MobileNOW!, LLC / Parknow

Review: I contacted Customer Service on 11/**, 11/**, 12/*, and received conflicting information on each call. On 11/** I reported the amount posted to my account (see attached) was never applied to the meter and as a result, I received 2 tickets at $40 each. I was told on 11/**, that an agent who registered me on 11/** did not properly set the meter and a [redacted] would call me on 12/* to review the claim and issue a refund. I gave the agent the information on the tickets. No call was received on 12/* so I called Mobile Now. I was told the agent I spoke to on 11/** did not request a [redacted] to call me but the information on the tickets was entered. She told me to visit [redacted] and submit a claim form. She informed me the process was easy and I could also submit information about the tickets. On 12/* I visited the website and there is no claim form to enter information. It also explicitly states the company does not take care of tickets and to contact the local police department. The agent's name was [redacted] on 12/* and she assured me she would email her [redacted] regarding the issue.On 11/**, 11/**, and 12/* I received false information which leads me to conclude the company is not ethical and has no intention of refunding the money or assuming responsibility for the 2 tickets totaling $80. Meanwhile, I still have $20 not used and still held by the company (see attached) and 2 tickets totaling $80 as a result of the agent on 11/** not applying the money to the meter. I am demanding a refund of the $20 immediately and a letter noting the error I can take to the Division of Parking Management in Montgomery County. This company should not get away with these practices.Desired Settlement: Refund $20 and pay for the (2) parking tickets totaling $90.

Review: On 6/**/13, I tried to purchase a montly parking pass in the amount of $75 dollars online, however, they charged me $67.85 dollars for a 3 day parking pass. I spoke to several people and the parking authority in Fort Lee, I was bounced around and to wind up using an email support service. This service refused to refund my money and did not allow me to pay the difference for the monthly pass. Not only was I charged for the 3 day pass, I was unable to use it, they never sent me a confirmation email nor did they send me the parking permit via email.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded $67.85 since I wasn't using their service and I had to pay out of pocket for the additional days for a rate of $8.99 per day.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by MobileNOW!, LLC / Parknow regarding complaint ID [redacted].

Sincerely,

Review: On 8/**/15 I utilized the mobileapp to purchase a parking spot at parking location [redacted] for 1:44:13 for the cost of $3.06 (including a service fee). I am not disputing the cost of the parking space or even the service fee. The issue is that while a small warning notes that some parking locations may require a flat cost of $20 or another cost of my choosing, at no time from the moment that payment information is entered to the completion of the transaction was there any indication that the parking lot used was such a location requiring the $20 flat fee. Furthermore, there are no signs or indications whatsoever at the parking facility explaining in any terms that this parking lot is a location requiring the $20 flat fee. At no time was I offered the opportunity to approve or deny a $20 flat fee or any other flat fee of my choosing. This organization has engaged in billing and charging practices that are at best misleading and at worst fraudulent.

I attempted to contact the company by phone and was instructed that all refund requests should be made via email. I emailed the company and was told that I authorized this amount by failing to request a charge of a different amount. I was never given the option to select a different amount. As I was on vacation and only in the area for a mater of day, and as I do not have this type of service in my home area, I would never have authorized $20 for parking, it would be unnecessary. I was under the understanding that as the flat fee was not discussed in detail when I was purchasing the spot that it did not apply to the area I was in. The company is refusing to issue a full refund and telling me that they will have to take $5 fee out of the refund in order to issue it.

Again the terms and conditions state that a fee of up to $5 may be applied to any refund but not that it will always be applied. The company states that the $5 fee is a partial credit card and check processing cost recovery and also helps us to keep our service fees low for the customers who use MobileNOW!. I have never had a problem with any other company issuing a refund and charging me for this in the past.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a full refund for the difference between the price charged and the amount withdrawn from my account, $16.94.

Business

Response:

