Paid $80 for a parking app that lied to me twice

Downtown Austin last month, I trusted this Smart Parking thing to find a spot near the courthouse. It said 14 open spaces, rolled up and every single one was full or blocked by cones. Then it charged me twice and the refund took two weeks to fight. I could have just circled the block like a normal person and saved my sanity. Has anyone else gotten burned by these apps or is it just me?

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rowanellis2mo ago

Wait, is it really the app's fault or is it just that parking is a nightmare everywhere and we get mad at whatever is easiest to blame? I mean, those apps pull live data from sensors and other people's check-ins, but they can't control a car sitting in a spot for 20 minutes or cones showing up out of nowhere. And charging twice, yeah that sucks, but every payment system glitches sometimes, that's why they have refund processes at all. Honestly I'd rather get a false "space available" alert than drive downtown blind, at least the app gives you a starting point even if you have to verify it yourself. Maybe the real issue is expecting tech to solve a problem that's fundamentally about too many cars and not enough spaces.

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