Watch out for this Harrisburg parking scam
I had some business in downtown Harrisburg yesterday, so I parked in the garage on Second Street across from Restaurant Row.
When I came back, I inserted my ticket. The machine told me to pay $3.00, so I put in a $5 bill. Instead of giving me change, it spit out a little piece of paper that said "Total overpaid: $2.00." No money, just scrip.
I'm thinking, huh? I looked at the machine and there was a permanent notice that if I received an "Overpaid" notice I was to call 255-3099. I did, and the Harrisburg Parking Authority answered. The employee told me I could bring the "Overpaid" notice to their offices to receive a refund, or I could mail or fax it to them. The machine was out of money, I was informed (this was at 2:45 p.m.), and "someone is on the way" to restock it.
I asked where they were located and was informed 123 Walnut Street. I said I didn't have anything to write down the address. The employee said someone would be sent to my location with a business card, but that I WOULD STILL HAVE TO MAIL OR FAX IN MY REFUND REQUEST.
I had no time to wait for someone to maybe show up. At that point, I told the employee that in my opinion this was a scam to get more revenue by making it such a nuisance to get overpayments refunded.
The employee hung up on me.
I was just glad I didn't put a $10 bill into the machine. So now my choice is to waste a 42-cent stamp to mail in my request for a $2 refund. I'd love to see the statistics on how many of these "overpayments" are ever refunded.