Open sign on but lot is reserved & another ticket issued to person entering garage

[snugglegirl05]

Even though Visitor Parking was reserved today, the department director of Visitor Parking/Community Relations did not want the open sign changed to full. A student drove up to the booth to park. I told the student "I know the open sign is on, but every open parking spot is already reserved & already paid for. I am not authorized to allow anyone not on the event list to park in the garage. You will receive a parking ticket from campus police if you do enter the garage, & someone already received a parking ticket from campus police." He mentioned that his class starts in a few minutes. I told him again "you will receive a parking ticket from campus police if you do enter the garage." His mother drove up behind him, got out of her car, & walked up to the passenger side window of his car. He told her what I told him. She asked me to make an exception. I told her "I'm not authorized to override my manager's authority." I told her many times what will happen if he does enter the garage. He said he still wanted to park. Then she asked to speak to my manager. I called the director of Visitor Parking/Community Relations, & the directors assistant answered. She spoke to the guy's mother, who tried to get her to make an exception, but the assistant would not do that. She said she would pay for the ticket, & asked her what type of ticket would he receive. Since I heard "he will receive a city ticket", she will have to pay the city. The dept. director of Visitor Parking/Community Relations did not change the sign from open to full after this incident, & the garage was still reserved at that point.

So..any thoughts & opinions regarding this incident?

[Sandman]

I think he could very easily fight the ticket (and win) on the grounds of false advertisement. He could very easily take a picture (timestamped) of the sign being marked open, and the time the ticket was issued.

I would seriously start to wonder what was going on with the Department Director.

[Geek King]

Seriously, this is stupid. That "full" sign should be controlled right from the booth you sit in if they are going to be pre-selling the parking. Or they should at least trust you to keep the count.

Um, by the way, how does campus PD know which cars are parked in the garage legally in this case? Just curious.

[draftermatt]

I'd like to point out that if he had that much time to argue then he obviously wasn't in a hurry to get to a class that starts in a few minutes, especially if his mother was with him.

That said, I think a situation like this warrants a sign saying "lot reserved" instead of full or open.

[snugglegirl05]

I'm venting since this is such a crazy situation.

The reason why there is not a lot reserved sign is because the university will not spend the money needed to change the sign. The amount of money the univeristy spent to replace the parking gates at the Visitor Parking garage, at the Faculty/staff garage, & at the new garage as well as the money spent for the full sign was over $200,000. This is what someone in dispatch told me.

Here is what happened today. The lot was reserved again, but the open sign was on. The department director did not want the open sign changed to full.

The parking company I work for has a contract with the university, & I spoke to the manager over the account regarding what I tell people when the garage is reserved & the problems I have had when the open sign is on, but the garage is reserved. She told me to "take ownership of the situation" & said not to use the word authorize anymore & use the word I cannot instead. She does not like the department director of Visitor Parking/Community Relations & the department director of Visitor Parking/Community Relations has told me several times she is not happy with our manager at the parking company. So unfortunately, I am stuck when it comes to finding out why she will not have the open sign changed to full when needed.

So I changed my speech to "I know the open sign is on, but every open spot is already reserved & already paid for. I'm so sorry, but I cannot allow you to enter the garage." Then I tell the person where other parking is. If needed, I say "you will receive a parking ticket from campus police if you do enter the garage, & people have already received parking tickets from campus police for entering the garage." I told the first part of my speech to someone not on the event list when the garage was reserved, & he said "may I speak to your supervisor." I called her, told her what I said as well as what he said. She spoke to him, & he was not allowed to park. She called me a few minutes later to ask if he had entrered the garage. At that point he was backing up. I told he was backing up. She asked me for his car make & model. All I could read was his license plate number. Why, I do not know. He parked in the metered lot across the street.

I have been told twice that the open sign needs to be changed to full from customers who were not allowed to enter the garage. Since according to the manager at the parking company "I have to take ownership of the situation", she does not want me to say "I have no control over that sign" even though I really do not. All I can think of is "I'm so sorry, but my hands are tied." I feel stuck between a rock & a hard place when that happens. It will happen again. Is there a better way of saying this while "taking ownership of the situation?"

Someone else entered the garage today even though I warned the person he will receive a parking ticket from campus police. I recognized his license plate number because he did that a couple of weeks ago when I called the department director on her cell phone, & she told me to tell him he would receive a parking ticket from campus police if he does enter the garage. He entered the garage anyway. I called the department director's extension, but the person who makes the event list answered the phone, & told me she would not be back until later in the afternoon. I told her why I was calling. She said to call campus police, which I did. Unfortunately, campus police never came to give him a parking ticket. He left before the department director came back to the office. I e-mailed her what happened as well as the person's license plate number before he exited the garage. Then I e-mailed her that he exited the garage & that campus police never came. She was pissed at that, & said she would call them.

I wil have to let the customers complain to her.

[Crazeyal]

I'm sorry.. Perhaps I'm not following.. The situation looks like it could be handled by a magic marker and scotch tape. "Lot full. Reserved parking only" and tape it over the sign. Grab one of those "Wet floor" signs and put the same message next to your booth. Now SC's don't read signs, but then the electric one wouldn't deter them.

[snugglegirl05]

Sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, the university President will have fit when he sees the sign (he has his own reserved parking space in the garage). He wants things to look nice, & a makeshift sign would not look nice to him. Plus there are employees working at the campus who notice "everything". One employee comes to mind, & she calls the department director for "anything" out of place regarding the Visitor parking garage, the sign, & the kiosk. The thing is this: she does not work in Visitor parking/Community Relations. She works in an entirely different dept. I have received phone calls from the dept. director stating that this person noticed this or that (such as a sign taped to the booth window stating I would be back in a couple of minutes), & that this person did not like that sign. The director said I had to throw out the sign so there would not be any more problems.

[Geek King]

I have been told twice that the open sign needs to be changed to full from customers who were not allowed to enter the garage. Since according to the manager at the parking company "I have to take ownership of the situation", she does not want me to say "I have no control over that sign" even though I really do not. All I can think of is "I'm so sorry, but my hands are tied." I feel stuck between a rock & a hard place when that happens. It will happen again. Is there a better way of saying this while "taking ownership of the situation?"

Alright then, in that situation, try saying this:

"Due to issues beyond my control, the sign will not switch to full. Campus parking has been made aware of the issue."



Fully factual, and most people will assume technical issues with the sign. Wizard's First Rule.

[Dips]

Take ownership, huh? If she believes in "taking ownership" then she should have no problem taking ownership of the consequences of HER decision.

Give her phone number to all the customers who would like to register a complaint about the sign saying "OPEN" when you're full.