Most expensive breakfast ever

Funny how it takes so long for some things to play out. Case in point: After the high school reunion I attended in late October, I arranged to have coffee two days later with my friend Diane, who graduated a year after I did. We met at a place in the Oakland hills and had a nice time catching up on each other's news. But I also managed to get a $55 parking ticket. And then, to add insult to injury, I got a notice this week that I was being assessed a $25 "administration fee" by a company that contracts with Avis.

$80 in fees?? Argh!! Here's what happened:

On the morning of October 25, I drove up in a rental car from Fremont, where I had visited my  mother the day before, to meet Diane at a cafe on Piedmont Avenue. I had never been on that street before but managed to find it with some difficulty, arriving shortly after 10 a.m. When I pulled into a space next to the curb, I saw a parking meter on the sidewalk (above) that was clearly out of commission.  Therefore, I didn’t attempt to put any coins in it.

What I didn't know is that Oakland uses the same SmartMeter parking system, requiring display of a parking receipt, as we do in Portland. Problem was, I didn't see any ticket-dispensing machines in the area, nor did I even know to look for one. If I had, I would have paid my $2 or $3 and been done with it. So, when I emerged about 90 minutes later, after nice conversation and a tasty croissant sandwich and coffee that cost about $7 total, I was stunned to see I'd been cited for overtime parking: a $55 fine. (The same citation costs $24 in Portland.).

Diane

Diane and I both uttered some choice words and she told me it was understandable how a visitor would have been confused. The city left its non-functioning, coin-operated meters on both sides of the street, even though it also installed SmartMeter stations -- though not necessarily in high-visibility locations.

Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Worse, street repairs near the entrance to the freeway I planned to take to the Oakland Airport forced me to take a slower alternative route through city streets, and I missed my flight and had to wait four hours for the next plane. Argh!!

I wrote a letter of appeal to the city, asking for even a partial refund of the fine but -- no surprise -- it was rejected. The salt in the wound came on Monday, when I received a letter from a company in St. Louis informing me I was being charged $25. Why? Because they had to provide an affidavit to the city of Oakland verifying that I was the driver of the rental car that had been issued the parking citation.

"But I've already paid the ticket!" I protested.

The customer service representative said I could submit proof of payment -- photocopies of the front and back of the canceled check -- and they'd waive the $25 fee. I sent that yesterday, so now I wait for confirmation that they received the information. Argh!!

If any of you are traveling anytime soon, be sure to double- and triple-check the parking regulations in whatever city you visit. You don't want to pay 10 times the cost of a meal for the simple privilege of parking your car.