[Admiral Beez]

Either way, I would have found the next machine. I don't think that's an unreasonable course of action.

That's the ghist of it, IMO. I can only imagine that preservation of time, shoe leather or body fat could have motivated against such a prudent course of action.

I have too found broken meters, but they've never taken my money. Usually they refuse the accept my coins, and then after half a minute of trying to force my coins in, I finally notice that the machine is broken, so I walk the 50m or less to the next one.

 

[ShonTron]

The thing is you have to be calm and polite and reasonable when fighting these things. It really doesn't do you any favours to be coming in looking for a fistfight.

Considering that if you ask for a trial and will probably never actually get one, why not just file for one rather than fight with some lowly clerk?

I'm still fighting a really stupid ticket (and my one and only), but found that being nice and polite goes a long way.

 

[marcus_a_j]

From my experience talking to parking enforcement officers, if you appeal a ticket $30 or less, chances are pretty good you'll never see a courtdate and it'll be thrown out. If the ticket is more, like a $60 one for parking in a no standing/stopping area or too close to a fire hydrant, then you may get a court appearance.

 

[jks]

Ususally at the court appearance though, the cop won`t even show up unless it was a really major offense!

 

[mangasparky]

I have an idea. Lets organize a destroy all the parking meters day. Every single one of those machines. Then, when no one is looking we can tip over every single parking authority car.

 

[BUGEYEDBRIT]

better get some practice in...

http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/cars/us/games/tractor_tippin/index.html

 

[Mystic Point]

I heard a story about a neighborhood in San Fran where the residents got really fed up with the broken Bots. The Bots where always in the fritz. The Parking Cops would continue to ticket despite the broken machines. And this drove everyone to a breaking point.

Eventually broken Bots were fixed. And other recently fixed Bots would break again. And avicious cycle ensued.

Using Crazy Glue, the residents figured out a way to intentionally incapacitate the Bots without getting caught.

One by one, the Bots were gummed up. The City kept repairing the damaged Robots at great expense. And as every day went by, the costs spiraled out of control.

This battle went on for two months. The City gave up and removed the Bots.

The residents won.

 

[Skeezix]

But how is that sufficient? The city makes an error, they're in the wrong, but to have the problem fixed costs ten times the amount of the original mistake to fix. Do you not see the stupidity and injustice of the system, or are you just being obstinate?

It would be like having someone step on your foot in an elevator, and then having them turn around and say that they'll only apologize if you let them punch you in the face.

I'm sorry, but I agree with ShonTron on this one. Two men had to escort you out of Metro Hall. It's not clear to me that you took the proper steps to resolve this issue.

 

[Hipster Duck]

It's not like say you were fighting a $110 ticket plus demerit points by not coming to a complete stop for a badly placed, crowded, miniature, temporary stop sign at a fully-protected railway crossing at the end of a month for a CN cop to nab you like he did 10 other times that day to make his quota. That type of ticket is one worth getting upset about, especially when it wasn't a 'real' cop either.

Totally hypothetical situation

 

[shilly]

I used to work at the monitoring station that you call in to report broken meters, stuck credit cards dead machines and the like. TPA is an arms length corporation that is in fact run by idiots. The tickets you get on the street are issued by the police, but if you look at the signs nearby, it may say that after a certain time, say 9 on Danforth for example, you can't pay. It's free. If you're in a parking lot and don't "have" any money, ask for a courtesy envelope. They can't really enforce it all that hard unless it comes to a huge amount, usually over a $1000.
Oh...it's CUPE 416. I think they have a contract that hasn't been negotiated yet, so pressure your local rep.

 

[Moe El]

Challenge the ticket

You don't need to take time off to just go and file at Metro Hall a sheet of paper to challenge the ticket.

Once you do that, you need not pay and will await a court date notice in the mail.

If you can't take time off of work on that day, think of it as a ticket that says don't pay until next year hehehe

If you do show up chances are nobody will challenge you/show up from the city and you will win. There maybe some people who fight these things for very small fees.

My advice is file a challenge and wait for court date. That makes the ticket go away for the foreseeable future.

You have to remember that ticket enforcers issue too many tickets to remember any details about your specific case in court (which will be a year or more later). This makes it easier to beat them at trial.

I recall this summer a young enforcer taking pictures with his digital camera as he issued tickets to vehicles.... very very smart!! Makes it very hard to beat him in court... if there is ever a court date and he hasn't moved on to another job.....

Good luck

 

[oldpackard]

There was a piece on the news about this last week, many of the machines are freezing up in this extreme cold. Traffic Control is supposed to use "discretion" if a meter is out of order and the story also suggested phoning Toronto Parking Authority (the number is posted on the sides of all meters) to report the meter and leave a note on your windshield to that effect. If you still get a ticket after reporting a broken meter there is a better chance of Metro Police dismissing the ticket.

don't phone the parking authority, but phone toronto parking enforcement, they are not the same. toronto parking authority only looks after off street parking lots. Parking enforcement looks after everything else. Toronto parking enforcements number is 416 808 2222.

 

[oldpackard]

challenging a parking ticket

There was a piece on the news about this last week, many of the machines are freezing up in this extreme cold. Traffic Control is supposed to use "discretion" if a meter is out of order and the story also suggested phoning Toronto Parking Authority (the number is posted on the sides of all meters) to report the meter and leave a note on your windshield to that effect. If you still get a ticket after reporting a broken meter there is a better chance of Metro Police dismissing the ticket.

You don't need to take time off to just go and file at Metro Hall a sheet of paper to challenge the ticket.

Once you do that, you need not pay and will await a court date notice in the mail.

If you can't take time off of work on that day, think of it as a ticket that says don't pay until next year hehehe

If you do show up chances are nobody will challenge you/show up from the city and you will win. There maybe some people who fight these things for very small fees.

My advice is file a challenge and wait for court date. That makes the ticket go away for the foreseeable future.

You have to remember that ticket enforcers issue too many tickets to remember any details about your specific case in court (which will be a year or more later). This makes it easier to beat them at trial.

I recall this summer a young enforcer taking pictures with his digital camera as he issued tickets to vehicles.... very very smart!! Makes it very hard to beat him in court... if there is ever a court date and he hasn't moved on to another job.....

Good luck

You will be very wrong in thinking no one will show up in court to challenge you regarding your ticket. Parking enforcement officers get paid extra for attending court. On average it's four to six hours of extra pay. And as part of their job they are required to attend court.

 

[dpylyp]

What a wonderful analogy

Imagine this. You order a pizza. It never comes. Instead, the next day you get a bill for the pizza in the mail. You call the restaurant and inform them you never got the pizza. They say the pizza oven broke down. And it's not their fault and insist you pay nonetheless.

Great example of circular logic!

 

[Mystic Point]

The CRA operates under the same system of thinking.

You send them a check.

They apply it to the wrong year.

You get a new bill saying you owe them x amount plus interest.

You're accountant calls them and they admit they put your money in the wrong year.

You think you are safe.

A couple days later you get a $500.00 bill from CRA for " service charge "

They charge you for applying your money to correct year.

And on it goes.