Paying a ticket for Standard Parking
March 10, 2012 8:05 AM Subscribe
Standard Parking, owners of a private parking lot, gave me a ticket by shadey/scum-bag means, I want to combat this, what are my options?
I drove out to the bars last night, and in the downtown bar area of my town there are street parking and private lots. I payed to park in one of the private lots because it was closer to the bar I was headed to. I end up drinking more than I expected so I catch a ride home from a friend. This morning, at 9ish, I come to my car to find a ticket for $20 for violating the terms of the parking permit I bought, naming that it was an 'event' permit and thus only valid to 6AM. I search the backside of the permit I got last night, and sure enough in the midst of a huge block of 8 pt font is a tiny disclaimer saying no overnight parking.
Now, I guess you could say caveat emptor and I should always ask people if I can pick up the car in the morning if I decide to be responsible and not drive drunk. But, I have parked overnight in bar parking lots A LOT of times, and kinda assume Bars, not wanting their patrons to die in fiery drunk driving accidents, are okay with their patrons deciding to do the responsible thing and leave their cars there till they're sober. So I'm kinda cheesed at Standard Parking, the scumbag owners of the lot, for trying to extort extra cash from people who operating under the assumption of good-will.
So, in this previous thread, its suggested I just toss the ticket, which I'm okay with doing. If anyone has had experience with Standard Parking to suggest this isn't worth it, let me know, and if anyone has other ideas for contesting the ticket let me know. I thought about going to the bars and speaking to managers, but the lot isn't owned by any of the bars so I don't know how well that would work.
I drove out to the bars last night, and in the downtown bar area of my town there are street parking and private lots. I payed to park in one of the private lots because it was closer to the bar I was headed to. I end up drinking more than I expected so I catch a ride home from a friend. This morning, at 9ish, I come to my car to find a ticket for $20 for violating the terms of the parking permit I bought, naming that it was an 'event' permit and thus only valid to 6AM. I search the backside of the permit I got last night, and sure enough in the midst of a huge block of 8 pt font is a tiny disclaimer saying no overnight parking.
Now, I guess you could say caveat emptor and I should always ask people if I can pick up the car in the morning if I decide to be responsible and not drive drunk. But, I have parked overnight in bar parking lots A LOT of times, and kinda assume Bars, not wanting their patrons to die in fiery drunk driving accidents, are okay with their patrons deciding to do the responsible thing and leave their cars there till they're sober. So I'm kinda cheesed at Standard Parking, the scumbag owners of the lot, for trying to extort extra cash from people who operating under the assumption of good-will.
So, in this previous thread, its suggested I just toss the ticket, which I'm okay with doing. If anyone has had experience with Standard Parking to suggest this isn't worth it, let me know, and if anyone has other ideas for contesting the ticket let me know. I thought about going to the bars and speaking to managers, but the lot isn't owned by any of the bars so I don't know how well that would work.
1. Going to the bars is a waste of time. (I mean, complaining to them; going to them is not a waste of time, if you like drinking.) They have heard it before, and the lot management scheme works to their financial advantage. You may get sympathy, but that's about it.
2. I don't think you lack for fair notice. Or, put it this way: lots of lots have hosed people for lesser offenses, like parking in such a way as to encumber two spots. Honestly, I don't think it's unreasonable to charge you for verging on to the next day. It's so much worse when they tow for early AM wrongs that you kind of got off lucky.
3. Whether you pay or toss is a probabilistic inquiry. They are not a municipality; theirs is in the nature of a contract/use of services claim. They can refer you to a collections agency. Whether they do so is guesswork. Twenty dollars is evidently not worth any trouble to them, but twenty dollars times a bazillion is, so they may have a service on retainer to do these en masse. Probably depends on the local manager's work ethic (aka degree of evil).
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 8:19 AM on March 10, 2012
2. I don't think you lack for fair notice. Or, put it this way: lots of lots have hosed people for lesser offenses, like parking in such a way as to encumber two spots. Honestly, I don't think it's unreasonable to charge you for verging on to the next day. It's so much worse when they tow for early AM wrongs that you kind of got off lucky.
3. Whether you pay or toss is a probabilistic inquiry. They are not a municipality; theirs is in the nature of a contract/use of services claim. They can refer you to a collections agency. Whether they do so is guesswork. Twenty dollars is evidently not worth any trouble to them, but twenty dollars times a bazillion is, so they may have a service on retainer to do these en masse. Probably depends on the local manager's work ethic (aka degree of evil).
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 8:19 AM on March 10, 2012
Well, $20 is orders of magnitude cheaper than a DWI, even if you get it dismissed. All the lots here have well-posted "No Overnight Parking" signs.
It's not like they're getting rich on a twenty from you, they're asking you to pay for the service you used, and for the effort to police your breach of terms.
You can probably legally toss it, but I'd call it a cheap reminder and pay it.
posted by Mad_Carew at 8:23 AM on March 10, 2012 [3 favorites]
It's not like they're getting rich on a twenty from you, they're asking you to pay for the service you used, and for the effort to police your breach of terms.
You can probably legally toss it, but I'd call it a cheap reminder and pay it.
posted by Mad_Carew at 8:23 AM on March 10, 2012 [3 favorites]
If you can afford a night out at the bar, you can afford the $20 fee. Pay up and move on.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:27 AM on March 10, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:27 AM on March 10, 2012 [4 favorites]
It said on the ticket, "no overnight parking". Font size is irrelevant. You didn't see it, you violated the clause of the ticket, you received a fine.
