Fisher Theatre

I have been enjoying theater shows for over 40 years in the city of Detroit, especially the Broadway Series among the various venues. This year, on April 28, 2024, my daughter and I attended the Mamma Mia! musical at the Fisher Theater. In the past and recently, this parking garage has always been free for their shows. In addition, during the weekdays, the garage allowed Henry Ford Hospital employees free parking space.

As we entered the parking garage, I noticed QR codes for parking on the walls and I assumed it was for non-theater patrons. There were no parking attendants at the entry or exit gates. To my unexpected surprise, I received a letter from Metropolis on 5/20/2024 to notify me that my car was parked at a Metropolis managed parking facility and left without paying the amount due $76.25. This letter included photos of my car as it entered and exited.

Furthermore, after nearly one month later, payment is due upon receipt of this notice. At first I thought it was some scam. I researched it and found a PDF letter of instructions to obtain a validation and free parking for Broadway in Detroit shows.

The main problem with this is that the actual theater did not announce that a third party was managing the fees upon purchase of the tickets. It appears that they wrote a post on their Broadway in Detroit Facebook page on 04/25/2024 reminding patrons to now pre-register their vehicle before arriving to the Fisher Theater parking garage. Secondly, many patrons are senior citizens and may not be frequently checking social media for updated instructions for parking validation, especially with the lack of a readily accessible customer service phone number to discuss the problem and solutions. There is a Metropolis website to enter your email, phone number, and ticket number but once again, this was not formally announced or made aware at the time of purchasing these tickets nor at the parking garage itself. It appears as a predatory practice of third party vendors. Theater patrons are rewarded by being exploited by the greedy. There is no theater audience unless the elderly purchase tickets.