Peak Parking — Local services in Austin

This was the weirdest and worst parking garage I've ever used. First, you have to drive on the opposite side of the ramp, so if you're used to driving on the right side in America, you might go in the wrong way initially. People from the UK would be right at home, so I suppose that's an upside. (But like I said: weird.)

Second, there isn't a lot of space on this ramp to drive or especially walk. Not only will you have to get used to driving on the opposite side within seconds, but you'll be dealing with a very tight and dangerous space to drive in. So many Texans drive huge pickups, so good luck if one of those drivers actually want to park in this garage, the back of their trucks literally poke out into the driving ramp, and because the turn is so tight, I wouldn't be surprised if someone's truck has gotten scraped by someone else confusingly driving up or down the ramp on the "wrong" side. We saw a few of these pickups parked in there and in those spots, there was room for only one car to pass. Thankfully it wasn't a busy garage when we stayed in the middle of Thanksgiving week. But in a busy season it must be a real headache to use.

Third, the elevator is not accessible to customers who want to go up, it only works going down. So if you park on the top floor and have luggage to bring back after your hotel stay, you'll have to drag it all up the stairs. There is no indication or warning about this anywhere. In fact, the elevator is not advertised anywhere at all. Directions only point you to the stairs, so we found the elevator sort of on accident. This should have been an indication to me that the elevator was off limits to garage customers, but again, there was no warning about this. It just said "elevator" and anyone can use it going down. If you want to go up you need some kind of access card. What kind of card you would need was not indicated anywhere. So, again, we found a working elevator near the parking spots and didn't think more about it. Every parking garage I've ever used has had an elevator you could use to go down AND up, so I just assumed it was for customers. Maybe putting up a sign that the elevator is only for staff would have been fine, but after getting the ticket and finding your parking spot, it would still be an annoying surprise...

Peak Parking has taken over more parking in Austin. They took over the parking lot at 8th and Trinity and changed the lot ownership and payment process over with no warning. The previous parking lot automatically charged you when you drove into the lot via your license plate. They removed this without notice and then booted my car when I did not realize it had changed. I had to pay $150 to get the boot removed plus they charged me for $30 for parking there for the day... The daily lot at this rate used to be $6 per day but now it is $16 after taxes and service charges for standard weekday parking! They've made no improvements to the lot at all, plus it has to be one of the least safe lots in the area as people are regularly assaulted in the area.

These is also no security. And on this particular day, they had notes posted on cones randomly placed around the lot that the lot was closed starting at 5PM and that they would tow any cars who had paid for the day after 5pm.

Peak is a total con...

Peak Parking in Houston has decided to boot cars first instead of placing parking tickets. This is an unreal escalation and completely a money grab by the company. The guy releasing the boot told me “they do this because they know they can get more money and they can’t enforce the tickets”. I hope business owners take note as I will no longer frequent any business with Peak running its parking.

• In response to your feedback

You aren’t forced to boot, you choose to because you could have written a ticket and moved on but you are seeking an aggressive money grab. I made a mistake and have no problem with a ticket but your policy is unnecessary.

Also no need for your snarky response but you just keep living your life as a nameless...