Gone in 24 secs: Birmingham couple towed from downtown lot right after parking

[ZLoth]

From AL.Com (Alabama):

Gone in 24 secs: Birmingham couple towed from downtown lot right after parking

Birmingham couple Amy and Braden Pittman said they were towed from a downtown lot on Wednesday night in the 24 seconds it took for Braden to checkout on the ParkMobile app.

"I've lived in downtown Birmingham for close to 20 years and do a lot of stuff downtown," Braden said. "So, I'm kind of familiar with the way the parking situation has worked. And I do use the ParkMobile app. And I'm usually pretty good about going in and getting my session started as soon as I park my car before I leave."

But on the night of Jan. 17, Braden was in a hurry.

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[vdeane]

Wow.  Talk about predatory.  Perhaps what we need is a law establishing that you don't have to pay the tow truck company if your vehicle was incorrectly towed.  In fact, I would go further, and say that they should pay YOU in that event and amount 10x what they would charge people, plus the cost of transportation to get there.  So instead of the guy on the 16th wanting him to pay $160, they should have paid him $1600 plus the cost of the Uber.

Also, there needs to be a way to pay without an app.  If I'm visiting somewhere, I don't want to have to download an app and set up some form of mobile payment just to park.  Which means there needs to be a grace period between when you arrive so that you can go over to a kiosk or something to pay.

[Scott5114]

Not to mention that requiring an app shuts out anyone who doesn't have or can't use a smartphone from using the lot. (This may even be an ADA violation with a spicy enough lawyer—think of someone who cannot easily operate a smartphone due to lack of dexterity in the fingers from arthritis, but who can still grip a steering wheel firmly enough to safely drive a car.)

[epzik8]

Weird. It's not like he was trying to avoid the parking fee.