Another Century Square parking gripe, with a difference

21,835 Views | 104 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Oogway
nought
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I'm as irritated as most here about the Century Square parking situation. I don't mind paying. What irritates me is the loss of convenience. Pouring rain -- have to find one of the few pay stations, then run back to the car because I forgot the license plate, then run back to the pay station, then guess how long I'll be there, then run back to the car to put the slip on the dash, etc.

So, Saturday we had some guests in town and thought we'd try using the valet and suggested it to them too as they were driving separately. One of them has a bad knee so the shorter a walk, and the more convenience the better. The money isn't the issue, convenience is, and what is more convenient than a valet? $8 for 3 hours, no biggie, better than running back and forth to the car.

Except, despite all the reserved spots for valet, and signs pointing to a valet, no valet was in sight. I stayed with the car while one of our party went to the hotel looking for the valet. Finally they found a guy who looked a bit confused but did come take our car keys.

Oh, and our guests arrived before we did, and having the bad knee, didn't try to get out to hunt down a valet and ended up just giving up, finding a handicapped spot, and then walking. Of course the handicapped spots aren't as close as the valet spots. Our guests weren't sure if they needed to pay at a pay station as there were no signs near the handicapped spots, so they just chanced it to avoid the long walk to a pay station and back. Luckily they weren't towed.

It gets better. When it was time to pick up the car, there was no valet in sight. We ended up having to go into the hotel where the girls up front said something like "Oh, the valet left a little while ago" and managed to dig up our keys. They assured us that the valet charge would be added to our hotel room. They seemed confused at the idea that we just used the valet without actually staying in the hotel room. They then tried to figure out how to ring it up. I ended up just leaving $8 cash with them, explaining that was the rate for up to 3 hours of valet parking, and suggested they could figure out what to do with that after I left.

If Century Square is going to offer valet parking, then they should actually have a valet available. They shouldn't have reserved valet spots without a valet available to park cars in them. And, while cars are in the care of the valet, the valet should remain on premises! This was the middle of the day, by the way, not like we were out until 2am and so the valet had to go home or some such.
Oogway
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You would think it wouldn't be that difficult to have a cohesive well-thought out plan for how to service pay parking for customers but apparently it is.
Captn_Ag05
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They recently posted that they are hiring 8 valet attendants. So, maybe they just realized that they need to have valets if offering valet.

They are also hiring additional security and parking attendants if you know anyone looking for a power trip
woodiewood1
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If the valet or someone with the hotel did not go get your car, I would have obtained my keys and walked out and not paid anyone a penny. Either that or I would have given them a room number of the 13th floor.

Valet service normally means they park your car and then retrieve it and deliver it back to you.


b0ridi
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You don't know your license plate number?
snaglepuss
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I have never memorized my license plate numbers in 50 years. Most people who do charge gas on a credit card. I don't.
halibut sinclair
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I used the surface parking to go to Mo's a couple of weeks ago and the payment kiosk did not ask for my license plate number. Swipe card, put slip on dash. It's really not that big of a deal.

Also, I have photos of our vehicles' license plates on my phone in case I ever need them - parking, hotels, etc.
gopitt
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[You have been around long enough to know that we require posters to be polite on this board. -Staff]
nought
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Walking 5 or 10 minutes was not an option for our handicapped guests.
Sleepnumber
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b0ridi said:

You don't know your license plate number?
Don't have a clue. Never needed to know. When I need to do a TxDot form or whatever, I'll look in the garage.
gopitt
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I have a handicapped friend also (hip replacement plus he weighs over 300 pounds).
We go out often. His wife drops him off at the front door of wherever we are going and we then follow her to best available parking. Easy as can be.
Why don't you try the same? Easy in, easy out, minimal problems.
pants
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Maybe valet parking is for hotel guests only. I've seen valet services section off large parts of parking lots near hotels and other businesses, but the spots are for the hotel valets to use. Either way, the person who took your car should have either not taken it or found someone who knew what was going on.
Builder93
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Question because I haven't been to Century Square yet: If you patronize an establishment there, do you still have to pay for parking?
unmade bed
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Builder93 said:

Question because I haven't been to Century Square yet: If you patronize an establishment there, do you still have to pay for parking?


Movie theater validates. Rest of them don't.
legalbird
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Maybe they should write on a piece of paper

Closed for 5 days
due to summer break
KidDoc
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unmade bed said:

Builder93 said:

Question because I haven't been to Century Square yet: If you patronize an establishment there, do you still have to pay for parking?


Movie theater validates. Rest of them don't.
The movie theater only validates for the garage, not street parking. You bring in your garage slip and they put a sticker with a bar code on it.
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Orlando Ayala Cant Read
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All these exciting new businesses coming into that area and the parking stuff seems to be scaring people away. I haven't been so I don't know if its legit gripes with real substance, or if its just stuff people need to get used to.
Fonzie Scheme
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All the complaints about parking is one of the reasons I haven't been. There's still too many other options. I don't mind paying for parking but at least have your act together.

