There's a pretty good chunk of parking in Cambridge that ends at 5pm, too. (Cambridge St. in particular.)

At least when I did it you could drop by the parking office pretty informally and make a case for yourself; they should also have official records of what meters end when, so just calling it to their attention might be enough. My experience with it was very much unlike other places, in that they were not out to arbitrarily screw people and were willing to entertain the idea that they'd messed up. (A picture would surely help, though.)