Tossing the ticket opens the door to more problems, also of your own making; do you really want to deal with a collections agent in 6 months, looking for $200? No? Pay the ticket, pay more attention to ticket clauses if you park in a private lot in the future, and move on.
posted by ellF at 8:35 AM on March 10, 2012 [2 favorites]
Tossing the ticket opens the door to more problems, also of your own making; do you really want to deal with a collections agent in 6 months, looking for $200? No? Pay the ticket, pay more attention to ticket clauses if you park in a private lot in the future, and move on.
posted by ellF at 8:35 AM on March 10, 2012 [2 favorites]
Man, if I did that in my town I'd get towed. $20 sucks, but it could be so much worse. Also, in my town at least, $20 isn't much more than I'd pay for cab rides to the bar and home again afterward.
Anyway, I think you're looking at this the wrong way. They're trying to run a lot and prevent long-term storage issues, and they did disclose that particular policy. Think of it as part of the cost of a fun and safe night.
Of course it can't do any harm to call and ask for a reprieve, just on the basis of they're nice people.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:50 AM on March 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
Anyway, I think you're looking at this the wrong way. They're trying to run a lot and prevent long-term storage issues, and they did disclose that particular policy. Think of it as part of the cost of a fun and safe night.
Of course it can't do any harm to call and ask for a reprieve, just on the basis of they're nice people.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:50 AM on March 10, 2012 [1 favorite]
Is this a lot that people also use to park during the work day? If so, it's entirely reasonable for them to require that your car be moved by 6am. Otherwise, if everyone who parked the night before left his or her car overnight, there wouldn't be room the next day for people parking to get to work. I don't understand why this makes them "scumbags."
posted by pecanpies at 9:22 AM on March 10, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by pecanpies at 9:22 AM on March 10, 2012 [3 favorites]
A parking lot makes money by renting out parking spaces. If you paid a flat fee to park until 6am, and did not leave until 9am, then it seems completely reasonable to pay a little more.
At $20 I'd call this a lesson learned. Considering other parking lots will tow, lock in, or drop a much bigger ticket on you, I'd say you got off lucky.
posted by ambrosia at 9:36 AM on March 10, 2012
At $20 I'd call this a lesson learned. Considering other parking lots will tow, lock in, or drop a much bigger ticket on you, I'd say you got off lucky.
posted by ambrosia at 9:36 AM on March 10, 2012
As someone who got towed for the same sort of overstay (actually, I only stayed a couple of hours over), a $20 ticket is not a huge deal. I paid 10 times that to get my car back out. Lots are almost always run by sleazy operations who are set-up to get maximum cash out of you. $20 isn't much if you compare it to what a tow or a DUI would have cost you.
posted by quince at 9:39 AM on March 10, 2012
posted by quince at 9:39 AM on March 10, 2012
Call them up, be polite and courteous, and explain that you did not see the 6 a.m. requirement, and ask them to reduce it to whatever the charge would have been for the hours from 6 - 9. I'll bet they get yelled at a lot, and maybe they'll take pity on you if you are very calm and polite.
posted by theora55 at 10:10 AM on March 10, 2012
posted by theora55 at 10:10 AM on March 10, 2012
This is a really, really, really normal policy. Pay the $20 or beg for a reprieve - ignoring it is dangerous and unclassy, and they don't deserve your ire.
posted by SMPA at 12:11 PM on March 10, 2012
posted by SMPA at 12:11 PM on March 10, 2012
Just glancing at the rates on the link you posted, you would probably end up paying at least $13 if you paid for 6-9am. Given that you broke their rules and overstayed the time you paid for and they didn't tow you or put a boot on you, I think you really got off easy. Pay up and consider it an inexpensive lesson learned.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 12:33 PM on March 10, 2012
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 12:33 PM on March 10, 2012
Any time I go back to get my car after a night like that and it's still there, I'm usually pretty happy. $20 is nothing, in the grand scheme of things.
posted by empath at 3:10 PM on March 10, 2012
posted by empath at 3:10 PM on March 10, 2012
First, you're not drinking that hard if you got there at 9ish. Second, send in an email saying you were in no condition to drive and got the car at 9ish. Ask for leniency. Then when they say no, pay up.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 4:07 PM on March 10, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 4:07 PM on March 10, 2012 [2 favorites]
I sent you a memail. Please read before deciding to contact the parking people.
posted by parrot_person at 5:18 PM on March 10, 2012
posted by parrot_person at 5:18 PM on March 10, 2012
Where I am from, $20 for overnight parking is cheap. Pay up, move on.
posted by dantodd at 1:44 PM on March 11, 2012
posted by dantodd at 1:44 PM on March 11, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
take it as a life lesson and move on.
I am not positive, but I would think if you fail to pay, since you entered into an agreement with them, that they could forward the bill to a collections agency, which could end up increasing the cost for you. A simple search shows just this on their site
from their FAQ:
What if I receive a parking violation?
If you received a violation which you feel has been issued in error, you must respond in writing within 14 days of the date of the issuance of the violation. Only written appeals to violations will be accepted. If you decide to appeal a violation it should be done either to the address listed on the violation envelope or online via email at Violations@StandardParkingNW.com. Should you not respond within the 14 day period the issued parking violation is considered delinquent.
What will happen if I decide not pay the violation notice that was issued to me?
Our lots are posted with our Parking Notice which sets forth the contract each parker agrees to and enters into when they park on a Standard Parking lot. If the parking notice continues to go unpaid it will be forwarded to a third party collection agent for collection and this may subsequently have a negative impact on your credit history.
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posted by zombieApoc at 8:19 AM on March 10, 2012 [2 favorites]