I trusted Zipstall and it cost me over $230 in tickets
I gave Zipstall every opportunity to make this right, and they chose not to.
I originally received a parking ticket because the app failed to automatically start my parking session, despite that feature being something I’d come to rely on every day. There were no notifications that anything was wrong, and when I contacted customer support, they acknowledged they couldn’t help after Impark denied the cancellation. No credits, no goodwill gesture, and no accountability for the app failing to do what it was designed to do.
I’ve also experienced the opposite problem on multiple occasions, where sessions failed to end automatically and I was charged as much as $66 because the app kept my parking session running after I had already left.
I’ve switched back to physical parking or other parking apps. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Zipstall.
Intrusive & Deceptive
How Paid Parking Should Be
Zipstall has solved that problem. It is simple, easy to use and makes the patron feel so much better about parking because we know we will not get ripped off or pay for time not used or end up with a ticket because Time ran out. It’s ingenious!
Will definitely use this again and again!
Response from developer
You deserve to be treated with respect and by showing you all the options (Plan Trip), never making you guess how long you will be parked (counting up) and protecting you with our magical AutoStop feature we are delivering the experience you deserve! Thanks for being a part of the Zipstall family.
Worst Parking App Ever
Am seriously considering never using the business I frequent that uses this awful parking app.
Response from developer
Hey Krystin; Thanks for the feedback. Getting the app and creating an account does take longer that it did to just get free parking. The reality is that the free lot you parked at is changing due to a bunch of additional demand and as a result a more involved system is required. The GOOD NEWS is that once you have your account setup you never had to do this again and you get all the powers of Zipstall (Plan Trip feature, session start/stop, No Parking Ticket Guarantee, access to validations, AutoStop, etc.). When you say we are the worst parking app you have used, I am assuming you are judging us based on speed to a session for someone who wants free parking. We have a similar capability, but this lot doesn't want everyone to get free parking anymore. They want to protect the parking for the customers of their tenants so you need to go to them to get your free parking instead of any random person being able to enter their plate. I am positive that if you take some time to understand all of the powerful features we have built inot the app for you, that you will agree that it is actually the slickest parking app in the industry and is the only one that treats parkers with respect by both showing them all options and not forcing them to guess how long they will be parked. Hope you will give us another shot and experience all Zipstall has to offer.
Leeches
Response from developer
Have you ever thought "I love guessing how long I am going to be parked!" or "I hope I guess wrong and pay extra or get trapped into a $90 parking ticket if I guess too short?", if the answer is NO, then Zipstall is the app for you. We believe in treating people with respect and allowing them to pay only for the time they use. We never make you guess how long you will be parked, because we believe this is a form of parker abuse. We always tell you how much your session will cost (see Cost Estimate) and we might be the only app in the world that uses your Bluetooth connection to automatically end your parking session when you get back in the car, through our AutoStop feature. Because you pay only for the time you use, we also GUARANTEE you will never get another parking ticket ever again! We definitely don't think of ourselves as leeches and instead like the term "Parking Protectors".
So far one star for bad design, was over charged
Response from developer
Hey Richard, You are very much correct that we don't let you (or as we would put it "force you to") guess how long you will be parked. Guessing leads to either paying for time you didn't use or an expiring session that leads to a parking ticket. WE believe parkers should be treated with respect and should be able to pay only for the time they use. I looked up your account as well and see that we HAPPILY REFUNDED the extra session cost from when you told us you left the location which is not very predatory in the circles I run in. It didn't cost you $53, you paid only for the time you used after the refund. Sure if you get our AutoStop feature setup that you will love it and it is something no one else in the industry has, but we buit for YOU!
Love this App
Response from developer
You are making us BLUSH! Thanks for the great review. Building an amazing innovative app that changes the game in parking is one thing, but having the support to back it up is something that we also take great pride in. We are always happy to help, but we do sleep sometimes.
Amazing app!
Response from developer
Thanks for the review. We love when people figure out the amazing capabilities that we packed into the Zipstall app for them. We are very different than every other app and because people are used to the old/broken way of buying parking it takes some people longer to figure us out, but sounds like it didn't take you long and there is no looking back now. Happy to have you as a part of the Zipstall family!
Annoying and time consuming.
Response from developer
Your comments are totally fair and when you are used to free parking without any app it can be frustrating to setup our platform which takes longer the first time. HOWEVER, once you have it setup, Zipstall is faster than anything out there, doesn't force you to guess how long you will be parked and even ends your sessions for you automatically (see AutoStop feature on the Home screen). We believe parkers deserve to be treated with respect and this is why we are also the only app that helps you search between all parking options (not just the ones where we can help you pay). Our Plan Trip feature is our gift to Edmontonians that lets you find the best parking based on what you need...putting you first. Keep using the app and you are sure to fall in love!
Worst parking app
Parking
He cares about the people using the app. He responded to my issue immediately and makes we want to tell everyone that Kevin cares about his customers using the app. Zip stall is the future let’s make it happen.
Response from developer
Thanks for the review Jim and you are correct. We are passionate about making people's lives better, one parking session at a time. The future of parking can be so much brighter and we will continue the fight to treat parkers with respect.
makes me sick.
imagine you drive up to a parking lot in a major city, and out of necessity have to use a zipstall spot, not yet knowing anything about how the app works, and having an old car. you start a parking session, do all the things you want to do in the city when suddenly: your phone dies and you have no means of recharging your phone.
one of two things could happen here: either the parking session ends prematurely, thus now adding the risk of your car getting towed or ticketed, or your session continues until you charge up your phone and hopefully remember that you had a parking session going, to then stop it and pay for a bunch of time you weren’t even parked there.
this could also happen if you simply forget about the app. when leaving wherever i’m parked, the last thing i think about is then parking spot i’ve already sorted out to some extent. but with this app, you have to micromanage it to some extent, especially when your car doesn’t have bluetooth for your phone to connect to and end the parking session automatically.
this app was seemingly built on the hope that people would forget about their parking sessions and that makes me mad. until i can just pay for a set amount of time at a spot BEFORE i leave my car, this will stay at once star. this may be a great system for some, but it takes advantage of the forgetful. scum.
