Online Parking Ticket Appeals

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Apparently appeals for parking tickets are now online. (I don't know how new this is -- it'd been a while since my last ticket.) Does anyone have experience with this system? How long does it usually take to get a response?

Also, does this mean they've done away with the walk-in in-person appeals? I couldn't find anything about that on the web site and I don't have time to go in to T&P to find out.

Thanks!

Comments

[axedmoon.livejournal.com]

I did mine, and it wasn't as prompt as I expected (it was over a week or two at this point) and I couldn't apply for renewal of my resident parking sticker with outstanding fees. Ended up paying it away. Dislike for the system from me.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Did you actually get any emails? I haven't. I wonder if the system that sends the email is off-spec and my server is rejecting it. I suppose I should check the logs.

[axedmoon.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I remember getting any emails. :(

[freckles42.livejournal.com]

One of my roommates appealed a ticket online the day she got it. She never heard back from them (and she assumed all was well, which was definitely her mistake!) and then they sent her a, "You now owe use $75" notice a month later.

So, since it wasn't me who did it (and knowing my roommate), I can assume that one of a few things happened:

1. She failed to fill out the form properly/hit submit.
2. She got an email denying her request and she missed it (I think this is most likely it)
3. She got a letter denying her request sent to her parents' address (where the car is registered) and they missed it.
4. The system bugged and Somerville never got her appeal. (Which is what she claims happened)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

That really sucks. As it happened, I never heard back from them, either. No confirmation email when I submitted the two appeals (two tickets for the same thing) and no follow-up. Today I looked online at the "Search for your parking citations" online thing and they're gone, so I assume that means they were wiped. I'm going to follow-up by phone to make sure, though.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

seems logical, given that most of what I hear is "they never grant appeals anyway, even when they're obviously (like, with evidence) wrong." all someone has to do is rig the online system to send everyone a "hey guess what you still owe us money" email, and voila! no human intervention on their part required.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

FWIW, it appears that my online appeals were successful. While I never received any of the promised emails, they aren't listed anymore when I search my plates.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Not sure of the current process, but I have to say you should go to an in-person appeal IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. The hearing officers are actually very reasonable, and are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt if there is something amiss in how you got your ticket. At least, that's what happened to me, although in my situation there was a real mess-up by the parking control officer (he/she gave me two tickets, only one of which was valid, but the appeal officer just wiped them both off since it was an error on the city's part).

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Right, part of my question was do they still do the walk-in in-person appeals. I still have one more (it was really kind absurd) that I'd prefer to do in person but I can't find any information on the web site about the process. Maybe I'll try calling tomorrow to find out. The two I appealed online appear to be gone, anyway (though as noted above, I never received any sort of email about it).