I received a ticket while picking up food to go from Frontier. In an entire parking lot that has many large signs stating that it is free to park for Frontier, this particular row is owned by a private company and has two much smaller signs indicating it contains paid spaces. Within the five minute absence of my car, someone quickly came to give me a violation and left. There were plenty of free parking spaces around me that I could have parked in, and I clearly had no intention of violating any rules. If you are parking there at night, are not driving the direction their signs are facing, do not look up for the sign above ahead level while walking, or do not notice the parking space number underneath your car, you are pretty much screwed. I definitely would have not have parked there without paying had there been better signage that their row was not part of the rest of the free parking lot.
The ticket had a deadline of five days before the amount doubled so I sent a complaint to Park-It Place right away about their poor signage. It not only took a few days for the company to respond but my concerns were also completely ignored. I have no problem with paying the amount required for a paid space, but I do have a problem with a private parking business making a profit off of people for their own inadequacies. I was not even trying to get out of paying the ticket, but I thought they deserved my feedback about how they contributed to my confusion. Since my concerns about their signage were dismissed, I told them I felt taken advantage of, that their business practices were shady, and that I would take the issue up with higher authorities. I finally was promptly responded to with a very condescending email that explained just how much more money they could make if they towed cars, compared themselves to other businesses who they considered to be more shady, said I was fortunate to receive a ticket through them instead of one of the other parking businesses, complained that they felt insulted by my remarks about being shady, and accused me of feeling singled out and picked on. All that Park-It Place needs to do to is make a better effort to differentiate their private business from the rest of the free parking lot. My feedback should have been used to improve their service, but instead they saw it appropriate to respond to a consumer complaint with defensiveness and intimidation.
Frontier is a popular local business as well as a popular tourist location. Even though that row of the parking lot is not owned by Frontier, the way Park-It Place conducts their business reflects poorly on Frontier. There has already been a similar issue that caused a tourist to want to never return to the businesses in that area (see the other complaint). It is unfair that their businesses practices affect the other businesses in that area. I care very much about my city so I think it is important that unprofessional businesses like Park-It Place do not go unnoticed for unnecessarily burdening citizens and tourists who visit the area. read more
