191–200 of 347 posts
We built a startup. You scan a QR code, that sends a text message. If you have a saved card, you pay in the text thread by replying 'pay now', if not you get a link to save a new card. No apps required. Hoping that with enough adoption, it will obviate the need for experiences as bad as this.
The problem is requiring a smartphone in the first place
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It's not even the UI or the tech stack ... it's that it's tech at all. Am I required to own a smart phone now to park? Am I required to have a credit card to park? Idea: 1) Park without paying 2) Get towed 3) Sue the living shit out of the municipality so that they shut down modern parking meters.
Today, I literally spent 10 minutes downloading, installing, creating an account, and adding payment methods to an app so I could pay $0.40 to park for 30 minutes because the meter didn't have a coin slot and the credit card reader was broken. I was going to a local store to buy something. Amazon will probably get my business next time.
Who is going to track my balance 5 years from now when a different company is granted the rights to collect parking for the city?
I’m guessing there has to be a hidden option to only “charge” the app for what you want to reserve the spot for, else this seems illegal, but then again the city may be giving itself these mob-style rights.
Why have parking lots not kept their usual parking payment station things? In France, all paid parking I've seen has both options of an app or just using the parking meter payment thing (with the smartphone option usually being better because you can pay exactly by the minute instead of paying 1 whole hour)
Yeah, I've seen more than a few public parking facilities that got rid of their existing payment terminals (which take credit card, and sometimes cash) in favor of smartphone-based payment. I struggle to understand what would motivate it, from the perspective of the parking lot owner. I would presume the up-front cost of the old terminals was already paid off. And they certainly are more user-friendly. Is it that the…
Physical infrastructure is to be avoided.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without a cell phone I would be more concerned about other things than the parking lot, such as how people contact you when you are out?
1. Why do I want people to contact me while I'm out? It's almost always spam, and assuming it's not, it's almost always a them problem. 2. If I did want people to contact me, a flip phone would work fine for that. Without a smart phone with a data plan, it is becoming harder and harder to navigate the world made for advertizers and cellular providers. And these parking companies don't want to make it easy for you to…
I mean I would think you have a family and just to organize something you would need to communicate, even when you're outside.
>a flip phone would work fine for that.
Yes flip phones are indeed cell phones.
- The requirement to have a smartphone and mobile data service.
- The requirement to run untrusted code (granting whatever "permissions" it demands) on her personal device.
I think it's important that necessities and other basic services (including parking) remain equally accessible to everyone, not locked away behind expensive, often burdensome, usually exploitative technology products. I don't know if legislation is the best way to keep our society from being pushed toward the latter, but if that's what it takes, I would support it.
Why have parking lots not kept their usual parking payment station things? In France, all paid parking I've seen has both options of an app or just using the parking meter payment thing (with the smartphone option usually being better because you can pay exactly by the minute instead of paying 1 whole hour)
Yeah, I've seen more than a few public parking facilities that got rid of their existing payment terminals (which take credit card, and sometimes cash) in favor of smartphone-based payment. I struggle to understand what would motivate it, from the perspective of the parking lot owner. I would presume the up-front cost of the old terminals was already paid off. And they certainly are more user-friendly. Is it that the…
It’s a market like hotel WiFi. Early on, fancy hotels signed long contracts for shitty WiFi. Remember when you’d pay $10 for some awful WiFi service at the Marriott? Those parking things are the same.
I consulted for an entity that was paying $7.50 for a $25 dip. There’s hundreds of competing smartphone apps… you can even buy a square reader in a trivial scenario and pay 3%. In the government space, stuff like EZPass at airport parking costs $2-5 per transaction!
I. Hate. Technology. I hate working in this field. I hate how unprofessional every company is, from the largest to the smallest. I hate how incompetent all the engineers are. I hate how no business I have ever worked for has ever trained its workers on anything but how to fill out a time sheet. I hate all the blog posts about inane technical details. I hate how people start building a solution to a problem they're no…
I. Hate. Technology. I hate working in this field. I hate how unprofessional every company is, from the largest to the smallest. I hate how incompetent all the engineers are. I hate how no business I have ever worked for has ever trained its workers on anything but how to fill out a time sheet. I hate all the blog posts about inane technical details. I hate how people start building a solution to a problem they're no…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can also imagine a world where you have a single phone number saved. You text it "I'm at XYZ parking lot in ABC city, how do I pay?" and it gives you the easiest possible option. Definitely standard no. 15, but there's room for something better to win out here right?
One obstacle to this is mentioned on the OP: People might not actually know the street address of the parking lot they are standing in, so you'd have to use some other means of identification, like a lot number or geolocation - however, then you're back to requiring an app...