ParkSmart
Reviews and Complaints

There was no sign on the front of the meter. I was gone for 10 minutes. I will never use these merchants again. I would have put money in if I knew they were open on Sundays. This is clearly a trap.

Their meters give misleading information. When the green light is still flashing and I'm trying to figure out how much time is left, they don't show me how much time is left after I pay the meter, making me think I have an hour longer than is displayed. That is just plain deceitful.

How do these predators get an A+ rating? I got a "ticket" at a STREET meter on SUNDAY when the meter itself said, FREE PARKING - NO FEE REQUIRED. When I called them and asked what happens if I ignore the ticket and do nothing, the woman couldn't answer. Who are you people and who in the ComplaintsBoard.com are you paying off?

How do these predators get an A+ rating? I got a "ticket" at a STREET meter on SUNDAY when the meter itself said, FREE PARKING - NO FEE REQUIRED. When I called them and asked what happens if I ignore the ticket and do nothing, the woman couldn't answer. Who are you people and who in the ComplaintsBoard.com are you paying off?

ParkSmart, Inc. is a company that unfortunately does not acknowledge the importance of disabled parking. I had the displeasure of experiencing this firsthand while shopping in the *** shopping area. To my dismay, I received a ticket at 6:16 PM. The frustrating part is that when I tried to contact them, the number was disconnected. It seems like nobody wants to take responsibility for their discriminatory actions towards disabled passengers, especially after business hours. It's incredibly frustrating that the number is always closed, and when you do manage to get through to a representative, they are unhelpful and simply hang up on you.

So, my buddy parked at my apartment complex when we were away, and I used SpotHero to pay for extra parking (that's what Avalon recommends). Ended up getting three tickets, and these guys at ParkSmart, Inc. don't even have an online way to sort it out (you gotta send 'em a letter by mail, can you believe it?). It's pretty dumb that I have to shell out for a stamp when it's their mistake, not mine. Seriously, who runs a business in 2021 without email or an online system?

One can't leave negative stars! Recently I had a 6pm meet-up with pals for grub at *** Lafayette . It was past 6pm when I parked, so I thought the metering would be over for the day - big mistake. Eating at Tutus is/was always a good time. Later that night, when I got back to my car, I had a $25 ticket. This Parksmart *** is a business killer, and I'll never eat at Tutus again - there are plenty of other places to support without dealing with Parksmart and their sneaky tricks. I'll be sending a letter to Tutus to let them know about this. Sad but true, I'm afraid, the only way to stop this kind of extortion is to punish the businesses that enable their parasitic games.

I paid the parking fee at ParkSmart, Inc. in *** at the *** center. They used to give paper tickets and we paid before leaving, which made sense. However, about a year ago, they removed the gates and stopped using paper tickets. Instead, they put up signs saying "3 Easy Ways to Pay.." Last night, after my movie ended at 9:45pm, I paid and returned to my car. To my surprise, there was a "ticket" on my windshield charging me $30 for the whole day. The ticket was issued at 9:40pm. I approached the person who gave me the ticket and confronted them. They told me that I was supposed to "scan and pay before moving, they would put a hold on my card, and before leaving, scan again to pay the total." The only sign there was said "3 Easy Ways to Pay.." I had validated my parking inside *** and I did pay for my parking! Every parking garage asks you to pay before leaving! Because of these confusing and unclear payment steps, this company, ParkSmart, scams customers with the all-day parking fee. I will never park there again, and this whole situation was ridiculous. I had to dispute it over email/website/phone and even had to mail in a letter. Seriously, it's 2022!

I went to see my friend at her condo complex on ***. I parked in the guest parking area. The next morning, I found a 'parking fee' charged because they said my meter had expired. But there are no meters here.

I got a parking ticket even though there were still 11 minutes left on the meter, which was broken and couldn't be used for payment. They still gave me the ticket. I want this reversed right away and I won't pay any unfair fine.

I parked in the parking lot for 30 seconds to use the bathroom across the street. But I got a ticket, and the parking supervisor, ID 145, was very unprofessional and refused to listen. Is parking temporarily for a bathroom for 30 seconds to 1 minute illegal in this country? My invoice number is ***.

I gave ParkSmart, Inc. $20.50 on 14 January 2023 at 4:21 pm to park in a private lot in downtown *** until 11:12 pm. I put the receipt on my dashboard, facing up, just like the receipt said. The "parking officer" put a $35 "ticket" on my windshield at 6:27 pm, saying I didn't pay for parking. There's no way to dispute it online, and ParkSmart makes customers pay for their own postage to send in evidence of a dispute. I've attached a photocopy of the wrong ticket (left) and my paid receipt (right) for proof.

I visited my bank on 9/16 to withdraw funds for my mortgage and checking account. After parking, I got a PCR test due to a sore throat. It was urgent and dark, so I missed the parking signs. Later, I found a ticket from Parksmart. I'm requesting a fee waiver from the bank or Parksmart, as I'm a loyal customer and it was an emergency with unclear signage.

