I had an appointment for some specialist lab work to be done. Given they were once a prospective client, I knew a fair amount about this organization. For example, through some government changes, they lost $100,000++ in funding, so I knew that, as a business, they needed to look for ways to create more revenue.

One of these ways was to install flat-rate parking meters. Pay your $4.00 and get a parking pass that lasts all day.

What many people do, though, is before they drive out of the lot, they swing past where the pass purchase machine is and hand their all-day ticket to someone who is waiting to pay.

I know they need to increase revenue before more staff and services are affected by the government funding loss. But I don’t necessarily agree with the notion of having to pay $4.00 to park for about 15 minutes at a lab that I was sent to by my doctor. And then, add to the equation the fact that I don’t pay for the lab work because it is covered by my health insurance plan, I’m only out of pocket $4.00 so that really is not a big deal, is it?!

Do you drive out of the parking lot when the appointment is done or do you swing past the machine and hand your pass to someone so they don’t have to pay?