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I want to scream at the Parking office

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  • I want to scream at the Parking office

    LONG post...so I will divide it up into 2 separate posts.

    First Section:
    Although the Visitor parking guidelines state what our responsibilities are as visitor parking attendants, the university parking office expects us (me & the 2nd shift attendant) to watch 1) the exit gate & entrance gate to the Faculty/Staff garage, 2) the exit gate & entrance gate to the Visitor parking garage, & 3) the gate next to the Visitor parking booth as well as the gate across from the booth. The faculty/staff garage is adjacent to the Visitor parking garage.

    There is a concrete barrier to the right of the Visitor parking booth that prevents anyone from going around the booth. Next to the barrier is a *free gate* that goes up when you exit Visitor parking.

    Male customer pulls up to the Visitor parking booth. The big white sign stating that Visitor parking is $5.00 is sitting out front. I tell the guy that it is $5.00 to exit. He sits there for a while before reaching for his wallet. I briefly explain to him where to pay for his parking, but he cuts me of by saying "just let me into the garage". So I raise the gate.

    About half an hour late he gets to the exit gate. The phone inside the booth rings. I answer it. He tells me...
    • He though parking was free
    • He should not have to pay for his parking since he only dropped of his transcript

    So I ask him "what does the time on the ticket you pulled say?"

    He read me the time, which was around 30 minutes after he arrived at the booth window. I tell him the following....

    "You have to pay for your parking. There is a 5 minute grace period where there is no charge, but since you are well past 5 minutes, you have to pay."

    He still wants out for free. So I transfer the call to the parking office. While he was waiting at the exit gate, a car pulls up to the gate across from the Visitor parking booth. The driver tells me he has a permit & an access card. He asks me if he can use his access card in Visitor parking. I tell him to make a left & pull up to the faculty/staff entrance gate. He does that. I turn around to see if the *other guy* is waiting. He is. Then someone from the parking office calls to tell me not to raise the exit gate to Visitor parking. I say "ok".

    The guy who pulled up to the faculty/staff entrance gate backs up & hits the *free gate*. The gate arm falls down, leaving a space wide enough for cars to easily get through. So I go outside to get his license plate number. He pulls up to the side of the faculty/staff garage past the exit gate & parks there. I get his license plate number & his permit number so I can call the parking office. I turn around to walk back to the Visitor parking booth, & the Visitor parking exit gate goes up.

    To be continued in the next post.

  • #2
    Continuation

    Second section:

    I call the Parking office to tell them the following...

    I was outside the booth getting the license plate number of a car that had backed into the *free gate* when the Visitor parking exit gate went up. The Parking office employee who answered the phone asked me "Who raised the exit gate to Visitor parking?" I said "I do not know." Then the same employee said "Well...someone had to raise the gate since it went up. So who raised the gate?" I said "I do not know." At that point the parking office employee was frustrated, & so she hung up.

    The guy who backed into the *free gate* arm still wanted to talk to me. In the meantime the guy who *somehow* exited Visitor parking wanted me to raise the gate next to the Visitor parking booth so he could exit. So I called the Parking office to let them know what happened. The employee who answered the phone wanted to speak to him. So I go outside the Visitor parking booth to tell him the following....
    • The parking office needs to speak to him on the phone
    • To not leave the area

    He hands me a recepit. I go back into the Visitor parking booth to speak to the parking office employee who was on hold. I read off the information on the receipt. I was told by the Parking office employee that since the time on the receipt was 3 hours ago, the receipt is invalid & that he has to pay for his parking. She said he must have either pulled the receipt from the pay on foot machine inside Visitor parking or from the machine at the exit gate because someone left a receipt.

    While I was speaking to her, the guy exits through the open space. So I tell the parking office employee the bad news. She says "you should have told him to stay", which I replied "I did, but he chose to leave." She also told me that she called campus police to see if they raised that exit gate arm to Visitor parking. They said no. I just said "ok".

    A couple of minutes later another parking office employee comes down to the Visitor parking booth. She sees the gate arm on the ground. Meanwhile, the guy who backed into the *free gate* arm is still there. After she speaks to him, she asks me if I raised the Visitor parking exit gate. So I go through the story again. She said "we can check in the system if you did that because campus police said that they did not." I just said "ok". I could tell she was frustrated.

    I did report this to my immediate supervisor at the parking company I work for.

    Last edited by snugglegirl05; 06-11-2012, 11:09 PM.

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    • #3
      So they're trying to blame you? Very unfair, and frustrating, I'm sure.
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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      • #4
        sounds like the other driver let him out.

        and when you say "on the ground" do you mean the driver who didn't want to pay dismantled it?

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        • #5
          I'm thinking that "backed into" means "hit, damaged, & caused to fall to the ground".

          They really do seem to make your job as impossible as possible.
          This was one of those times where my mouth says "have a nice day" but my brain says "go step on a Lego". - RegisterAce
          I can't make something magically appear to fulfill all your hopes and dreams. Believe me, if I could I'd be the first person I'd help. - Trixie

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          • #6
            I am stressed out due to the Parking office unrealistic expectations.

            My job duties have drastically changed since 2006. I started working at the university in March 2006. A different dept. was over Visitor parking at that time. I only worked as a Visitor parking attendant. The parking office took over Visitor parking in the summer of 2009. At that time, I only worked as a Visitor parking attendant. After Visitor parking was renovated, I was told that I have to watch the faculty/staff entrance & exit gate, Visitor parking for any problems as well as both gates at the Visitor parking booth. So no matter what shift I worked, my job responsibilities would be the same.

            Former posts I made regarding the Parking office when Visitor parking was being renovated indicated what it was like working there at the time. I was working the first shift, but then I was moved to the second shift. Nothing improved when I was moved to the second shift. Then I was moved back to the first shift. It was stressful for me at that time, & it is stressful for me now.

            I will have to notify my immediate supervisor this week regarding this. If anyone has any suggestions regarding what I should mention, please let me know.

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth PepperElf View Post
              sounds like the other driver let him out.

              and when you say "on the ground" do you mean the driver who didn't want to pay dismantled it?
              The *free gate* that you get to after exiting Visitor parking fell on the ground when the other driver backed into it. The driver who did not want to pay did not dismantle the gate. He was still waiting behind the Visitor parking exit gate. I really do not know how the exit gate to Visitor parking went up for the driver who did not want to pay.

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