The OP's reasons why they did what they did are irrelevant. A business offered a guarantee of service, then didn't deliver on that service. And, it was only their car. No big deal.
BlueMiles
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Is there a place to park bicycles? Is there a charge for bicycle parking, if so?
unmade bed
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KidDoc said:

unmade bed said:

Builder93 said:

Question because I haven't been to Century Square yet: If you patronize an establishment there, do you still have to pay for parking?


Movie theater validates. Rest of them don't.
The movie theater only validates for the garage, not street parking. You bring in your garage slip and they put a sticker with a bar code on it.


This is correct. Thanks for clarifying for me.
TXAggie1976
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The valet parking is for all people, not just guests to the hotel.
EvenPar
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Meter nearest our car was off today so couldn't pay but still got a warning on the windshield
techno-ag
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EvenPar said:

Meter nearest our car was off today so couldn't pay but still got a warning on the windshield
Ridiculous.
Sleepnumber
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techno-ag said:

EvenPar said:

Meter nearest our car was off today so couldn't pay but still got a warning on the windshield
Ridiculous.
Who is in charge.....who made these decisions? The developer? Is there a managment company? I'm just curious. No matter how you feel about paid parking, the implementation/communication seems to be a disaster.
TXAG 05
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snaglepuss said:

I have never memorized my license plate numbers in 50 years. Most people who do charge gas on a credit card. I don't.


You pay cash for gas? Not sure what you mean.
AggiePhil
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Easy solution to all of this. Don't go to Century Square. Next!
FlyRod
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Century Square businesses seem to be doing fine, gripes about parking aside.
Wicked Good Ag
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FlyRod said:

Century Square businesses seem to be doing fine, gripes about parking aside.


Not so sure about that but many businesses don't advertise as much in the summer. Quite a few of my friends who eat out more than the average person had not even heard of poppy, sweet Paris and didn't know that Mo's had opened yet.
viejo
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Until they do away with paid parking, I won't be frequenting any business at Century Square. There's nothing there I can't find elsewhere and park for free. This is College Station for crying out loud. Parking is not a premium here.
gopitt
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Not sure I entirely understand the logic of not paying several dollars for parking but to each his own.
I would guess that many here pay $25 or so to pay for parking at a football game, pay for basketball and baseball parking and pay to park in the Northgate garage. Don't see many critics for those parking fees for some reason.
Century Square is upscale. The restaurants and hotels can be expensive so they may possibly be catering to a more upscale, free spending clientele.
If the problem is navigating the procedures for parking then that is on the owners of the property. It should be hassle free. You hit a button, get a parking pass, display on your windshield and done. If many are finding it an issue then the establishment owners should be notified of your displeasure. If they get enough complaints they would (or should) take it to the site owners.
redd38
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gopitt said:

Don't see many critics for those parking fees for some reason.


So you understand that the problem isn't just with parking fees, right?

Anywhere I go the desire to go there has to outweigh the inconvenience of going there. Do you agree that's true? If I want to go to a restaurant but that restaurant is in Dallas I'm not going to drive 6 hours just to eat there, right? Because the massive inconvenience outweighs my desire I have for any restaurant. Many people's desire to go to an Aggie football game is through the roof, so the massive inconvenience of driving from Dallas and paying for parking still doesn't outweigh the desire. You still on board?

Now the reason people are complaining about paying for parking at Century Square is because they've created an inconvenience that outweighs our desire. It's a very minor inconvenience compared to a football game or a basketball game or Northgate, but an inconvenience nonetheless and too much inconvenience for the level of desire.

Now you seem to have an unusually high desire to go to Century Square for some reason, which apparently outweighs the inconvenience. So for you it still makes sense to go there.
Cholula Verde
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Me neither! But I did take photos of our plates recently so I could save my self frustration in these situations. Got to love modern technology!
gopitt
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Redd-If I experience parking issues like some on here I am out also. I don't like to be inconvenienced either. Maybe I've been lucky. In my several visits there I have had zero parking issues.
It appears that from the responses some have no problem at all and some go through parking hell. Why the discrepancy I have no idea.
Cholula Verde
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Oooooo......Watch out for the slap down ruler, LOL, or maybe it was the broom today....hard to tell!
Wicked Good Ag
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Just got back from Mo's for watching the soccer game. This is the issue I have

Went for second half to meet friend. Option was one hour for one dollar or two hours for five. Picked option one because expected to be there about an hour. Game went extras. Had to get additional hour and take it to the car. Friend had to leave in last two mins of regular time to do the same. He had to go same procedure twice after initial time. It is a pain and something I won't want to do every time.
If he suggests seeing the final game at Mo's will likely suggest another location and that is all about the inconvienence.
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