PerLillian Donahue|April 3, 2021 at 1:09 pm EDT – Updated April 4 at 12:01 pm
ILHA DE PALMAS, SC (WCSC) – For those who are going to the beach this weekend, the parking at Ilha de Palmas will be different next week, as the teams will work to repair all the kiosks.
This is after many visitors reported being charged in excess of anywhere from two to four times the selected time.
Visitor Jonahan Buie said he was surprised to see his parking bill after just an hour.
“I went ahead, swiped my card and thought that it charged me for an hour and it didn’t. He charged me eight dollars for an hour of parking, ”said Buie.
He is not alone, Belinda Livesey also said she was charged twice more before realizing it was a system problem.
“The first time, we assumed it was our mistake. The second time, we knew it wasn’t, ”said Livesey.
“At the time, I didn’t really think about it that much, I was ready to eat,” said Buie. “The more I thought about it, I thought, yes, it’s a little bit boring and if they do it for 100 people in a weekend, it’s a lot of money.”
Police chief Kevin Cornett said the problems stem from broken software by contractor Parkeon.
“They have a problem with software that they are trying to fix for us,” said Cornett. “They are saying it can be fixed next week, but stay on the safe side, we are bagging all of our meters.”
Cornett said the police will give warnings first, but even with the meters off duty, people can still get a ticket.
That’s why they are encouraging people to use the Flowbird parking app.
“It will have a QR code because we are really trying to make sure people can get in, use the phone, scan the app really fast and put money in it,” said Cornett.
But Livesey said that for some people who don’t know how to use apps, parking would be next to impossible
“Elderly people or if you don’t have your reading glasses, you know, when you’re trying to read everything and find out, it’s just not going to be easy for people,” said Livesey.
For now, anyone who has been overcharged for parking should call the police department at (843) 886-6522 to obtain a refund.
“We know people are frustrated,” said Cornett. “We know that it is frustrating to come to the beach to have everything you are planning to do, just be patient with us, we understand especially that we want to work with you to fix this.”
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