Rob's Rants

Back on July 23^rd the MBTA finally delivered on one of its promises to Commuter Rail riders and instituted an electronic parking payment system. Called ParkMobile, the system is provided by a company called ParkMobile USA based in Atlanta. Using either an iPhone app, a text message, or a phone call, a user can pay for parking over the phone without having to fold a bunch of dollar bills or find a handful of coins to shove through the slots in Commuter Rail parking lots. I wrote about what a pain in the ass this is several months ago and even suggested a business opportunity for someone to alleviate this pain for commuters.

But it looks like the ParkMobile system goes a long way towards fixing the problem. I signed up and started using it the first day it was available, though not without some learning curve. What you need to do is tell them the license plate number of your car, the lot (they call it the zone), and the space number of your car each day. Then they deduct the $4 for parking and that’s it.

My basic review and impressions after two weeks are this: the iPhone app is pretty bad but usable, the customer service is responsive, and the system as a whole is much easier and more convenient than the old manual way.

I’ve used only the iPhone app, so I can’t comment about the text messaging or the phone methods. The app is pretty crude as far as apps go, and it’s slow as a dog, because it appears to need constant communication with the home server for every screen refresh. But, it eventually does what it needs to do. The one major bug I found is that the app doesn’t allow you to remove old license plate numbers once they’re saved, which caused me my first problem using the system (you can remove it via the website, but that’s not the easiest process either). When I first set up the app, I accidentally put a 7 in my license plate number where a 2 should have been. I couldn’t delete the incorrect plate, so I simply entered the correct version too. The next morning, I set up my parking with, you guessed it, the wrong plate number. I realized this almost immediately and then realized a major flaw in the system – you can’t undo a parking transaction either. So, I created another transaction with the correct plate number, and the same space number. When I got to work, I went to the ParkMobile website and sent an e-mail to their support address (there was no phone number). I received a response within a couple of hours and after a little information exchange, they issued a credit, though they said they needed to send it to my house. Strange that they couldn’t credit the credit card that the parking is charged to. But they were responsive nonetheless.

One benefit occurred to me on a day when I was rushing and put down the wrong space number for my car (I entered 48 when my car was actually in 49). I realized this while I was on the train, but decided to take my chances. And when I got back to the station – no fine envelope. My guess is that the parking police get a list of license plates and were able to figure out that I paid and just screwed up the space number. That’s an advantage over the old system for sure. If you put your bills in the wrong slot, you’re out of luck and you’ll get a fine.

So overall I’m very happy that the MBTA finally did something about their 19^th century parking system and gave us a modern option. I for one won’t be using the slots again – ever.

Thanks MBTA. It’s about time!

Last October I wrote about the time I was an idiot and left an expensive jacket with my house and car keys in the pocket on a Commuter Rail train and how MBTA Customer Service handled my problem very efficiently and I ultimately got my stuff back in just a couple of days.

Last week something else worked, so I figured I’d let the world know.

Payment Box (photo from http://www.innismir.net/article/159)

I ride the Commuter Rail most every day and parking is a real pain. Such a pain in fact that I think there is an opportunity for a business  that relieves the misery for daily commuters. For those not familiar with the system, you park your car in a numbered space and then walk to a little payment box where you are supposed to stuff your $4 into a tiny little slot so small that only two bills at a time fit if they’ve been folded in half three times. Then, ideally, you shove the money all the way in using a little metal pusher, but the pusher is usually missing since they are constantly ripped off the little attachment cable by kids with nothing better to do. If you fail to pay, the lot attendant puts a little collection envelope under your wiper and you owe $5, which you need to leave in a special fine box.

Anyway, I usually park in the same row every morning, and because most other daily riders follow their own routines pretty closely, I usually get one of about a half-dozen spaces between #48 and #54. Last Friday morning I got #50. On the way to the little payment box, I reached into my pocket and realized that I didn’t have four $1.00 bills. The best I could come up with was a wrinkled old $5.00 bill. So I figured I’d have to pay $5.00 anyway if I skipped the payment and I put the $5.00 bill in slot #50 and happily boarded my train.

When I returned that evening (in the rain), I found a little fine envelope under my wiper. And I was immediately pissed off. I was absolutely certain that I had put $5 in the box and pretty sure that I put it in the correct slot. And there was no way in hell that I was going to pay a $5 fin on top of the $5 I already paid. No Commuter Rail parking space is worth $10 a day! I checked the receipt (which was soaked from being in the rain) and it had space #50 and my license plate on it. Man was I pissed.

There’s a telephone number on the receipt and I called it first thing Monday morning. I navigated the voicemail to the complaint section, where it transferred me to a guy’s mailbox and instructed me to leave my name, license plate number, and a phone number and they would call me back. I left the message.

The next day: nothing. Not a word from them.

On Wednesday I was really angry. At lunch I was contemplating how I was going to escalate this outrageous injustice! I would call again, but I would start using Google Voice to record every call. And I would keep a log of calls on Google Voice too. Maybe write to my State Rep and Senator. This would not stand!

Around 1:30 my phone rang.

Me: “Hello.”

Caller: “Mr. Havasy, this is [name] from Central Parking. I’m calling regarding the non-payment fine you received last Friday. I’ve looked at our system and can tell that you did pay. Our operators sometimes make mistakes. I’m sorry.”

I was thinking to myself … what? No fights? No arguments? And the guy apologized…

Me: “You can tell I paid.”

Caller: “Yes. Because operators sometimes make mistakes, we have them take a digital picture of the back of the collection box door as soon as they open it. The bins are clear so we can see the contents of each. I can see a payment in slot 50, so you’re all set.”

Me: “Wow. Who knew. I remember because I didn’t have dollar bills that morning …”

Caller: “Yes. If I zoom … hold on … I can see a single $5 bill.”

Me: “Thanks. How can I be sure the ticket is cancelled to I don’t get towed or something.”

Caller: “I have the record on the screen in front of me and I have just cancelled it.”

Me: “Thanks.”

Caller: “You’re welcome. Have a nice day.”

And that was it.

See … sometimes the MBTA does something right. That’s twice in two years now. They’re really improving…