MobileNOW provides pay-by-phone parking solutions in several cities. We value our customers and strive to provide a valuable and comprehensive service. We are sorry to hear that complainant had a negative experience but contrary to her complaint, complainant was informed of the potential charges prior to completing the transaction and was issued a refund regardless of this fact. Prior to consummating a transaction all users of the MobileNOW application are provided with a confirmation screen detailing the total amount to be charged. The parking spaces at location [redacted] are controlled by the local municipality. Parking customers have the option of paying with coins or via the MobileNOW application. Users of the MobileNOW app are charged the parking rate determined by the municipality (the same one charged to traditional coin payers) plus a convenience fee, which is meant to cover the costs associated with maintenance of the MobileNOW app, customer service, and reporting to the municipality. The MobileNOW app provides users with real value by freeing them from having to carry coins, allowing them to remotely increase the length of their parking session, and reminding them when their parking session is nearing its end. Certain of MobileNOW’s parking locations require that customers establish a prepay wallet account. All such locations are listed on the MobileNOW Website. Parking location [redacted] is one such location. Complainant sent us her first email on August [redacted] and asked for a refund, stating that she was not informed of the $20 prepayment requirement. We replied on August [redacted] by explaining MobileNOW’s prepaid wallet and refund policies. We also sent her a screenshot of the prepaid wallet notification. The customer replied that the screenshot was not from her device and that she was not informed that this location in particular was using mobile wallet. We explained that the screenshot was from an Android phone that had the same version of the MobileNOW app as the customer’s, and therefore the app and its notifications looked the same. We also described our policies a bit further and informed the customer that the full list of our locations together with location types (prepaid, pay as you go) is available on our web page. Despite having received a notification reminder about the prepaid nature of the parking location and clicking through the confirmation screen, prior to purchase, that clearly identifies the total amount to be charged, the customer claimed that the $20 prepayment was an error, and was taken from her account without her permission. Nevertheless, as an active and valuable customer of the company, MobileNOW issued a refund in the amount of $15.94 to the customer’s original payment source. A refund fee of $1, in accordance with our current terms and conditions, was retained to handle processing fees and other associated costs. The customer was informed of the refund and the $1 fee by email on August [redacted]. We also explained that we do not issue full refunds under the circumstances. Our refund policy is clearly stated in our terms and conditions, with a notification included in the MobileNOW app and on our website. Nevertheless, we continually monitor the MobileNOW application, practices, and customer service to ensure that all customers have a [redacted] experience.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

This is not a full refund, which is what I requested. Your terms and conditions state only that a few may be charged not whenor why. Went am I being charged but the prior complaint on Revdex.com got a full refund?

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

Complainant was given proper notice of the charges and actively clicked through and confirmed the transaction. As an act of good faith we've issued a refund in line with our refund policy but we cannot issue any further refund without evidence of Complainant having experienced some sort of error in having completed the transaction.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

I did not receive prior notification of the charges and policies. I was not issued a full refund despite their policy that started I could be issued a full refund. I and not happy with the resolution of this case and the fact that now, 3 months later, the business is trying to close the case says quite a bit about their business. If they were concerned they should have responded more promptly. Please see all of my previous information.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Review: The business in question operates a number of pay systems for monitoring and metering various parking lots throughout the continental United States. Once such location is in Bethesda, Maryland. At this location parking meters are at the end of each space. The parking meters are coin operated, however, there is the option to pay via a mobile device be downloading a mobile application. The parking limit is 2 hours at a cost of $0.80 per hour. The issue is that while a small warning notes that some parking locations may require a flat cost of $20, at no time from the moment that payment information is entered to the completion of the transaction was there any indication that the parking lot used was such a location requiring the $20 flat fee. Furthermore, there are no signs or indications whatsoever at the parking facility explaining in any terms that this parking lot is a location requiring the $20 flat fee. At not time were giving the terms and conditions not even properly informed of what terms and conditions applied. Additionally, thrown in for good measure is a .48 cent convenience fee for the use of the application mobile payment system. This was not shown until the payment information had already been given. Finally, I did not become aware that we are to be billed $20 until after the pocket had been processed and the information was buried within the application. This organization has engaged in billing and charging practices that are at best misleading and at worst fraudulent.Desired Settlement: Our expected usage cost was $1.49, however we became concerned with the stability of the application and stopped the application after $0.59 worth of time had elapsed and opted to instead pay our remaining time via coins. I would prefer to have $19.41 be reimbursed to our account as that charges us only for the time used, but would be willing to settle for $18.51 as that charges us only for the agreed upon cost of our expected parking time usage.

Business

Response:

