SpotHero: #1 Rated Parking App Reviews

by Gbean32

We reserved 2 spots with this app like we have many times before. Got to the lot, parked and when we came back we had tickets on our vehicles. I emailed customer support and told them what happened. They asked me to provide a copy of the tickets and I did. I the. Received an email saying the tickets had been resolved and there was no issue. About 3 months later we get noticed from and attorney that we need to pay the fines from the tickets that were “taken care of”. I reached out to customer support again and was told that shouldn’t have happened, that my case had been escalated to a manager who would be in contact shortly and was asked to forward all of the information from the attorney. I forwarded everything and awaited a response or contact from the manager. That was the last communication I received from this app. I sent several follow up emails and none of them were ever answered. I never received a phone call from the manager, and ended up paying over $120 in fines and fees for the tickets that this app was supposed to have taken care of. They completely blew me off and had no interest or intention on helping me. Beware that even if you park in the right spot and the operators make a mistake and ticket you, you’re not going to be helped in any way.

by Dang Disks

I parked in a garage I had parked at a few times before using this app, but this time when I went to leave the meter was broken and wouldn’t scan. I tried calling customer service and was on hold for 30 minutes with no answer tried three more times with no luck and needed to leave so I figured I’d photograph everything and get refunded. Paid the $25 for lost ticket and submitted my claim to this app. I get passed around between representatives for months trying to explain the situation and starting over and over with no luck. They credit me $15 and I say no I don’t want credit I don’t use SpotHero more than once a year and they say ok cool we will refund you. Instead I get another new person who says you’ve been credited and I explained yet again no please I don’t want credit. At this point I knew I was never getting my $25 back again and figured this is some weird thing they do. Even though it says if a problem is with their machines you get refunded the cost. Overall the customer service was appalling, the system they use is bugged, and you will never get refund if you have to pay out of your own pocket.

by Emilyb1222229

Visiting Chicago and wanted to go to Shedd Aquarium, but we were worried about Parking downtown. I searched for parking online and came across this app. I was super excited and paid $17 for 6 hours of parking in a garage about a mile from the aquarium. We get there, and there are 0 spots available, not only are there no spots available, but the garage is so overbooked that there are 7 other cars who also booked on this app looking for spots. Keep in mind this is a very small garage. So we all get boxed in at the end/top of the garage and cars are having to reverse down to try and turn around. When we finally got to the bottom we had to wait 10 minutes to get out as the gate wouldn’t open without a ticket and there wasn’t an attendant answering the phone.

Now all of that isn’t the end of the world. I assumed that if I messaged this app they would refund my card and no harm no foul. I was wrong. I messaged them immediately, they have since sent me several advertisement emails telling me how this app “has my back”, but have yet to actually respond to my open ticket(it’s been a week). I filed a dispute with my credit card to have the charge removed. I will never use SpotHero again and hope this review will help others avoid the same pitfall.

by K Mahoney

I frequently use Spot Hero to find deals and have had an overall positive experience. Today I used SpotHero to reserve a spot from 9:30-5:00 - I commute over an hour to the city so it’s always TBD on my exact ETA. I arrived at the garage for my reservation and entered at 9:25. Given Chicago traffic I didn’t want to risk doing a lap around the block and being late. I ended up extending my reservation for an extra $2 till 5:30. When I went to exit, the garage requested I pay $5 for entering early. I called Spot hero and they were unable to revise my reservation which is inconvenient. I also learned the increments of time for reservations are 30 mins, which doesn’t allow for a ton of wiggle room. Spot hero asked me to submit my receipt for the additional payment for review and possible reimbursement. The garage receipt printer didn’t work, so I was left with no receipt. What was suppose to be a stress free situation ended up ruining my evening. Spot Hero should figure out a way to accommodate customers and not punish us for arriving 5 minutes early!!! Unreal. Considering using park whiz moving forward.

by Shelby Henry

This past weekend I was in Milwaukee, WI for an event at the stadium and I paid $40 for parking on SpotHero . When I purchased the parking spot there was a note below the information that said something along the lines of “on event days we can no longer guarantee you spot if you do not arrive an hour earlier than the event start time.” I arrived at the parking lot at 4:45 because the event started at 6:45 and my boyfriend and I were going to eat dinner and walk around some before the event. When I arrived at the parking lot I realized that the lot was not monitored and there was no way to save my spot. It was simply a lot where you parked and then paid for a tag for your window. I paid $40 for nothing and was not able to cancel my payment or get refunded. I then had to pay an additional $20 in cash to park in a different lot that was much further from the stadium. We also lost our reservation for the restaurant because of the extra time that it took to find parking and the additional walk time. I will never be using SpotHero again and I would give it 0 stars.

