TAMU parking citation help

6,798 Views | 27 Replies | Last: 15 yr ago by AboveAndBeyond
jlb678
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My girlfriend is having a very rough time with parking this summer. She purchased a visitor monthly pass for her three summer classes. She printed her pass and set it upon her dashboard as directed. Soon after she received a citation for "no permit displayed", followed the next day by a warning for the same offense, then another citation. She then TAPED the permit to her windshield, and received a citation for "permit not valid in lot". Her next step was to print a copy of the summer parking map, with her lot highlighted, and the legend highlighted showing it to be a valid lot, as well as a description of her permit showing that she is indeed allowed to park in that lot. She taped all of this to her windshield as well. This seems to have stopped the tickets.
She appealed all three. In the case of the first two (no permit displayed), parking services took photos that show her car, but her dash is not visible in the photos. She explained all of this in her citation. So far, one has been returned, with a 10.00 reduction in her fine, even though the photo clearly shows that her dash and permit are not visible. The other is still pending.
The invalid lot citation was returned and denied, with the the canned explanation "must park in a valid space in a valid lot". It would appear whoever reviews the citations didn't even look at her response, or her permit type, or a map.
Any advice on what we can do? Apparently, you can only appeal once, and "all decisions are final." Prior to her appeals, she went to the parking services office and looked at a map with the clerk who was in agreement with her that her permit was valid for that lot, but she could not assist and she advised that the only recourse was the online appeal.
Obviously we are very frustrated, as it appears that she had to pay for her permit, thereby paying for the privilege of paying for citations, and the second summer session is about to begin, so she will have to pay for another permit and possibly go through all of this again!
I understand that with the large volume of citations, and the number of students that want to worm their way out of tickets, that each ticket can't be addressed personally and on an individual basis, but surely there is someone that we can talk to. The parking services website lists no direct contact names.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Horatius
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I have been down almost the exact same path as you with absolutely no luck. I think the only way to solve this is to somehow bypass Transpo and get a high level TAMU contact to breath fire for you.
rock the good ag 90'
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The former head of PTTS used to take the time to answer every email personally if they made it that far up to him.

I don't know who the new person is or if they do that.
Sweet Kitten Feet
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if you'll post an email address I'll send you someone to talk to. Would rather not publish the name and number on the forum.
nnichols
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What lot was she parking in? Its likely the clerk didnt know what she was talking about when she spoke with your GF because the summer lots for prepaid monthly passes are different than the open summer lots for any valid annual TAMU permit. Im guessing she is parking in a lot that is open to any valid annual tag, but not open to visitor prepaid monthly parking. Vistor prepaid are open to park in 88,43,100, & 72b 5pm-6am. An annual pass during the summer can park in lots 30, 43, 88, 100, 40, 48,62,etc. Ive attached 2 maps of the areas. As you will see, the prepaid monthly parking is much more restrictive than the annual lot 100 tag. If she has been parking in an designated prepaid area, she needs to make sure she isnt parkign in a reserved space in those lots. She should also take a picture of her windshield with the permits viewable in order to help her appeal

http://transport.tamu.edu/parking/maps/breaksummer.pdf

http://transport.tamu.edu/parking/maps/prepaidsum.pdf
jlb678
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Thanks SweetKittenFeet! My email is anhingaj@suddenlink.net. I've found a few possible contacts, but it sounds like you have a better idea of who to speak with.

Thanks for everyone's comments so far. I've worked in various types of customer service outfits (credit cards, etc) and I understand how a broad blanket process is necessary, but if you break it down, everyone in this process so far is either not doing their job properly, or not doing anything at all. It's really upsetting that she has to deal with all of this during finals, especially since the website advises that a ticket total over $100 could result in towing (and if that car gets towed with our son's car seat in it, I will be HOT!)
Sweet Kitten Feet
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email sent
jlb678
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nnichols, thanks for your reply. I see exactly what you mean when I look at the prepaid map. We were only looking at the summer break map. She's been parking in 48. However, she printed her receipt. It reads "Print your receipt and display on your dashboard as a one month permit for use during the designated dates. Vehicles with this permit displayed may park in Lots 1, 43, 71, 88, 90, 100, 101, 110, 113, 120, University Apartments and Summer lots during the Summer. NO PARKING IN LOT 100 FROM 2AM-5AM. The receipt then specifies her permit as VISITOR MONTHLY PERMIT NO REFUND with corresponding dates. And if you look at the summer map, lot 48 is specified as summer parking. So maybe this will give us a little leeway.
Capt Dan
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nm

[This message has been edited by Capt Dan (edited 7/5/2010 1:12p).]
SumAggie
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quote:
The parking services website lists no direct contact names.
You must have missed this page with every manager in the entire organization listed.....
http://transport.tamu.edu/Management.aspx

nnichols
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[This message has been edited by nnichols (edited 7/5/2010 2:35p).]
rock the good ag 90'
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Are Clint Willis and Pete Willis related?

And is Pete Willis really Peter Tom Willis, former quarterback for Florida State?
AboveAndBeyond
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From what I know about PTTS (or whatever they are now) she's lucky to have gotten this far in the appeal. Some of those officers are more ruthless then we are! And sadly we have had to tow vehicles with car seats before...
evermoreAg
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Pete is actually a good guy but don't approach him with an attitude. It won't work. Be contrite, broke, even tearful. Might work.
TKDMom
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quote:
She's been parking in 48. However, she printed her receipt. It reads "Print your receipt and display on your dashboard as a one month permit for use during the designated dates. Vehicles with this permit displayed may park in Lots 1, 43, 71, 88, 90, 100, 101, 110, 113, 120, University Apartments and Summer lots during the Summer.


