Meter Problems at Centre Street Lot

Every weekday I park in the Coolidge Corner Centre Street lot to pickup my daughter from daycare. I dutifully pay 25 cents to cover the short amount of time I’m there. For a long time, the machines have not been crediting quarters, so I’ve been paying with credit card. The machine prints out my receipt for 25 cents and I go on my way. I recently was reviewing my credit card statement and found that last week these charges were actually being made for 55 cents, not 25 as the machine and receipt say.

Today I called Brookline to let them know about this discrepancy. They informed me that the charge is new and intentional for all credit card transactions. However they have not updated signage or the receipts to indicate this nor did they say they had any plans to do so. I then mentioned that I’d prefer to use coins, but it started eating my quarters weeks ago so I stopped trying to pay with cash. They responded that they *know* the machines don’t credit the first quarter, but it will for subsequent quarters.

I find this lack of communication incredibly irresponsible, and I’m sure the hundreds of others who park in these lots each day will agree. I should not have to put 2 quarters in the machine when I only need to pay 1 and I should not be charged a credit card fee without notification. Basically there is no way to pay for parking without paying an extra hidden cost. This is unacceptable and the town needs to get these meters fixed.