Tales of parking ticket horrors: The 1-star SFMTA reviews

If your car is parked in San Francisco, the last thing you want to see next to it is an SFMTA parking enforcement officer making out a citation. Here are some more one-star reviews of SFMTA on Yelp. If your car is parked in San Francisco, the last thing you want to see next to it is an SFMTA parking enforcement officer making out a citation. Here are some more one-star reviews of SFMTA on Yelp. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Tales of parking ticket horrors: The 1-star SFMTA reviews 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

No one enjoys finding a parking ticket on their windshield. But if you think you've been cited unfairly in San Francisco, a city with some of the highest parking fines in the nation, good luck fighting it.

Your pain is just beginning.

When it comes to challenging parking tickets, guilt is frequently presumed until proven otherwise. And who in San Francisco gets to decide if whatever proof you present is legitimate and compelling? The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency, the agency that wrote you the ticket.

Parking tickets represent a giant revenue stream for the city. Curbed SF reported the revenue from San Francisco parking citations generated $88,261,220 in 2015 alone. Making it easy to fight citations is not exactly in the interest of keeping that money flowing swiftly.

In the majority of parking violations, the driver was in the wrong and deserving of a citation. If you get a ticket that you think is not your fault, you can first contest it online here, making sure you include exculpatory document or photo evidence.

Then you get to wait six to eight weeks for MTA to respond. If they deny your appeal, you can request a hearing. But that has to be done by mail or by showing up in person at the SFMTA Customer Service Center.

SFMTA chief spokesman Paul Rose said via email that nearly 30 percent of protested citations are dismissed at the first level. On average, about 30 to 50 percent of citations are dismissed at the second level (the hearing process).

"We take all protests seriously. If we made a mistake we want to correct it, but the rules of the road are in place to ensure safety, parking turnover and give us the ability to keep our streets clean," Rose said. He added that drivers wanting to avoid parking tickets should refer to MTA's guide on parking legally.

The entire citation process, from ticket to hearing, can be both time-consuming and maddening. And the people who take the time to leave reviews of the SFMTA are rarely generous with the stars. Overall, the agency earns a one-and-a-half star rating on Yelp. Almost all the reviews about parking tickets are given one star, the lowest rating.

For the benefit of visitors especially, we have selected a sample of Yelp parking ticket horror stories — edited for length and clarity — that illustrate common pitfalls for people parking in San Francisco. It should be noted that these are drivers presenting their side of the story, and their version of events cannot be independently verified by SFGATE.

MALFUNCTIONING METERS: DON'T EXPECT MTA TO LOOK AT YOUR VIDEO

Ian P. Of Hesperia, Calif., discovered that pushing the meter's "add time" button didn't work no matter which credit card he used.

So he took a video show the button being pressed but not dispensing additional meter time. He did feed the few coins he had to buy time to get more coins, but when he returned his car had been ticketed, with in minutes of expiring. When he appealed the citation, there was no option to load video as evidence, so he could only show a single-frame, which naturally did not convey the malfunctioning aspect of the device.

"I even specified that I had video evidence that I could provide, but they didn't even bother, they just said there isn't enough evidence with what we provided (obviously, because it was just a screenshot from my video and it couldn't show the button being pressed)."

FADED LETTERING ON A STREET-SWEEPER SIGN IS NO EXCUSE

Andrew K. of Albany got a street-sweeper ticket for parking at a spot by "a completely faded, unreadable sign." When he tried to dispute the citation, he was denied with no explanation. Same thing when he requested a hearing.

"Apparently the city finds it acceptable to leave warning signs for fines like this unreadable (almost completely white) and it is our fault for not somehow just knowing there should be a sign there ... Can anyone hold them accountable for things like this or do they just get away with it?"

WHEN YOU DO WHAT MTA TELLS YOU, AND THEY STILL TICKET YOU

Kelly L. of San Jose realized she had a problem when she got the rear bumper of her car painted and was warned not to stick anything on the new paint. What should she do with her residential permit? So she called SFMTA for advice. She claims she was told to stick it on the rear window.