If she parked in 48, and the receipt she printed doesn't allow her to park in 48, then it sounds like she needs to pay the citations and be glad they didn't tow her from 48.
SumAggie
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quote:
Some of those officers are more ruthless then we are! And sadly we have had to tow vehicles with car seats before...
Two questions: one, does your boss know you are online trashing one of his customers? Two, does having a baby seat in the car somehow make you exempt from all laws and rules or is it just parking laws?

aggieknit
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quote:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She's been parking in 48. However, she printed her receipt. It reads "Print your receipt and display on your dashboard as a one month permit for use during the designated dates. Vehicles with this permit displayed may park in Lots 1, 43, 71, 88, 90, 100, 101, 110, 113, 120, University Apartments and Summer lots during the Summer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



If she parked in 48, and the receipt she printed doesn't allow her to park in 48, then it sounds like she needs to pay the citations and be glad they didn't tow her from 48.


I would pay the tickets. Looks like they did her a favor by reducing the tickets...

Pete is a good guy, but since the permit is very explicit on where she could park, I don't what argument she could pose in her favor. I'm actually suprised she didn't get more tickets...
Scotch
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Many of you are missing the and Summer lots during the Summer clause after the listed lot numbers. This is probably why the OP started to display a map with the acceptable parking areas along with the parking permit.

[This message has been edited by Scotch (edited 7/6/2010 12:43p).]
SumAggie
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I am still waiting for a response from A1????
syrei
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quote:
I am still waiting for a response from A1????


Why? Are you trying to pick a fight? His first sentence is just a nice joking commentary. His response on the carseat thing says nothing whatsoever about child seats exempting from anything. He just stated that he's had to tow cars that had them. Which means, he has done his job.
JasonD2005
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Sorry but the map that shows you can park in Lot 48 during the day (with the lots colored in blue) applies to annual permits only, not prepaid visitor permits. Your mistake is trusting what you were told by an incompetent customer service rep instead of consulting the map yourself. I understand it is frustrating but you can't take those people's word for anything.

Go see the contacts provided and explain that what you were told didn't match the map, or admit you were looking at the wrong map and ask for lenience because the maps and policies are confusing. If it were me I would not pass up an opportunity to respectfully tell TS how sheety their system and policy is, especially during the summer when half the people with annual permits aren't even in town.
SumAggie
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"trying to pick a fight"? No, but when you call people "ruthless" and imply that there is something wrong about towing a car with a child seat in it I think you should be ready to back up those claims with facts. Too many people bloviate and have no data to back up their statements. If he worked for me I would want to know that he is badmouthing a good customer.
nnichols
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I think the problem is they fail to define what is a "Summer Lot".
Stucco
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Just imagine if there was enough parking. No permits, tickets, enforcement, or lot numbers to worry about.
nnichols
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As it stands, A&M already has much much much more parking and street access than most major universities.
jlb678
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Ok guys, time for an update. She went back to the transportation office today and spoke with a different clerk. After listening to the explanation, I guess she was a little confused (or sympathetic) and brought the issue to her supervisor. After a long wait, my girlfriend was told that all three would be dismissed, and that the individuals who issued the citations were looking at the wrong map, and there are plans to have them updated. My GF asked when the dismissal would be reflected, and the clerk advised her supervisor was doing it right then. I've yet to find out if her online account shows them to be dismissed. So, in review:

2 tickets issued for no pass displayed when pass was on dash as directed, and photos taken by transportation don't even show the dash ---dismissed.
1 ticket issued for parking in the incorrect lot, when the description of that particular type of pass (provided by TAMU) clearly states that it was a valid lot---dismissed.

And for all the clever anonymous people who put forth so much effort without offering anything positive, I would like to point out that no one, myself included, thinks it is reasonable for a car not to be towed simply because it has a car seat in it. I simply stated that fact to illustrate that Parking's errors (if they resulted in towing) would have resulted in more than the usual hassle for us despite the fact that my GF followed the directions provided by TAMU. We don't use our child as a crutch or a tool for sympathy, quite the opposite in fact.

This will probably be my last post regarding this matter since I'm new and my replies are limited. Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions!
nnichols
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AboveAndBeyond
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SumAggie, sorry about the delay I was driving all day and don't like to play with my phone and drive.

Let me start out by saying that this is why I don't post often, it always turns into a fight.

Trash talking? I don't think it can be called that when the officers in question agree they are ruthless. And you have to ask yourself, if these were your employees wouldn't you want them to be that way? If your job was to collect money by issuing citations, would you want your employees to bend over backwards for every lying aggie we have around here (not saying the OP is a liar in any way)? I'm all about working with people but not in our lines of work. People will say/do anything to get out of paying a ticket or getting towed. We have had officers/drivers run over and injured from people jumping in their cars and taking off. So yes, we have to be a little hard (ruthless) in our jobs or we will get walked over day after day.

And I threw the baby seat thing out there to inform the OP about it. A lot of people try to use crutches to avoid us. After reading the Ops last post I can see that was not his intentions. Remember what I always say, the only way to avoid us is to not park where you don't belong....
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