[Shaun @ Tru6]

Flipping through the mail today, my heart sank when I came to this one and here's why: When I got the commercial plates for the wonder truck, no one tells you -- not your insurance agent, not the Registry with a little "So you got commercial plates, what's next?" pamphlet -- that to legally park in commercial spots you need all the door text on your company, etc.

A week hadn't gone by after getting the plates when I had to be in NYC for a meeting in the Empire State Building. Imagine how incredibly psyched I was to park outside the building, pay the muni-meter and leave the paper on the dash. $5 to park outside the Empire State Building! Went to my meeting, came out a while later, and had 2, 2 tickets!

Somehow they had make up 2 laws about not having lettering on the door, so that was $230. I contested it saying we are a new company, new commercial plates, sent photocopies of everything in noting how newly registered the truck was.

DENIED.

I mail in that I want a hearing.

Mysteriously, they never got my appeal form, so now I'm at $300 in fines. I call again to talk with a supervisor, wait 30 fricken minutes and the phone goes dead, I send them the appeal info again, don't hear back for a long time until 2 weeks ago when it's now $350. I talk with 3 different departments, nothing they can do, blah, blah blah. $350 down the drain.

So this, this, was a really good day for me.