I prepayed for 2 hours of parking for dinner at a nearby restaurant. But when we got back, we went over by 20 mins. They charged me a huge $35 instead of the $3 per hour rate (invoice#***). This happened at around 9:30 pm at night. I argued the charge because they didn't give me the option to pay for the extra time. They didn't mention this kind of penalty when I prepaid or anywhere in the parking lot. I argued the charge and chose In Person Level II hearing. I'm still waiting for the hearing to be scheduled. But instead, I got a letter yesterday saying my appeal was denied without even giving me a chance to fight it. They automatically chose In writing hearing instead of In person like I wanted. This is unfair and goes against the rules of the company. I want a refund of $32 (Paid - $6 at first + $35 invoice) because I should only owe $3 for the extra hour without the extra charge.

I paid for a parking meter and arrived 10 minutes late to refill it, got a ticket, and then the attendant who gave me the ticket said the ticket would probably be overturned if I contacted the company because the time between paying for the meters was so short. But they thought the violation happened "way before" I came back to pay the parking meter. They also tried to charge me a late fee when I was clearly within the allowed time to try to pay the ticket (as you can see on the web portal image, I'm being charged $45 instead of $30 because it's later than 21 days, except that in the letter you can see that the new due date is 12/7, which means the late fee shouldn't happen until 12/28. Even though the letter says $30 is due, the web portal says something else). Giving a ticket to a paying customer and then trying to get even more money afterwards is sneaky behavior I wouldn't expect from an A+ ComplaintsBoard.com business. There's no receipt of payment because ParkSmart said they would keep this proof.

On November 25, 2022, I parked my car in the Parksmart garage at a local shopping center. The sign said we pay for parking AHEAD of time. We were going to watch a movie, so we estimated 2 hours and paid for parking. The movie lasted longer than we thought, and we came back about two hours and 35 minutes later. Guess what? There was a ticket on our windshield charging us $30.00 for not paying. I called the company the next day, and they said we went over our paid parking time and had to pay a fine. I wrote a letter to the company on November 26, saying it's weird to make people pay AHEAD of time when you don't know how long you'll be at the mall. It's more normal to pay AFTER you're done. This seems like sneaky business. I was okay with paying a little extra for the extra time, but not a $30 fine. Parksmart said no to my request and insists I pay $30. They didn't explain why. I want the fine canceled and the company to know this isn't how you do business.

On September 9th and September 10th, I received two parking 'Invoices' from ParkSmart in Lafayette. It was in a private parking lot without meters. I'm certain I didn't overstay the two-hour limit on either day. The first invoice, dated 9/9/22, was issued at 7:09pm, though I parked at 6pm. The second, dated 9/10/22, came at 9:35pm, but my parking time was 6:45pm. Both show compliance with the time limit. I disputed this promptly via their form, but ParkSmart denied it without providing all related documents. They included unclear photos of my vehicle. I've yet to pursue further action. I expect ParkSmart to dismiss the charges and ensure their staff performs correctly.

I originally wrote a review about this, but now I'm complaining because the customer response was bad. On Sunday 2/27, I went to get take out for a client. I thought the H1*9***2*6***1*2*2*2H lot was free because it was Sunday and meters are usually free (and these meters were just like street meters). When I got back, I saw that I got a "ticket" (it wasn't really a ticket, but an invoice, which I already paid because I have high morals). I quickly contacted the company to learn more and explained the issue to them. The company told me I can dispute it by mail, which seemed weird. Also, it's funny how clients can pay these H1*9***2*6***1*2*2*2H "tickets" online but have to mail their disputes. It seems like this company will do anything to get the most money out of people, up to $*0. I just want them to charge me fairly and refund the extra amount. I want a refund of about $28. According to the company's previous response to my review, they said they give minutes for pick up. Maybe I was there for less than minutes. Also, neither *** Vehicle Code section ***, nor any other state law, lets private property owners give H1*9***2*6***1*2*2*2H citations with fines to people who park on their property. I want a refund or I'll take this to small claims.

I parked at a city lot. Like many parking areas, it had signs instructing to pay before departure. I assumed payment was due upon exiting as there's no attendant. This is common in urban parking. However, the sign meant to pre-pay, akin to metered spots, as I received a ticket for non-payment. This is problematic for three reasons: 1) The signage is ambiguous. No clear warning about pre-payment tickets exists. 'Please pay in advance' is easily misconstrued as paying before garage exit. 2) Predicting parking duration is challenging. If my stay exceeds the pre-paid time, can I extend it? 3) The payment system may confuse seniors or those with difficulties, as it seems phone-based. The operator claims pay stations exist, yet none were visible where I parked. The operator should clarify the pre-payment rule to avoid exploiting unaware patrons. The city center's Yelp reviews reflect dissatisfaction, with most ratings being low. This indicates widespread discontent and the need for change.