A man says he’s found a way to get out of paying to park in a garage. But is it legal?
TikTok creator Jake (@jakewrantz) posted a video with the parking garage loophole he found over the weekend. He starts the video by saying, "OK, this is how you never, ever have to pay for parking garages. I’ll tell you exactly how to do it. It works every time. I never pay for parking garages anymore."
Jake explains that you get your ticket and drive up to the window or ticket booth like normal.
"There’s like a little ‘Help’ button," he says. "They’re going to be unintelligible. They’re going to be like the Peanuts character. So some person’s going to come on from the help parking and go [unintelligible] and you just respond with the same [unintelligible]. And then you just keep going until they seem defeated and you’ll be like, ‘Can you just let me out?’ You have to wait for like 30 seconds of silence and the gate will just open. You’ll be home free."
While his method might technically work, it’s not something law-abiding citizens will want to emulate, nor is it advice Motor1 endorses.
In general, parking garages display hours and fees in signage posted at the entrance. Of course, penalties vary by jurisdiction, but in Texas, for instance, it is considered theft to "abscond without paying" for a service in a situation in which people are generally expected to pay immediately.
Of course, doing this with the intent of avoiding payment is very different from inadvertently parking in a garage and misplacing your payment method. In that case, it’s better to simply be up front with the ‘Help’ desk person and explain the situation. They may be willing to cut you a break.
Parking Garage Advice Met with Caution and Amusement
In the video's comments section, viewers weighed in on his advice from both ethical and practical standpoints.
"The person in front of me when I’m already 10 minutes late," joked one viewer.
"Or just get a new ticket before exiting," suggested a second viewer.
"When we had our son, we stayed at the hospital for 4-5 days straight," wrote a third person. "Parking was something like $20 daily. The lost ticket fee was $20. Instead of paying $100, I just hit the lost ticket button and paid $20."
However, it’s important to note that your personal experience may vary. "Every time I’ve pressed help, they walk outside," another person said. Jake responded, "WHAT?"
Someone else said, "In Miami, the garages read your license plate and mail you a $90 ticket even after you paid a $16 flat rate."
A person who said they work in the industry offered, "As someone who does this job, I can confirm it is this easy."
Motor1 contacted Jake via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We’ll update this if he responds.
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