by Emm0493

While enjoying a weekend in downtown Chicago we reserved a spot that ended up not even being available, so my boyfriend ended up finding another and was told that he would receive a full refund credit to his account and thought it was resolved. A few nights ago we went to use that credit toward another spot downtown and couldn't find it anywhere so he called customer service and was told that the refund had gone onto the original card that was used. Running late to where we were going we got off the phone with the representative figuring again that it was resolved, but when he checked his bank account the next day to make sure it was in fact back on the card it was not. He's now been dealing with customer service the last week and a half to resolve a very seemingly simple issue that should have been fixed over a month ago. Reading other reviews I can see that this has been an issue for a lot of people and hopefully something spot hero can work out. All I have to say is use SpotHero as a last resort if you don't like dealing with disorganized customer service.

by Dave&*(

We used Spot Hero for the first time in NYC over the holidays. Made a reservation in midtown. When we got to the garage, they told me they were full and would not honor my reservation. Spot Hero had already charged my credit card for two nights for approximately $80 ($40 per night). I contacted them and they told me to find another garage. They would reimburse me the difference. I ended up using the valet at the hotel and paid $60 per night ($120 total). I sent them the receipt. Since they had already charged me $80. I expected them to reimburse me $120. Of course not! Instead, they credited my card the $80 and said they would apply the additional $40 to a future parking reservation. I will never see the $40 because I will never use them again. They lied to me about the reimbursement. I don’t deal with dishonest vendors. If they charge your card at the time you make a reservation, you expect the reservation to be honored. What’s the point, especially in midtown Manhattan.

Thank you for the canned, uninspiring, and uncaring response to my review. I’m sure your response was truly sincere and heartfelt (not!)

by Serafranpia

I just wrote a lengthy review and it doesn't seem to have posted. Basically, I should have sorted by "most critical"'reviews before choosing to use it. My experience mirrors so many others. Lots do not honor your "reservation", in fact there IS NO reservation, I was told. Actually, I was yelled at, both in drop off and pick up—the attendant was furiously ranting that this app and any other app mean squat and that they to not reserve. They if they're full, they're full. Also, I was seriously overcharged my this app, who claims to give half off. The garages listed prices were much less than I paid via this app and this app charged me the night before, when it booked the fake reservation for me. They charged me for the full price, even though I ended up being done in half the time. There is no way to adjust got real time parking lot use. They charge you for your estimated time there. But I'm sure they would have a way to adjust up if you stayed longer. In any case, this is a scam and a half! Never again. Just go into the city, find a lot and pay their prices. You will likely be paying a whole lot less. The good reviews have GOT to be mostly fakes!! Purchased! Or from people who don't know better, or from a few lots who maybe honor this and other parking apps.

by Ivanpres

I like Spot Hero, but my last 2 experiences buying a parking pass have been very frustrating. First one I paid for the parking pass, once I got there they inform me the parking is full, to which I reply I have a parking pass already paid. They’re response: I doesn’t matter, the lot is full, you need to find somewhere else to park. Second experience, park at the place I paid for, when I’m leaving I informed them that I have a Spot Hero parking pass, they told me they haven’t work with spot hero or any prepaid parking pass for 2 years. I confirmed this is the right place, the managing company is still the same... and still I had to pay for the parking ticket to be able to get out... getting both refunds from Spot Hero was quick and easy, but I don’t use Spot Hero because of how good they’re refund system is, I use it because I don’t want to be strolling around trying to find a parking spot, I want to compare prices and choose one I so that I can just go straight to it and expect to have that spot guaranteed as I prepaid for it.

by Staticv0id

Everything was working fine until my usual garage got full, and had to book at another garage. The reservation I made let me get into the facility. But when I went to leave, the reservation disappeared from SpotHero and I could not get out automatically. Happened at two separate facilities. Called SpotHero help line, but it was after hours, so I got a voicemail. Had to pay full price to get out at the first garage, and at the second, an attendant was able to help look up my order and let me out. Not a good look.

Edit: As a response to the developer, I have reached out to your customer service folk each time I have had an issue, but they have been unable to help in any substantive way. I have mentioned this issue to them, but it seems that went nowhere. As for account settings, I did not create an account because I am able to pay for parking using Apple Pay. If you require an account to maintain consistent order tracking, I suggest making that mandatory in SpotHero . I have switched to a competitor app and I am no longer experiencing these problems, even without an account.

by Adityagi

So the only reason I am giving SpotHero 2 star is because I dont have any other alternative at the moment. I have always had some or the other kind of issue while using SpotHero. Most recently, I was stuck in a snow storm and could not go to take my car out when my reservation was ending, hence I wanted to extend it. I n SpotHero there is a button to extend, for this particular garage, but when I tried doing it, it through an error. I called customer service and they told me this garage doesnt accept extentions. Why do you have the extend option for this garage if it doesnt accept it. This is basic app design. Now either I go in a snow storm and take the car out, or pay the garage extra fee, which btw this app customer servic has no idea how much it would be. I mean you are working in collaboration with the garage companies and dont have such basic data. Thats terrible. The whole reason why I am taking so much time to write this review is because I am so so frustrated, and I hope someone from the customer service team will read this and realize how bad of a job SpotHero is doing.

