They Fumbled but Recovered

I agree with the woman in this article. She parked in a Pay by Space location. She did everything properly with one minor error. She input the wrong space number. I can sympathize. She put in 1525 instead of 1527. Frankly, I’m not sure I could remember my space number in the 30 seconds it takes me to get from the car to the P by S machine.

However, she had her receipt and it showed that she had in fact paid at the time the citation was issued and it was obviously a minor input error.

First the Fumble:

She got an automatic rejection letter.

“Because the space number was entered incorrectly, the space you were parked in registered as unpaid on the officer’s computer. After reviewing this ticket and the officer’s records for the day, we have deemed the ticket valid as issued,” the letter said.

Yes, it was valid, but she paid for her parking. She went to the press, they call the parking office.

Now the save:

“I would have cancelled that ticket,” Van den Boomen said, adding he will refund Ley(the victim) the $20. People entering the wrong stall number has not been a huge issue, he said, but instructions have been given to enforcement staff to be lenient.

“We’ve told the people who work in our review office that if we can see the person is attempting to pay and it’s just through some confusion then we cancel the ticket. That ticket should have been cancelled.”

Yep – probably been better if it hadn’t gotten in the paper, but Van Den Boomen, Parking Boss, handled it perfectly – woman was innocent, he not only refunded her ticket, he told what action he was taking so this wouldn’t happen again in the future. That manager deserves a raise.

In my mind this guy is a parking hero.

JVH