In Boston, parking is often complicated and tricky, especially when it comes to heeding the street sweeping schedule and avoiding having your car towed.

When some South End residents saw on the city’s website that street sweeping was canceled on Wednesday, they went about their business without the hassle of having to park elsewhere, only to find out their cars were towed anyway.

“I had every plan on moving my car Wednesday morning before I went to work, and I said, ‘Oh look, this is great. Alright, cool,’” Jason Pavone told NBC10 Boston of seeing the cancellation.

Resident Alan Wong saw the same cancellation alert and didn’t move his car either.


“When I got out of work at 5, my car was gone. And I was like, ‘Where did my car go?,’” he told the news station.

For those who haven’t faced this situation, Wong took an Uber to the tow yard and had to pay $40 for the ticket plus an additional $144 for the tow, according to Boston 25 News.

In a statement, the city took responsibility for the mistake, apologized, and said it’s reaching out to the residents and will help them to be reimbursed, according to the news station.

“It’s just very frustrating when you think a website that you trust and it’s by the government and that it’s false,” Wong told Boston 25.