MobileNOW provides pay-by-phone parking solutions in several cities, including Bethesda, Maryland. In Bethesda there is the option to pay for parking via the use of coins or via MobileNOW's cell phone application (the "MobileNOW app"). The parking spaces are controlled by the local municipality and users of the MobileNOW app are charged the parking rate determined by the municipality (the same one charged to traditional coin payers) plus a convenience fee, which is meant to cover the costs associated with maintenance of the MobileNOW app, customer service, and reporting to the municipality. The MobileNOW app provides users with real value by freeing them from having to carry coins, allowing them to remotely increase the length of their parking session, and reminding them when their parking session is nearing its end. The Bethesda Maryland location is a prepay location, meaning that users of the MobileApp are required to prepay for parking sessions. Each customer maintains an account with MobileNOW and the account is drawn down in accordance with each parking session. Accordingly the complainant still has a balance with MobileNOW consisting of $20 less the MobileNOW convenience fee and the parking fee set by the municipality. The complainant can use his unused account balance at every location operated by MobileNOW or he may request a refund at any time. In complainant's complaint he has not stated that he has contacted MobileNOW to request a refund, nor does he claim that he was denied a refund, or that he tried to communicate with the Company in any manner. MobileNOW invests heavily in customer service and customers are encouraged to call the customer service hotline, which can easily be found on the MobileNOW website along with the MobileNOW app terms and conditions. Additionally, when users sign up for the MobileNOW service they are advised that certain locations require the establishment of a prepay account. MobileNOW understands complainant's concerns and is working to provide additional notifications so that there is absolutely no room for confusion going forward. Finally, as previously mentioned, Complainant may continue to drawn down the prepaid funds in his account with additional parking sessions, but, if he does not wish to do so, MobileNOW is happy to provide a full refund of unused funds.

Review: I was a ParkNOW customer and loved their service. Unfortunately, I had to move away from the area and my new location did not have ParkNOW. I contacted them and asked for my account to be closed and for my remaining balance (over $60.00) to be sent to my new address. They contacted me back immediately and said they would do both things. It's been almost three months now and I have not received my remaining balance or notification that my account has been closed. They provide no customer service phone number on their webpage (only a phone number that sales "sales inquires only"). I have emailed their customer site around 8 times now and only received one email saying they would "look into it". If this were a credit I was due back or some kind of prize - I wouldn't be so eager to get it but this was money that I took out of my account to have a parking account with them. I would like to know that my account has been closed and my money returned to me. In my last email - I informed them I was contacting the Revdex.com and all I received was the automated message thanking me for contacting them and telling me a representative would contact me within 24 hours. That was a week ago. Their terrible customer service, lack of a phone number to call and complete and utter disregard for someone's money led me to file this complaint. I would just like the remaining money that was in my account back and my account closed. If there is any problem - I have the original email stating the money that I am owed and that they will close my account and send the money. And I also have the email saying they are looking into it. I can forward both to ParkNOW.Desired Settlement: A check with my remaining balance sent to: [redacted]. And an email or letter saying my account has been closed.

Review: I downloaded and used this app while on vacation in Madison, WI. The app is supposed to allow you to pay for metered parking with a credit card from your phone. It seemed legitimate as there were signs posted on the meters advertising it. When I downloaded the app there was a screen stating that some locations charge a prepaid amount of $20.00. I paid attention to the billing page which indicated the charge for parking and did not state they would be charging me $20.00. Therefore I confirmed the purchase amount of $0.47 one time and accidently ended my session and restarted another one which resulted in a charge of $3.16. The app charged my two times a $0.45 service fee which I was aware of and agreed to. What it did not tell me is that they were going to charge my Credit card $20.00. The company does not have a phone number for the customer service only an email. After emailing them on Saturday about the issue they emailed me back on Monday saying they would be happy to refund the money except for a $5.00 service fee. They claim that the notification that some locations charge the $20.00 is sufficient notice and that they do not need to tell me exactly what they are going to bill my credit card. This is deceptive and fraudulent. I did not agree to a $20.00 charge on my credit card and did not even know about this charge until I looked up my charges on the computer that evening. They should not charge a service fee to refund money that they illegally withdrew from my account. They say I can continue to use the $20.00 but I was on vacation and they do not serve my area.Desired Settlement: Full refund of the $16.37 not used for parking that I did not give them permission to charge me.

Business

Response:

MobileNOW provides pay-by-phone parking solutions in several cities. We value our customers and strive to provide a valuable and comprehensive service. We are sorry to hear that complainant had a negative experience but contrary to her complaint, complainant was informed of the potential charges prior to completing the transaction and was issued a refund regardless of this fact. Prior to consummating a transaction all users of the MobileNOW application are provided with a confirmation screen detailing the total amount to be charged. The parking spaces in Madison, WI are controlled by the local municipality. Parking customers have the option of paying with coins or via the MobileNOW application. Users of the MobileNOW application are charged the parking rate determined by the municipality (the same one charged to traditional coin payers) plus a convenience fee, which is meant to cover the costs associated with maintenance of the MobileNOW app, customer service, and reporting to the municipality. The MobileNOW app provides users with real value by freeing them from having to carry coins; allowing them to remotely increase the length of their parking session; and reminding them when their parking session is nearing its end. Certain of MobileNOW’s parking locations require that customers establish a prepay wallet account. All such locations are listed on the MobileNOW Website. Parking in Madison, WI is one such location. Complainant contacted MobileNOW as described in her complaint and each time was given an explanation of the company’s policies and the price and billing notifications that she clicked through and confirmed in order to effect the parking transaction. Despite having received a notification reminder about the prepaid nature of the parking location and clicking through the confirmation screen, prior to purchase, that clearly identifies the total amount to be charged, the customer claimed that the $20 prepayment was an error, and was taken from her account without her permission. Nevertheless, as an active and valuable customer of the company, MobileNOW issued a refund in the amount of $15.37 to the customer’s original payment source. A refund fee of $1, in accordance with our current terms and conditions, was retained to handle processing fees and other associated costs. We also explained that we do not issue full refunds under the circumstances. Our refund policy is clearly stated in our terms and conditions, with a notification included in the MobileNOW app and on our website. Nevertheless, we continually monitor the MobileNOW application, practices, and customer service to ensure that all customers have a seamless and positive experience.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