by PABrown91

I used this dumpster fire of an app once to get parking in Philly. I pulled up to the lot the spot was in and saw on their sign that their price was about $3 less than what I paid. Mildly annoying but I thought “hey I’m not gonna let a few bucks ruin my night.” So I pull up and the attendant parks my car. I’m walking out and I (thank god) over hear someone else saying to their friend “well they close at 11 so I guess we’ll just move the car then and go back.” Since my reservation was past 11 I spoke to the attendant again. He told me that the lot “closed at 11” but he was “planning to leave by 10:30” and according to him any car left in the lot after that is moved to a “secured location” for the night.

Now I understand some of this isn’t particularly spot hero’s fault. But they clearly allow reservations to be booked in spots without having a system in place to check if that reservations actually possible. They also allow for parking in some sketchy spots. SpotHero is a neat concept but there’s definitely bugs to be worked out.

Also they spamf@&k your inbox like crazy. So def use a secondary email to sign up.

by Sandrobarros!

Unfortunately my experience was bad, I chose my spot, paid for it and when I arrived it was full, the guy in there just kicked me out the parking lot, and said I had to apply for a refund, which I did, customer is very good and they promptly tried to help me and issued a refund, thats the reason of my second star.
The thing is, they said to me that in case of a full parking lot i could call them for reallocation, this seems nice in theory, but in real life thats a nightmare. It is you trying to call them, while a guy kicks you out from his parking and cars honking behind you, and you have nowhere else to park.
So as advertised that you GUARANTEE your parking by paying in advance is a lie, you don’t guarantee anything, it’s a shot in the dark and if you fail to park, you will be screwed to find someplace else, because you will be unable to search on spot hero or call anyone because you will have to be driving.
Bottomline: you are best trying to find street parking for free by the residential areas of NYC, it’s hard but you don't have to go through this nightmare that I did.

by Calla1996

We paid $18 for a garage in downtown Philadelphia in order to avoid the haste of finding street parking. We arrived at the garage and they turned us away because we didn’t purchase through them directly and they were full. I showed that my receipt with this app and they told me that they won’t honor it since they were full despite me booking it the day prior. Got out to talk to the guy and he told me to be careful SpotHero because it solicits places that are not actually available, like the one I had picked and paid for. EXTREMELY upset and will NEVER use this app again. I ended up being late to my broadway and having to pay a ridiculous amount for parking. Worst app ever.

Update: called into this app and was helped by a girl named Emily. Emily was extremely helpful and not only refunded my $18 but also for the parking I had to pay for on top of the $18. She was very apologetic and made right of the situation. Changed my 1 star to a 3 Star for the excellent customer service I received. still a little hesitant to use SpotHero , but they definitely made right of the situation.

by Bbaydu

It’s a great tool and saved me a lot of money in NY city. However, my first experience was horrible. On a beautiful day I booked my spot through SpotHero . then an hour or so later pulled into the garage. Garage manager bluntly told me that they do not honor reservations because they can charge more to people who pull in without a reservation and because it’s a beautiful day they won’t have an issue selling out that day. And I should discuss for a refund with spot hero. Or I could pay the difference. It was a shocker. Didn’t know what to do. I depended on SpotHero and it failed me at first use... It wasn’t really SpotHero failing me in reality, which is why I continued to use it, but it was the parking garage management. But app doesn’t have any way to provide me any feedback or warning about places like that, so it’s partially responsible.

Then I started checking the garages on google for reviews, before booking on SpotHero . Yes, it’s painful but gives “some” peace of mind. A review option within SpotHero would be greatly greatly useful. Lack of parking space feedback function is what’s taking one star away from my review.

by OreoUM

Genius idea... great concept. Just needs a bit of tweaking for a more seamless during arrival and departure.

My experience was at the Pullman Miami Airport Hotel in Miami, FL. The customer-facing app interface is great. You record all the information the hotel needs to collect upon arrival. But, they (at least this hotel didn't) don't gain access to this information. It just happens that there was a huge line at t he front desk checking in when we arrived to park at the hotel. We had to wait in this line for 20 minutes when we're trying to make the hotels shuttle for a ride to the airport. It'd be great if the hotels had a hotel-facing app interface showing all the info they need to collect so we don't have to wait in their line and then fill out a paper copy of some form... with all the info SpotHero already has. Make the arrival and departure as seamless and paperless as possible, that'd make your app stellar!

