Charlottesville City Water Street Lot

"City website says $1/hr, but the app charged $3.85 for one hour on a non holiday weekday afternoon. Otherwise no issues, easy in and out, but the deceptive advertising is disappointing."

"I would absolutely avoid parking here at any cost. We were only allowed to initially pay for 2 hours and 59 minutes of parking on a Friday night (which was about $10). About 5 minutes after our time was up, our vehicle was towed about to a location about 2 miles away (colliers, and the location looks incredibly sketchy) and it cost us $150 to get our vehicle back. It took us several minutes of searching the lot to figure out who towed our vehicle, but a physical location wasn't provided unless you called. Parking in the lot is definitely a predatory scam now, so unless you're willing to risk getting towed, I would not recommend this lot."

"I paid for parking at the Water Street Surface Lot for 4 hours through ParkMobile. When I came back to my car, my car was towed. I showed the tow truck driver at the Collier’s Tow Truck Office my receipt for parking and he said “his record” said I paid and began parking 2 hours prior to when I actually parked and paid…which was not true and did not reflect the hours I paid for. I then had to Uber alone at night from the Water Street Lot to Collier’s Towing to pay the $150 towing fee and get my car back. When I arrived, the man sitting in the tow truck said I “needed to pay immediately or [I] could get out of his face.” He said I caught him right before he was going home for the night. On my way home, he passed me driving. I then realized he was not “going home,” but rather towing another car. I’ve since learned this lot is 1 of 2 privately owned surface lots in Charlottesville. I hope the city decides to buy back the lot and operate it themselves. It’s sad that there is such a discrepancy in enforcement when comparing this lot and other parking options in Charlottesville. Had I realized the discrepancy, I would have parked steps away in the Water Street Parking Garage where there were plenty of adequate parking spots. If ParkMobile is the only form of payment accepted to park in the Water Street Surface Lot, then the receipts from ParkMobile need to be honored accordingly. I’m ashamed such an arrangement exists between this privately owned surface lot and Collier’s Towing. If the owner’s goal is to strictly enforce parking, that is fine! However, the receipts of paid parking need to be honored and not ignored. I hope this issue can be addressed. It’s sad this type of business arrangement exists in Charlottesville."

"Horrible scam operation. AVOID PARKING HERE AT ALL COST Paid for 2 hours parking on Thursday night while eating at restaurant on downtown mall. Came out 10 minutes late with wife and small children in the middle of night only to see an empty spot and our car gone. Called tow company (Colliers) that is part of con and they said there was no record of me ever paying for parking there. I told them I had my receipt and they said I was “a joke” and that I had to take an Uber with my 3 small children and wife to their sketchy location to see if my van was there. Showed up but no one was there. An hour later they showed up (10:30 at night) and swindled $150 out of me. Truly horrible operation and makes me very unlikely to return to spend my money with local businesses on the otherwise nice downtown mall."

"This lot runs a scam with Colliers Towing. I ventured out to spend a couple days in Charlottesville by myself. Keith Urban was playing in concert at JPJ. I parked at this lot, stayed about 2 of the 3 hours of parking I purchased only to come back to the lot to find my truck missing. I have an eye disorder called Corneal Lattice Dystrophy and couldn't see the small print on the ticket saying to display it in your windshield. What was supposed to be an enjoyable weekend became a nightmare. Colliers Towing is in a sketch part of town. Having limited funds and not wanting to take a taxi, I walked there and called them on my way. It took me 20 minutes. It took the guy 45 minutes from the time I arrived to get there. I found out they are in cahoots with Colliers Towing and benefit from having people towed. Poor form City of Charlottesville for allowing this kind of business in your city. Poor form First & Water Lot for ripping hard working people off. Poor form Colliers Towing for stealing peoples vehicles and charging them $150 to get them back."