Parking Meters Bring Frustration, Tickets In Downtown Sacramento
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SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – More frustrations are building over downtown parking in Sacramento.
"We are getting in the car thinking we're going to go home and call it a night and as soon as I started the car I heard, 'Josh you got a ticket!'"
The only thing worse than getting a parking ticket is getting one when you think you did nothing wrong.
"You want to scream a little and maybe bang on some doors down at City Hall," said Josh Croft.
He parked in the 3-hour-plus area off Front Street.
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"One to 3 hours is a $1.75," he read off the meter.
He inserted his credit card just after 6:40 and paid $4.25.
If you do the math, he should've had 2 hours and 25 minutes, giving him until after 9 p.m. to retrieve his car.
"We got back to the car at about 8:45," he said.
The ticket was issued at 8:20 p.m.
The city said malfunctions can happen, but if you ever have any issues, call 311 and contest the ticket online.
But what if you paid with coins like other drivers?
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"I'm scared to use my credit card and these machines with all the credit card fraud going on," said Crystal Guevera while putting coins in the parking meter.
Croft believes without a paper trail he'd be out of luck.
"My friend with me that night said she takes pictures of her parking meters, but that's a tedious task," he said.
The city wasn't aware of any glitches in the meter but will investigate Croft's claim to find a resolution.
"My main thing was, how many other people are doing their due diligence and paying the meter, but then coming to a citation and unknowingly paying and thinking they did something wrong?" he said.
If this has happened to you, report it to the city first, so they can fix the problem.