Meter Freaks

“I put fifty cents into the meter, and it didn’t register. I’d like my money back.”

(Blog-reader, these statements have been slightly edited to trim away the excess words.)

Politely: “We don’t issue refunds for meters because we aren’t able to tell who inserted how much and at what time.”

That person didn’t go away for five minutes.

It would have been a lot easier to pull out my purse, take out fifty cents, and just give it to you. Fifty cents in exchange for not listening to your banter is an extremely tempting offer. Then again, there are some who would take that in the wrong way and become even more verbal.


A phone call that happened before I began to work here:

“I inserted a dime into a meter, and it never registered. I’d like the refund mailed back.”
The caller lived in a far-off, even more rural town.

The Parking Services manager politely said. “We don’t issue refunds on meters.”

“I put in a dime, and I never got my money’s worth. I’d like a refund!”

This circular conversation continued for some time.

Finally, the Parking manager says. “Fine. If you mail me a letter with a SASE envelope, I’ll send the dime back.”

Let’s break this down by following the format of a Mastercard advertisement.

Two stamps: 88 cents
Envelopes: 2 cents (?)
Sheet of paper used to write the letter: 1 cent (?)
Ink: 2 cents (?)
Time spent: 10 minutes (not including the phone call)
Net loss: 83 cents

What I would’ve given to see the look on the caller’s face: Priceless