I have a monthly parking spot in an uptown lot not far from the Bank of America (Panthers) stadium, and because I pay a reasonable price ($55/month), I've rated this business with two stars rather than one. I would give more stars because the lot is safe and well lit and fairly well maintained, but the one management experience I've had has changed my tune. If you foresee ever having to make an inquiry or resolve a conflict, best you deal with another parking company.
Full disclosure: my partner of five years and I live together, share a car, and work two blocks away from one another, which means that we commute together. He manages a restaurant and works on Sundays. I am an attorney, and although my "formal" work hours are Monday-Friday 9-5, it's more like Monday-Friday 9-5 plus however much time it takes for me to get my work done. Saturdays being our only "formal" day-off together, I come into the office to get extra work done on Sundays rather than Saturdays. I drive him in and drop him off if I'm not coming to the office. Prior to purchasing my spot, I inquired as to whether I would be able to park in the spot on Sundays--even during football season--and I was assured over the phone that, despite the contract's plain language stating that "Event Parking" is not included, I would be able to use my spot to get to work so long as I was not parking for the special event. Brenda, who handles EZ's day-to-day customer interaction, was very nice. When the parking lot attendants began giving me a hard time, I emailed Brenda to see if she would put in writing that I can park in my spot. No response. When I called, Brenda was again very pleasant, and she passed me on to her manager, Elaine Gherardi.
Although at first, Elaine spoke kindly to me and said she would "take the day" to think about the options she could extend to me, the conversation immediately escalated after I said that I hoped she would take into consideration the fact that I was assured prior to contracting with E-Z that I would be able to use my monthly spot on game days. It's as if she exploded. First, she retorted that "monthly parking in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, means Monday through Friday" (i.e., weekly parking), information which appears no where in the parking contract. Next, she accused me of "lying" to her and trying to take advantage of her parking company to go see the Panthers games, which is not only untrue, but also a bizarre and terrible way to resolve any customer-service conflict. Then, she pressed me about my weekend work schedule, and after I explained my situation (my profession, the work load and hours, and my family structure/schedule, as explained above) and assured her (in hopes to deescalate things) that parking on the weekends had only recently become a problem because of the end of the regular/playoff NFL season. She responded, rudely, that I don't "have" to work Sundays, that I have "fourteen other days" during football season to come to work on a weekend (?), and she said that I "only come in on Sundays because of [my] boyfriend." No surprise that I never received a return call or email after she abruptly hung up on me, even after I followed-up (since, after all, I still had to deal with the parking lot attendees on Sunday when I came into work--not the game).
Elaine's tenor was offensive and completely unacceptable for a person in her position in a customer service/HR industry. I pay for a monthly spot so that I can come into the office and get my work done on any day of the month for which I pay (contract exclusions aside, of course). Elaine is absolutely correct that I don't "have" to come in on a Sunday; I "choose" to so that I may keep my job and do it well--just like I don't have to have a job, but I choose to be employed so that I am able to avoid creditors and homelessness. Do I arrange the little part of my work schedule that I am able to control so that my partner and I see can each other? Of course I do, reasonably so. My private family life is none of her business, and nor is my work ethic. It's a shame this small issue snowballed into such a rude and intrusive interaction when it did not need to. But, people be crazy!
Another FYI: EZ Parking changed their monthly rates so now they are not in fact very economically competitive in the area, and they never updated their monthly fees online. read more
