Alright,
so you would think that security services would be there to help us?... nope... apparently we learned today they arent. Got done class at 6:30 today, and tried to get out of Lot M. Transponder didn't work at either gate, people lining up behind me, the guy beside me... his transponder wouldnt work, so he moved behind me, and then the next girl who tried didnt work. We called security 3 times... yes thats right... 3 times! before they finally let the gate up enough for me to get through, I don't know if people had to keep pressing the useless help button to try to get them to open the gates. AND to top it off, the 2nd and 3rd times we called, the lady was a complete biotch to us, sorry lady, its not our problem that the transponders arent working, now let us go home already!
That's my little rant about parking today, has anyone else had these problems before? Or should I be worried that my transponder isnt going to work again tomorrow?

You do realize that when you hit the help button when the Parking Office is closed that if there is a more pressing matter on campus (i.e. an emergency) that is considered first priority and is dealt with before anything else?

If something is happening on campus security will deal with the issue that is more pressing first. Problems with parking are not as important as any of the emergencies on campus.

Originally Posted by lorend

You do realize that when you hit the help button when the Parking Office is closed that if there is a more pressing matter on campus (i.e. an emergency) that is considered first priority and is dealt with before anything else?

If something is happening on campus security will deal with the issue that is more pressing first. Problems with parking are not as important as any of the emergencies on campus.

While I would agree that emergencies (medical or what have you) are more important than parking obviously they need to extend the hours of parking services or something.

You can't have people stuck trying to leave the school. People are paying a lot of money to park at Mac and deserve to get what they paid for. People have lives and important things to do, they can't just sit around and wait for the gate to open up. It might not be as important as an on campus emergency but they are still important and there should be someone there to help them with an issue they can't avoid, especially if its not their fault.

Also the people providing "help" shouldn't be rude to them either, regardless of what else may be going down on campus.

This person has a valid complaint, it can just be shut down with, well there are other emergencies on campus that get dealt with first. I certainly wouldn't pay for a parking pass if it meant I have to wait to have my issues dealt with. Time is valuable.

imo they should go on strike.

Originally Posted by Charbs

Alright,
so you would think that security services would be there to help us?... nope... apparently we learned today they arent. Got done class at 6:30 today, and tried to get out of Lot M. Transponder didn't work at either gate, people lining up behind me, the guy beside me... his transponder wouldnt work, so he moved behind me, and then the next girl who tried didnt work. We called security 3 times... yes thats right... 3 times! before they finally let the gate up enough for me to get through, I don't know if people had to keep pressing the useless help button to try to get them to open the gates. AND to top it off, the 2nd and 3rd times we called, the lady was a complete biotch to us, sorry lady, its not our problem that the transponders arent working, now let us go home already!
That's my little rant about parking today, has anyone else had these problems before? Or should I be worried that my transponder isnt going to work again tomorrow?

I totally understand your frustration! My transponder has stopped working 3 times in the past two weeks. If the transponder isnt detected when you enter (which happens a lot to mine), your transponder won't let you out. I guess they have this rule to make sure that students are not sharing transponders and so on. My advice would be to be careful when entering the lot. Make sure you aren’t tailgating or driving through the gates too quickly (and don’t take a parking ticket if you are planning to exit using your transponder). Take your time to ensure that your transponder is detected! Hopefully, this will help you (it has been working for me this past week ).

Another little tip would be not to repeatedly press the help button. I know that it can be tempting when no one is picking up your call, but if you keep pressing the button, you actually make the whole process slower. Press the button once and it will automatically redial if no one picks up. The call usually stops redialling after 3 tries. If this happens, just be patient. I know that it is harder done than said but like Danielle said, if they are not picking up, security is probably dealing with a more pressing matter.

Originally Posted by rrtt

If the transponder isnt detected when you enter (which happens a lot to mine), your transponder won't let you out.

How does the gate open if your transponder isn't detected? Do you just push the button and get a ticket? If you do, I'd say you shouldn't and you should contact them then.

Originally Posted by DannyV

How does the gate open if your transponder isn't detected? Do you just push the button and get a ticket? If you do, I'd say you shouldn't and you should contact them then.

I'm not sure why my transponder isn't detected sometimes and is detected other times. The gate always opens for me when I enter (I don’t have to take a parking ticket) but when I am leaving the gate doesn't open. When I called for help last Friday, I was told that my transponder wasn't detected when I entered and it was probably due to tailgating. I doubt this since the gate completely closed and then opened again when I drove forward. But, nonetheless, I haven't had any problems this week so I guess they fixed whatever was wrong.

Originally Posted by Krusenik

imo they should go on strike.

lol...

Since when has parking services been there for students? Every year since I started at Mac it got worse and worse. From glorious shuttle busses running right through campus all the way down to the cheapest parking gates they could find and charging for parking on Sundays and evenings. Parking services is there to screw over students, I'm surprised they let you out at all.

This occasionally happens to me. Its just a blip. Be patient, and things will get fixed; redialing by pressing the Help button doesn't really fix anything. Wait for someone to pick up.