today my car got booted because I was late paying a parking ticket. as a result, I spent the following time on hold (not counting conversation time):
30 minutes calling parking office
30 minutes calling again after they hung up on me
20 minutes calling the seperate number to pay by phone
30 minutes calling the parking office with my confirmation #, to find out my car is no longer booted-it's towed!
20 minutes waiting for the person to speak to supervisor about waiving my tow fee
30 minutes being transferred to said supervisor, who tells me that the previous person had no clue and the tow fee was unwaivable
10 minutes calling the numbers this supervisor gave me for the tow yard, which were wrong
20-25 minutes calling the tow yard, to find out the parking office hadn't faxed the release form even though they said they had
45 minutes calling the parking office, who again said they faxed the form
20 minutes calling the tow yard to ask about the form, they got it (but couldn't find it when i got there even though it was attached to my papers)
worst day.
thanks to Tony and Chris, who got me over to the tow yard!
josh [email] said at 4:44 PM 02-01-2006: no, but the reason i was towed was because i had one from years ago i just found out about. i was waiting to pay it until i got my logjamming bounty or tax refund, whichever came first. i would have paid it before had i realized they impound your car for parking tickets... in PG County I think they just won't let you renew your license.
josh [email] said at 4:49 PM 02-01-2006: all my other parking tickets in baltimore i have escaped since they were before i changed my registration to maryland! huzzah!
mary [email] said at 5:20 PM 02-01-2006: I got booted in D.C. when a bunch of tickets I never even knew I had got doubled one day, because they were 60 days old. That cost me $300.
josh [email] said at 5:42 PM 02-01-2006: i really feel for someone that doesnt have 2 cell phones and a land line... thats the only reason i was able to accomplish all this as quickly as i did... i would leave two phones on hold with them while trying to talk to wherever they told me to call or transferred me to
kevin [email] said at 6:07 PM 02-01-2006: i thought it was kind of cool to learn that bmore has a parking ticket amnesty day like once a year or something.
so say if you do have tickets you know about and just haven't payed them, you can pay them minus the late fees and be free from the man. at least temporarily.
jake [email] said at 9:06 PM 02-01-2006: This happened to me the day before Christmas, 2003.
Thankfully, the parking office and DMV and tow yard all had different actual holidays, so I was able to get my car back on Christmas day(!), especially since I was due to leave the country two days after that.
It's a fucking racket to be sure, although it's better than in San Francisco. Actually, I probably need to double check that I'm paid up now...
max [email] said at 10:03 PM 02-01-2006: That sure is crappy. Once again proving my point that scooters rule. Did you guys ever hear of Angle Grinder Man? He wore a costume with the insignia "AG" and went around removing the boots from people's cars, and thanklessly, to boot. Ha...
There was also this dude in Santa Cruz named Mister Twister. He dressed up in a clown costume and fed peoples meters. He finally got arrested. When he appeared before a panel of judges, they all came out wearing red clown noses, and awarded him some honorary title in the city of Santa Cruz.
These people are my heroes.
woody [email] said at 11:35 AM 02-02-2006: That is one ballsy arrest. Gotta be pretty creative to find a crime to charge him with. Mischief? Unlawful meter feeding?
josh [email] said at 11:56 AM 02-02-2006: i have heard of other people being arrested for this before - you could charge them with some sprt of interference with the police
meredith [email] said at 12:18 PM 02-02-2006: I just don't get why this is illlegal. If I ran out and put coins in the meter for John I wouldn't be arrested. So why should I be arrested for putting coins in other people's meters? The city still gets the money.
john [email] said at 12:24 PM 02-02-2006: There was an episode of Jackass where one of the dudes dressed up as a fairy and went around with a bag of quarters filling up parking meters and called himself the "Meter Fairy". A parking officer or whatever it was started telling him that it was illegal and tried getting him to stop, etc.
craig [email] said at 12:36 PM 02-02-2006: Supposedly you can only fill up the meter to the limit, two hours or whatever it is. You are not supposed to stay parked there longer, that's why there is a meter, to keep someone from hogging prime parking spots.
On the other hand, I do not think people should be arrested for this. That is ridiculous and is a waste of taxpayer dollars. People should only be arrested to take them off the streets if they are dangerous to society. At worse, someone should get citations for violating this.
craig [email] said at 12:22 PM 02-02-2006: I hope they lock up all of those meter-feeders right next to Cindy Sheehan. They clearly do not deserve the freedom that every other American enjoys. Those terrorists.
blake [email] said at 2:34 PM 02-02-2006: Yeah man, this is terrible...
this also happened to me, they towed me, 10 minutes AFTER they booted me and I still had 2 days to pay to get the boot removed.
