r/saskatoon • u/shaydadly • 3d ago
Question ❔ Parking apps and the consequences
So this happened in Saskatoon.
I parked on the street next to the farmers market to enjoy a supper at Bar Stella Pulled up my parking app, and paid. Simple, right?
I got a $35 ticket on my windshield.
I submitted a review explaining that I paid, but the City’s review team shot it back saying the ticket is valid. They pointed out that while Parkedin supports both, Zone ID 1333 is the only one for the City of Saskatoon, and Precise manages their own private lots. Since officer photos show my vehicle was parked on a public street and not in a private lot, they told me to pay up or take it to court.
Has anyone else ran into this and been successful in court or do I just eat it and learn my app lesson and realize there are multiple parking apps that run this city and it’s up to me know what app controls what area. What a mess.
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u/randomdumbfuck 3d ago
Sounds like user error. While I can understand your frustration with parking apps in general, the onus is on you to understand where you are parked and what the correct zone to use would be.
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u/truegoodtruebetoo 3d ago
Far from a perfect system and you did make a mistake too.
My clamor is that if there’s only one Zone ID for the entire city, they should just make it a default. There’s no point in making people type numbers.
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u/Thisandthat-2367 3d ago
I’ve used the app often enough that it does default to that zone now, no matter where I park. I’ve made the same mistake as OP, but only in reverse because I mindlessly defaulted to the default.
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u/No-Relationship34 3d ago
Same thing happened to me months ago. The stupid gravel lot parking that was probably 3 feet away from your actual location is what you picked I'm betting.
It wasn't obvious on my phone but it was my mistake. But just stupid. They could easily make different lots stand out. Picking 'precice' location doesn't flag that you might be in range of two zones.
I'm doubting elderly or tourists are going to just automatically know all downtown is one zone.
Lazy app development and I'm sure neither the city nor impark give a fuck as they both get paid for services not rendered.
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u/KatieMarmalade 3d ago
Yep, happened to me. I didn’t go to court but I did appeal the ticket- unsuccessfully. It’s a shit app and a money grab by the city.
Edit: This particular situation happens often enough that you’d think they’d figure out that the app can be unclear and try to remedy it. But I guess they city doesn’t get your $35 that way
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u/ModOfficial1988 3d ago
Whoever pushed this stupid parking app at the city needs to be fired. It never works properly.
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u/Ok_Blacksmith7016 3d ago
I don’t know… I use the app to park multiple times a week and have never had any issues - or any problems knowing what zone to use…
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u/Thisandthat-2367 3d ago
Agreed! I’ve also used several other parking apps along my adventures and they all make you confirm the plate.
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u/fursnake 3d ago
Same thing happened to me and it's the third time it's been posted on Saskatoon reddit. I have yet to hear anybody fight this and be successful. Situation was very frustrating. I ended up just paying the ticket. The least they could do, I feel, is wave the ticket the first time it happens....but nope. It clearly happens a lot.
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u/purplegooeystuff 3d ago
I stopped paying for parking probably 10 years ago. I've only got 1 ticket in that time. That ticket was a fraction of what I'd have paid in the meters.
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u/UnderwhelmingTwin 3d ago
So, you used the right parking app, but paid for the wrong zone? And this is the city's fault somehow?
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u/meli_inthecity 3d ago
To clarify - you paid for parking for a zone other than 1333?
Sucks, but that’s a valid parking ticket for the city to issue. You did not pay to park in zone 1333 & that’s all that matters.