by Dave Toomer

I made a reservation for the first time with a parking service e and was skeptical about doing so. One was it going to be a safe option and two, the flexibility of making changes including cancellation since you had to pay up front. After reading reviews for Spot Hero and seeing pictures a of the garage, I became confident that this would be a good choice. The sign up and reservation was easy and they made I. Clear you could adjust the time as needed before you arrived. The value was there - $50 for two nights in NY vs $100 paying at hotel or other parking in the hotel area. As it turns out, I did cancel as we decided to take the train. I was able to cancel and immediately received my full refund. I will definitely use the next time I decide to drive to New York.

by 1Mom4Monsters

I’ve used Spot Hero for a few years by now. Have always found great deals in NYC. Last night, it was my first time using it at Philadelphia Airpot... My flight to Atlanta was cancelled at 1am after it was postponed four times between 7pm and midnight, and I missed a wedding. Imagine my frustration, disappointments and exhaustion when I remembered I had purchased a parking spot for two days even though I only parked there for four hours or so. I reached out to Customer Service. They explained that they couldn’t make the partial adjustments on my bill as requested, because the best (and only) way to change the reservation is to do it on SpotHero or the website. Instead, they decided to refund me the entire amount AND give me a $5 credit for my next trip. As disappointing as it was to have missed a wedding, Spot Hero has made my day a lot better.

by Kjtvtraveler

I cannot say enough good things about Spot Hero. Not only is SpotHero easy to use, it takes the worry of the cost and accessibility of parking away. It makes the process so much smoother and more pleasant. I live outside NYC and have used it many times there but I have used it in other cities as well.
Recently, the garage I had arranged for was inaccessible due to street closures. I was late for work and didn’t have time to call Spot Hero to make other arrangements so I just pulled into another garage and paid almost 3 times as much. I knew that if I called Spot Hero I would get my original payment refunded.
When I finally had a chance to call, they refunded my original payment and when I provided a receipt, gave me a credit for the additional cost of the parking garage that I wound up using. Hard to find such good customer service these days and it has made me a loyal customer who will recommend them to anyone who will listen.

by Bambambambambbbabshshhs

On multiple occasions I have tried using SpotHero. A few time it has worked well, but other times I am unable to get SpotHero to work while at the garage, requiring me to pay the garages fee and being stuck with the Spot Hero prepay fee. You would think this would be grounds for a refund, however, when reaching out to customer service, I received no response.

As a side note, when I have been stuck paying for the garage fee, it is generally less than $5 more expensive than this app, which I believe is worth not having to use this poorly constructed application.

Update: customer service was slightly rude, making me feel as though I did something wrong, instead of giving me the benefit of the doubt. Provided me with a credit for the parking I paid out of pocket. This is really no use to me as I will not be using SpotHero again.

by Tiff327_1

We booked a monthly spot in the Bronx, but upon showing up were told that they wouldn’t honor our reservation because they didn’t actually have any monthly parking spots available-we had been sold a spot that didn’t exist in a full lot! The manager said this happens frequently with this app and refused to offer any assistance. We paid for overnight parking and I called this app the next morning to complain. They were very concerned and took all the information down, refunded me the amount we paid to park overnight, and paid the difference for me to park in another parking lot nearby (over $100 difference in the monthly parking price-very generous). I did ask the representative to call the parking lot first and make sure the monthly spot actually existed this time. They did so and took great care of us, but even so I would be very cautious in using SpotHero. Three stars for GREAT customer service, but questionable availability issues.

by Agf2199

App is great! One problem I had was finding the parking garage because they had an incorrect address transposition when using Apple maps to navigate. It took us a whole 30 extra mins to find the place, cutting into the parking time I had already prepaid for. We drove around and around and couldn’t find 415 S Financial St Chicago, IL. We found a “425” and double checked our apple maps and it said 415. Then I checked my parking pass. It said 425. So we did end up getting parked at the right place. But 30 minutes or so late. That frustrated me. So I experimented using Google maps to navigate from the Spot who app. It was a longitude latitude drop pin right in the middle of the garage. The entrance of was of course not smack in the middle of the garage. 415 s financial isn’t even a PO address in Chicago. But 425. Poor app development when transposing you to Google or Apple maps. If you have Waze, this does work.

by Stace469

My son & I have had a few opportunities to attend sporting events around the country. For his birthday, I got tickets to his favorite team, the LA Rams and quickly realized that parking near the coliseum was a nightmare. And if you aren’t a season ticket holder, you’re out of luck. Taking the metro link would mean 1/2 the day on the train getting into downtown. I lucked onto Spot Hero and found a lot 1/4 mile away from the coliseum. So I booked it. And Anthony was AWESOME! So kind and made sure to aske our plans for the game so he parked us appropriately. He was helpful getting us out of the lot AND gave us easy directions to the freeway. If I return to an event here, I’ll book again and I’d highly recommend him to others. I’ll be using SpotHero again for other events and travel!