Imagine paying for a parking ticket for a specific parking spot in a parking lot. What would you do if you got a parking ticket even though you had paid for the spot?

In this story, one concertgoer found herself in this exact situation. She had spend the day exploring the city prior to the concert and parked in multiple parking lots, paying every time. The final parking lot, the one where she parked her car while attending the concert, was the problem. At the end of the night, there was a ticket on her car.

The next day, she looked at the details and thought it was very obvious that there was a mistake. Getting the person who answered the phone at the parking company to understand that there had been a mistake was much harder than she expected.

But then she had another idea that really worked in her favor. Let’s read all about it.

Give me a parking ticket for a spot I paid for, I dare you

About 10 or so years ago, I went to a concert an hour away from me in Indianapolis. Decided to make a day of it going to several museums and spots around the city. Each time paying for parking in a garage for 2 or so hours then going to meander around the area.

Finally, I go park close to the venue and paid for parking until the time it was free. Total I probably paid $40-50 for parking throughout the day.

Enjoyed the concert, but come back to a parking ticket on my car.

She was too tired to look at the details that night.

I think, “this is odd,” but I am tired and chalk it up to a mistake.

But I decide to take photos of my parking spot (both spots on either side were taken) and all the signage and head home for the evening, figuring I would sort it in the morning.

The next morning, I review the ticket, the photo of my spot and my parking receipt.

The ticket did not line up to the spot my car was located in and my receipt shows that I had valid parking at the time of the ticket. So I submit an appeal thinking this will be easy, its obvious that a mistake was made.

It wasn’t easy.

The appeal was denied. The ticket was for the spot that was not paid for, ergo it stood.

I called the office, and the lady said they did not make a mistake as my receipt showed that I paid for spot X-1 and the ticket was for spot X.

I ask about the photo proof that my car was in spot X-1.

She said, “well you could have moved the car”.

Are they even looking at the pictures?

Note that the parking receipt included my license plate number and everything (think park mobile like system).

I noted that there were cars in spots on either side of me and that the entire street was full because of the concert. And honestly, I don’t think they bothered to look at the photo.

Even had that not been the case, I had proof that that license plate had a paid parking spot.

No matter what, no dice.

Visa really helped her out.

I am feeling petty over this $25 parking ticket at this point. So, I called Visa and asked if I could retract the amount I paid for the time that I had parked since it didn’t count. I submitted all the evidence and documentation to Visa.

Visa, in what was the greatest thing Visa has ever done IMO, they agreed that if my parking receipt and transaction number wasn’t proof I had paid for parking, then clearly I had paid for a service I did not receive. And they extended my initial request of cancelling the one transaction to include all the parking spots I had paid for through the system that day, valued at more than the parking ticket.

Then they filed a formal complaint on my behalf with a letter explaining why they were refunding me.

I would not have been nearly as satisfying if I had not spent the entire day playing tourist in the city and wracking up a large parking bill all with the same vender.

That’s great for her, but here’s my question. Is Visa eating the cost of those parking tickets, or will the parking lots not get paid?

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a customer who tried to force an off-the-clock employee to get back to work.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

Here’s some praise for Visa.

Another person likes how the story worked out.

This person was in a similar situation.

Another person might try contacting Visa.

It really is great when the credit card company has your back. She’s right that if she has to pay a ticket for supposedly not paying for parking even though she has a receipt saying that she paid for parking that means that she didn’t get the service she paid for.

It’s a really good thing she thought to take pictures of everything before heading home.

I bet the ticket was maybe supposed to go to one of the cars next to her, but it was accidentally left for her instead. It’s too bad when you’re stuck paying for a clerical error.

While the parking company was unreasonable, the credit card company saved the day!