Nashville mayor among those who’ve received bogus parking tickets
Nearly 200 complaints filed with the Attorney General by frustrated Metropolis customers.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - You can add Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to the list of people in Nashville who received a parking ticket for parking in a Metropolis-owned garage for which he hadn’t entered.
“My license plate was falsely read in a garage that I had never parked in,” O’Connell said.
WSMV4 exposed last October how citizens were receiving parking tickets for lots in which they had not parked.
A series of WSMV4 Investigations found numerous complaints from individuals who received high fines after attempting to pay with the company’s app or simply driving through parking lots.
The Tennessee Attorney General told WSMV4 Investigates his office began reviewing complaints in January 2023.
An Attorney General spokesman confirmed that 192 people have now complained to their office but would not comment on the status of their investigation.
Among those who complained to the attorney general was Chris Burger, who has proof that he paid for parking when he and a friend went to a concert downtown but still received two parking tickets totaling $224.89.
“To a lot of people, that is a month of groceries or supplies for a kid for school,” Burger said.
Cameras in the lots are designed to record license plates to issue fines to people who don’t pay, but drivers question if the system is improperly fining people.
O’Connell wonders the same.
“I think too heavy reliance on untested technology,” he said.
As we’ve done with each story, we reached out to Metropolis for an interview but were once again denied.
A statement sent to WSMV4 Investigates from a company spokeswoman reads:
“At Metropolis, less than 1% of all parking sessions end in a customer service issue. If someone encounters difficulties or believes they received a parking notice in error, we urge them to reach out to our support team immediately at help.metropolis.io. We pride ourselves on excellence, and if there’s an issue, we will make it right.”
Burger mentioned that the company’s slow response to complaints is also a problem, despite dismissing the tickets.
“It took me three to four hours over a period of days,” Burger said. “They kind of messed with the wrong person. I have a strong sense of justice. and when wronged, it’s not about how much time or money it’s going to take, it’s about getting the right answer.”
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