They have refunded all but $1 to my credit card, however unlike their response claims, I was never informed that my credit card was to be charged $20 or I would not have accepted the charges. When my confirmation request came across my mobile phone it provided a detailed statement that I would be charged the amount for the 3 hours of parking and a $.45 service fee. It was this that I accepted. I was not aware that they charged my card $20 until I reviewed my credit account online that evening. No where on the app did it state that Madison, WI was a prepaid wallet location or that they were going to charge me $20 for use of their service at that location. I should have only been charged $2.73 for parking and two 0.45 service fees for a total of 3.63. They still owe me $1.00 because I still believe I should not have to pay them an extra $1.00 for them to refund the money they illegally took from me without my permission.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Business

Response:

Complainant was given proper notice of the charges and actively clicked through and confirmed the transaction. As an act of good faith we've issued a refund in line with our refund policy but we cannot issue any further refund without evidence of Complainant having experienced some sort of error in having completed the transaction.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

I have invoices and receipts screenshots on my phone stating that I only paid 2.71 with a .45 service fee for a total cost of 3.16 on 8/**/2015. And another for 0.47. For a total of 3.63. Therefore Mobile NOW still owes me 1.00, as they did not refund the entire amount. And per my receipt and invoice I was never notified of a 20.00 charge, they stole 20.00 from my account once they had my account number without notifying me prior to the transaction.

In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

Sincerely,

Review: I used MobileNOW to park in a metered parking garage in Bethesda, MD in July 2015. I parked for about an hour and a half while taking a spin class. When I returned to my car I had a ticket even though I was charged by MobileNOW. I contacted them with the issue and they informed me that they cannot get involved with any tickets issued. At that point I told them to close my account and issue a refund for the balance. They've stated twice that they've sent a check but I've never received anything and there is no way to contact anyone in customer service at MobileNOW except via email (which they conveniently don't respond to). While the dispute may not be over a large amount of money I find it in incredibly poor practice that this company routinely lies and takes peoples money. Based on the other complaints lodged against MobileNOW/parkNOW this is clearly the company's standard practice and it is totally illegal. They need to be out of business--these poor business practices will come back to bite them.Desired Settlement: I would simply like to receive my refund check AS PROMISED to me twice by customer service 'reps' with this company.

Business

Response:

Complainant was issued a refund check on September **, 2015. Complainant informed MobileNOW that she did not receive said check and MobileNOW issued a replacement check on October *, 2015. With this check Complainant will have received the entire refund requested.

Review: I opened a MobileNow account on 8/**/14 through their automated service. I was told that my credit card would be billed $20 for the service and future parking sessions would be debited against that amount. On 8/25/14 I noticed that MobileNow had billed my credit card $209 rather than $20. I went to Mobile Now's website to find a customer service phone number and learned that they do not have one. I submitted a customer service request through their website, describing their billing error and requesting an immediate refund. I received an automated acknowledgment of my request on August **, 2014. I did not receive a refund or a response back. I emailed Mobile Now's customer service August **, [redacted] and **, requesting the refund and am immediate closure of my account. After receiving no response, I found a phone number for Mobile Now's sales team and spoke to a Mobile Now representative by phone. The representative represented that my account had been refunded $189 on August **, 2014. After contacting my bank, I found out that this was not true. I placed an additional call to Mobile Now's sales team and still have not received a refund. They mis-charged by account by $189 and I have spent hours attempting to get a refund and close my account, to no avail.Desired Settlement: Refund my account for the entire balance and close my account immediately. I do not trust this company.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, my complaint, ID [redacted] regarding MobileNOW!, LLC / Parknow has been resolved.

(By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)

Sincerely,