When she got two tickets written by the same officer for "residential overtime," despite having the correct permit (but not on her bumper), she was incensed.

"I just hate SFMTA so much. It's literally bank robbery. I wish I could give them tickets on their own personal cars so they know how it feels," she wrote.

NEVER PARK IN A BUS ZONE, NOT EVEN FOR A FEW SECONDS

Michael M. of San Francisco and his wife made the mistake of stopping in a bus lane to a quick drop-off, driving around the block and then stopping at the same spot for pickup. He wrote they were in and out in less than 20 seconds each time, but an MTA officer was watching. Michael received his ticket in the mail.

"Forget about giving us a warning that we could not stop there even for 10 seconds so I could exit the vehicle. Or even a "please wait while we write you a ticket". I just found the deliberate sneaky-ness of the process offensive and disgusting. I probably wouldn't be writing this otherwise. It's not about the money."

For most people, however, the money is a big motivator. The $288 bus lane violation is one of the heaviest fines in the city. Only a handicapped-parking space violation is more expensive ($825).

Uber and Lyft drivers know this well, and won't pick up people standing by the bus zones.

Several people have noted that if you're caught, it's better to have been double-parking next to a bus zone than actually in the zone. The double-parking fine is only $110.

BEWARE OF THE 7-MINUTE '2-HOUR ZONE'

John B. Capitola, Calif., says he was parked for seven minutes in a two-hour parking zone and received an $84 ticket for "residential overtime". "SFMTA are criminals," he wrote.

In 2013, the San Francisco Examiner reported that a Forest Hill resident provided time-stamped receipts that proved that she couldn't have left her car parked for about 2 -1/2 hours in a two-hour zone. Beth Chen said the ticket she received is "proof that someone just flat-out lied."

WHEN YOU PAY A FINE, ALWAYS KEEP THE RECEIPTS

Grace H. of Castro Valley says she got her car towed and paid about $600 to get it back and cover the parking fine. The she got a call telling her that her ticket was never paid and that she owed $500.

"I tried calling back 7 different times with proof asking if I can send it over in order to prove that I had pay and each time I was told 'You need to come in person'," she wrote. "OK, I guess I'll drive an hour to SF just to prove my point?"

MORE: The 10 worst blocks in San Francisco for parking tickets

But when Grace showed up she was stunned to hear she would have to fight her ticket in court. Eventually she called back, and MTA finally acknowledged that she had paid. She warned people to keep proof of payment, because without it, "they probably would have tried to charge me more and make false accusations."

IF SOMEONE STEALS YOUR PLATES, YOU BECOME AN MTA TARGET

Al V. of San Francisco had the misfortune of having his car's license plates stolen. Who do you think was penalized for this thievery? Right, the victim, Al V.

And not just once.

Explains Al: "Even though you file a police report and schedule a DMV appointment to replace them, SFMTA will continue ticketing your car because they aren't smart enough to have in place some system to tell them you are following proper procedures, they have absolutely no crossover to where they don't have to continue ticketing the car."

TRAPPED BY BIG RIGS? YOU'RE STILL AT FAULT

Lauren S. of Emeryville works near the construction site for the new Warriors arena.

"My car (along with several others) got blocked in by about 4 semi trucks that were parking in the lanes waiting to go onto the construction grounds," she wrote. "There were no drivers present to ask to move the trucks and there was absolutely no way to get out."

MORE: Ways San Francisco nickels and dimes its residents

Twenty minutes later she came out of her office to move my car again and found a "happy little ticket writer meter man writing tickets to ALL of the cars that are blocked in by the trucks."

"How f---d and evil can you be? Understand the construction company should be held accountable for paying these tickets but still, these meter morons are RELENTLESS when it comes to ruining people's days even when it's out of their control," she said in her post.

For more Yelp one-star reviews of SFMTA, click through the gallery.

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Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at mmoffitt@sfchronicle.com.

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