Response from developer
Hey Alex, We appreciate you sharing your concerns and based on the detailed comments about our system, I am assuming that you know that we try to go above and beyond with our AutoStop feature to make sure that you never forget to end your session. This is fully automatic and no one else in the game has been able to deliver something this slick and customer-focused, but you are right that is doesn't work if your phone dies. We very rarely have issued with people overpaying becuase their phone died, but if it does dies, you know what we do...we refund them the extra charge! In fact if you reach out to our team and explain the situation, we can probably still help you too. The reason we don't make you guess how long you are going to be parked is that this sets you up to either 1) guess too long or 2) guess short and get an expensive parking ticket. The cell phone dying issue is much smaller and our customers love being treated with RESPECT! If you are riding on a Lime scooter or taking an Uber I am not sure what happens if your phone dies, but it is tough to deliver a slick tech solution that works for dead cell phones. Please reach out to us if we can ever help you with a sesssion.
Love this app
Response from developer
Thanks for the feedback and so glad to hear that you are a part of the Zipstall family. We will continue to treat parkers with respect because we believe parking doesn't have to be such a pain and that good people are happy to pay for the time they use and just don't want to be taken advantage of!
Parking made easy
Response from developer
Our goal is to treat parkers with respect and help them easily pay for the time they use. The combination of start/stop with our AutoStop feature so you don't have to remember to end your session it is truly a game changer in parking!
Easy pesy
Response from developer
We look at parking different and glad you found us!
Totally a lie! Don’t download!
Response from developer
Thanks for the feedback. The free parking offered with our partners (ex. bars) is a program we call Validations. All sessions start as paid sessions, but we give our partner businesses QR codes that you can scan from your active session to make your parking free. If the staff at the bar didn't share this information with you, that was an oversight on their part, but they are generally very good at this. If you didn't have to scan something to register as a customer of the business offering the free parking, then everyone would get free parking all the time. In our Active Sessions we show you the time and cost of your session so far live, as well as giving you a cost estimate tool so you know how much it will cost if you park for 1 hour, 4 hours, etc. but never make you guess in advance. Sorry that you didn't get the validation and that you were charged when you were expecting your session to be free, but if you email us at betterparking@zipstall.com we are also happy to help you out and share how our system works so you know for next time. Take care.
Good
Response from developer
WE DO TOO! Thanks for being a part of the Zipstall family!
Bad!
When I’m parking I want to pay for parking quick, not go thru many screens.
I expect from any parking App to just ask me the location and my license plate and then go to pay.
And then there is that “spin the wheel” thing. Am I ten years old or what?
Response from developer
Thanks for the note about your experience. Because we think Edmontonians deserve to be able to see all parking options in one tool so they can compare rates/attributes and select the best parking for them...instead of only being shows the small % of options that the other apps can help you pay at...we have two primary functions in the app. 1) Plan Trip - this is like Expedia for parking and shows parkers all the options, even the ones where Zipstall can't help you pay. We make you more important and give you the power of information. 2) Start Session - this is the feature you requested in your comment. You simply press Start Session and we get you parked as soon as possible. If you are new to our system we need to verify your email address, collect your contact info & license plate and set up payment card connection, but once you have an accoun it is really easy/fast to start a session. We added the Local Dollars through the wheel spin as an optional reward in exchange for you helping other parkers by sharing how many stalls are available where you have parked. Some people love the wheel and some people obviously find it childish, but you can simply skip it if you choose. When you say you just want to tell us your license plate and pay, what you are missing is that when you just pay, you are actually being forced to guess how long you will be parked. When you guess you inevitably guess wrong and either pay for more time than you use, or you guess short and expose yourself to a parking ticket that typically costs you 10x the amount of the actual parking cost. This is not treating parkers with respect, this is customer abuse. We let you park as long as you want and let you end the session whenever you are done. We even built a feature we call AutoStop which automatically ends your session for you when you leave to make sure you never forget to end your session. We are the only app in the market that actually treats parkers with respect plus we give you the bonus of the optional wheel spin to receive Local Dollars! Hope you will use it again and see how great the parking experience can be.
Great app
Spend in a bunch of stores !
Response from developer
Thanks for the review and for being a part of the Zipstall family! We are on a mission to make it easier to park by treating our customers with respect. We want you to be able to get together with friends, go for meetings and attend events without having to think about your parking and without feeling like you are being ripped off. This is why we let you pay for the time you use.
Used the app and still got parking ticket
Response from developer
Thanks for making us aware of this. Becuase we don't issue tickets, we only register your plate. Sometimes the enforcement companies make mistakes and issue a ticket when they shouldn't. There is nothing we can do to prevent the errors their teams make, but what we can do is deal with these situations when they happen. If you send us a photo of the ticket, then you don't have to do anything and you definitely don't have to contact the enforcement company yourself (typically not the most pleasant experience). We offer you a NO PARKING TICKET GUARANTEE and we stand behind it. Sorry this happened, but it was definitely not an issue related to our system.
