JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax is getting answers from the parking company used by the city of Jacksonville Beach on why people have been getting charged parking fees they say they’ve already paid.
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One beach visitor, who didn’t want to be named, tells Action News Jax he found a parking ticket on his truck Sunday morning after a few hours fishing at the Jax Beach pier. He says he’d scanned the QR code on the side of one of the three kiosks in the nearby parking lot and paid $12 for parking right when he got there.
“The machine will take your money, withdraw it from your bank account, and you still get a parking ticket saying you never paid,” he said.
He shared a bank statement with Action News Jax showing the $12 withdrawal from his account he says went to his parking fee on Sunday morning. He sent the same statement to Metropolis, the company who manages the paid parking kiosks in Jax Beach, after deciding to dispute his parking ticket.
“Whenever you have machines that are simply taking your money, that’s not fair to us as beachgoers,” he said.
The man sent Action News Jax the email he received from Metropolis after telling them he received a parking ticket even though he’d paid. The email he received from Metropolis’ support desk said, in part, “payments made through the Jacksonville Beach kiosk are no longer valid.” It later said, “there is no longer a need to pay in cash or use the kiosk machine,” even though the email later says the man owes $17.25 for both an ‘unpaid’ parking ticket and processing fee.
Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin called Metropolis asking about the issue. A company representative told us the statements in the email shown above are incorrect and that multiple other people have been receiving them. Metropolis didn’t share how this happened, but says the kiosks in Jax Beach are still valid and it’s working to solve the parking problems people have been reporting in the last week.
Action News Jax also reached out to the city of Jacksonville Beach. Over the phone, Mayor Chris Hoffman told us the city has been working with Metropolis’ parent company, SP Plus, for paid parking for years. The city’s paid parking program for the year started last month and Mayor Hoffman says the city is also investigating the issue.
Metropolis tells Action News Jax anyone who believes they are getting a parking ticket or fee after they’ve already paid for parking can reach out to them at the link here or call (904) 356-9841 to report the problem and request a refund. The company asks anyone requesting refunds to keep their original parking receipts as proof of payment.
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