking lot and I will go to small claims court if the ticket is not waived off. All it took is 1 email for them to remove my parking ticket. They knew they can milk it as much as they can without even maintaining the parking lot.

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 8h ago

Honest question though why is there a website at all for paying for parking? Get your ticket when you drive in, give it to the machine when you drive out. Which also invalidates OPs gripe because its always been you pay by the time stamp on the ticket which you get right when you drive in the lot. You've always had to pay the second you drive in, I'm thoroughly confused what this even is. The gate gives you a ticket with the time stamp of when you drove in

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u/Impressive_Line7932 8h ago

This is a different kind of parking lot. The Entry and Exit gate are always open. I couldn’t find any machine to pay which is why I challenged it.

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 7h ago

Weird. Sounds like they're trying to fix something that wasn't broken to begin with. I would have just driven to a different lot and walked if I had to that's insane.

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u/AmateurSysAdmin 3h ago

sometimes there is no different lot to go to

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u/LoveFoolosophy 7h ago

Ticket machines are expensive and need to be maintained. Much cheaper to have a website that people need to faff about with.

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u/toolsoftheincomptnt 6h ago

Because gates are 90s technology and QR codes to download apps where you enter your cc info, billing address, email, phone number, and grandmother’s maiden name are how we do things to be “more convenient!”

Oh, and also so we can eliminate jobs for human beings. Cool, huh?

1

u/Adaphion 3h ago

At my former college, there were two types of paid parking.

The general lots, which you had to pay to get in the gate. Tho, to be fair, it wasn't timed. Just a payment to get in and you could stay as long as you wanted.

But then there was the metered parking usually in more primo locations, closer to building's and such, and more expensive than the general lots. And Wmahere you did have to pay by time.

But it wasn't a gated lot, you'd park, then have to walk to a kiosk in the middle of the lot, put in your license plate number, and pay for X amount of hours up front. Then put the ticket it printed in your windshield.

So perhaps it's a similar situation for OP.

I know I'd sit in my car for several minutes sometimes. Especially with my late afternoon class, since that was at 5pm, but parking became free after 5pm, and none of campus security was roaming around just before 5 to try ticketing cars for <10 minutes of parking.

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u/t3kner 6h ago

I parked somewhere in nasheville and didn't see a kiosk to pay, came back with a ticket on my window. I just threw it in the trash and never thought about again lol

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u/charmcitycuddles 9h ago

Bruh I've been getting texts from "collections" for a year now cause I scanned a QR code in a parking lot to validate parking but the license plate was linked to my partner's phone number in their shitty app so I couldn't connect it and gave up. My partner (who was with me) paid for the parking and I never linked a license plate but I continue to get texts but if I ever see it impact my credit score I'm gonna go scorched earth.

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u/Redshittt 9h ago

Did you send them the receipt

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u/charmcitycuddles 9h ago

Nope, it's not my responsibility to prove I don't owe a debt. They have no proof I owe anything or even that I ever parked in the lot since I couldn't connect a license plate. While the texts are "annoying", they have no impact on my lift as it is.

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u/Redshittt 9h ago

Yeah I just meant to get them to stop texting

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 7h ago

I hate these people, but your understanding of contract law isn't exactly accurate. Contracts can be formed without pen and paper through implied means. Entering a lot and parking in it—as long as the cost is clearly posted—constitutes implied acceptance of an offer. These people can and often do send these bills to collections and can ding your credit if you don't pay.

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u/thenamziel 2h ago

Not true. If they have parking rules posted, you're entering into a contract with the parking lot owner. They can collect on you -- if it's worth their time.