Customer complained to me about the parking fee

[snugglegirl05]

This incident happened Friday.

Older guy *old enough to be a student's dad* drives up to the Visitor Parking booth after exiting the meter lot across the street, which is owned by the city. He gets out of his car since it was too tall to clear the metal canopy that is attached to the booth, walks up to the booth, & asks me if we have any Visitors parking.

Here is what happened.

me: "Hi, how may I help you?"
guy: "Do you have any Visitors parking?"
me: "Yes, we do, & it's $5.00 to exit."
guy: *completely shocked & looking at me like I was a horrible person*: "You charge for visitors!!?"
me: *shaking my head up & down*: "Yes"
guy: *still shocked & still looking at me like I was a horrible person*: "You do not want students to come to the university!!?. I mean students have to pay to park here!!?"
me: "You will have to ask the school about that. I do not know."
guy: "So I have to pay $5.00 to park here?"
me: "Yes, no matter where you park it is all pay parking around here."
guy: "I know, but where can I park?"

I give him several options, & I tell him he can pay for his parking at the meter lot, at Visitor parking, or at the other lots near the campus.

guy:"But I can park in downtown. It is cheaper there."
me: *well...there is no guarantee he will find cheaper parking in downtown*: "Yes"
guy: "I will park away from the campus where it is cheaper and walk."
me: "Ok"

He leaves. He will be shocked when told that student permits are not free at the university I work at as a contract parking attendant.

[EvilEmpryss]

I'd like to see his face when he gets the bill for permit parking. My student parking fees were almost $400 for the year... and it's only a hunting permit (no guaranteed spot: I have to hope there's a spot open near my building, and that's for handicapped students!). Off-campus parking is almost $200, and it's far enough away that you have to rely on a shuttle to get you to class on time.

[Sapphire Silk]

The community college where I teach has horrible parking problems. You cannot get a spot if you arrive later than 7:30am.

Since the college only charges $5 for a parking ticket, most students regard tickets as the price of doing business. This makes the parking problems even worse: legal spaces are often blocked by people parking in fire lanes. The college doesn't tow the first 2 or 3 weeks of school, which are the worst for parking. A parking sticker costs only $5.

I've been advocating increasing sticker fees and parking ticket fines, especially since the new covered garage is almost finished.

But we're an open enrollment campus, and nobody wants to do anything that would "discourage" enrollment.

[Barefootgirl]

My university didn't even HAVE parking. There are car parks dotted around the city, but no actual college car park or anything. They basically suggest that you don't bother bringing your car...

Everyone can get an afternoon of free parking at the beginning and end of term, when you bring your stuff, but you can't leave your car there all day otherwise the porters will shout at you.

[GiggityGiggityGoo]

$1500 PER YEAR at the university I go to


And that doesn't even include summers

[chainedbarista]

guy: "I will park away from the campus where it is cheaper and walk."
me: "Ok"

cheapskate. $5 is pretty damned cheap, considering downtown sd charges about $7 for the first hour.

i must get off pretty lucky; ours is $135 a semester (summer parking fees are weird...half the time yet the same amount) and at two semesters per year, it's $270.

[trailerparkmedic]

Obviously this guy has no idea how colleges work. I honestly can't count the extra fees and additional required supplies (budget cuts mean we stock the lab!) I've had to pay at my program, on top of the normal tuition and fees. Hell, you have to pay an additional fee to graduate. Not to attend graduation, but to get your diploma and final transcripts in the mail.

[Kristev]

I'm glad I don't have a car. On my wages, I could never afford the payment. Or the insurance. Or the gas/petrol. Or the parking.

[fireheart]

It's around $200 per year for parking at my uni. Day parking is $3.80.