New to the area having never visited before, I had no idea that Rehoboth Beach has two parking payment systems and that it surrounds its paid parking areas with another type of parking area. I still find it confusing.
Anyway, I pulled into a space on Maryland Avenue, yards from First Street and just as congested with parked cars as any other nearby block. As I am accustomed to do, I pay to park on the ParkMobile app. It was $4 for the parking and the 60 cents service charge. I was in town only to get steps in on the Boardwalk, which was for only 45 minutes. I left 15 minutes before ParkMobile’s countdown ended. It was just another day in Rehoboth until I got home got out the car and noticed what I assumed to be an advertisement flyer underneath my wiper blade. Instead, the supposed flyer turned out to be a parking ticket for $30. My immediate thought was that ParkMobile failed, so I went on onto the app’s FAQ to find out what to do when/if that does happen. Following ParkMobile’s recommendation, I challenged the ticket and attached the payment history and my ApplePay receipts in screenshots. Next, I searched online for the Rehoboth Beach parking violations bureau. I was gratified to find out that I could appeal online. Although the site warns of court costs with filing, I thought those were moot because I am innocent. Or so I thought.
Today, I receive a message that my appeal was denied because I paid to the wrong piper. Rehoboth’s Manhattan-like parking jurisdiction zones caught me completely unawares. And, of course, now the ticket is up to $40! Why am I allowed to pay for parking that was not available to me? I called and spoke with someone in the parking bureau who distanced the city from ParkMobile. That’s not right. Parkmobile collects money on behalf of Rehoboth and it should not be collecting money where it is not authorized. If that’s not a city issue, it should be.
I feel like I’ve been duped and victimized once more. What happens to the $4 ParkMobile collected on the city’s behalf? They are in this together. I guess they have to pay the $ 1 million and the $250,000 each year thereafter to the town’s new millionaire city manager so they milk it out of people like me. I see why people have come to distrust government. I want my $4 back!
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