4 ms·

I'm sure this will get spun as big, bad, out-of-touch government. Was Fixed evaluating the inquiries before forwarding them on? If so, I'd expect a higher win

by pbreit 11y ago

I'm sure this will get spun as big, bad, out-of-touch government. Was Fixed evaluating the inquiries before forwarding them on? If so, I'd expect a higher win rate. If not, I'd expect a much lower win rate as customers just mail in every ticket. It's something you would definitely need to be very sensitive to how much useless work your triggering at City Hall.

garrettgrimsley 11y ago
>Was Fixed evaluating the inquiries before forwarding them on? Yes, they were. >Using its app, Fixed customers could snap a photo of their parking ticket using their phone’s camera, and then Fixed would check against a variety of common errors before writing a customized letter to the city on the user’s behalf. The app also cleverly tapped into Google Street View to check to see if the city had the proper signage in place in the area a ticket was received. >Founder David Hegarty once noted that over half of tickets have an issue that would make them invalid, but the city didn’t tend to play by its own rules when arbitrating disputes. That made Fixed’s “win” rate only 20%-30% on tickets, as of earlier this year. >It's something you would definitely need to be very sensitive to how much useless work your triggering at City Hall. The city could simply not issue invalid tickets, the issue would then resolve itself.
- comrh 11y ago
  >Using its app, Fixed customers could snap a photo of their parking ticket using their phone’s camera, and then Fixed would check against a variety of common errors before writing a customized letter to the city on the user’s behalf. The app also cleverly tapped into Google Street View to check to see if the city had the proper signage in place in the area a ticket was received. They should open source that so it can just be a web app, entirely possible it could still be really useful.
  - wingerlang 11y ago
    Surely they must have been checking these errors manually, so open sourcing wouldn't really do anything other than getting the map location - which I think you could find yourself.
    - comrh 11y ago
      Ah I misunderstood, I thought it was OCR.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
xanadohnt 11y ago
@garrett I beg to differ. At first I thought it was a terrific service. After using it twice, their true business was revealed. They leave advertisement cards on vehicles with tickets and indeed is how I learned of the service. The card states there's an error with the ticket (regardless of whether there is ... every ticketed car will be canvased by Fixed). While I do believe they legitimately file a contest through the official channels, I don't believe they expect or care to win the contest. Here's why - by using the service you agree that Fixed will autopay on your behalf with a few-dollars service fee. I'm convinced their business model is fairly scammy in that they hook you with the promise that you've received an invalid ticket that can be dismissed. When in reality they know the majority of the tickets are valid, have no chance of dismissal, and reap the service charge you agree to when you file your contest with them. Fixed is clearly not a sustainable business anyway - really, what percentage of tickets are not valid? A very small percentage I'm sure. And if their revenue is seriously modeled around winning contested invalid tickets then there is very little money to be made. Edit - I missed the Founder David Hegarty reference. Maybe someone can fact check me but I think this is fairly inflated to spin his case for his business.

by pbreit 11y ago

garrettgrimsley 11y ago

>Was Fixed evaluating the inquiries before forwarding them on? Yes, they were. >Using its app, Fixed customers could snap a photo of their parking ticket using their phone’s camera, and then Fixed would check against a variety of common errors before writing a customized letter to the city on the user’s behalf. The app also cleverly tapped into Google Street View to check to see if the city had the proper signage in place in the area a ticket was received. >Founder David Hegarty once noted that over half of tickets have an issue that would make them invalid, but the city didn’t tend to play by its own rules when arbitrating disputes. That made Fixed’s “win” rate only 20%-30% on tickets, as of earlier this year. >It's something you would definitely need to be very sensitive to how much useless work your triggering at City Hall. The city could simply not issue invalid tickets, the issue would then resolve itself.

comrh 11y ago
>Using its app, Fixed customers could snap a photo of their parking ticket using their phone’s camera, and then Fixed would check against a variety of common errors before writing a customized letter to the city on the user’s behalf. The app also cleverly tapped into Google Street View to check to see if the city had the proper signage in place in the area a ticket was received. They should open source that so it can just be a web app, entirely possible it could still be really useful.
- wingerlang 11y ago
  Surely they must have been checking these errors manually, so open sourcing wouldn't really do anything other than getting the map location - which I think you could find yourself.
  - comrh 11y ago
    Ah I misunderstood, I thought it was OCR.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

xanadohnt 11y ago

@garrett I beg to differ. At first I thought it was a terrific service. After using it twice, their true business was revealed. They leave advertisement cards on vehicles with tickets and indeed is how I learned of the service. The card states there's an error with the ticket (regardless of whether there is ... every ticketed car will be canvased by Fixed). While I do believe they legitimately file a contest through the official channels, I don't believe they expect or care to win the contest. Here's why - by using the service you agree that Fixed will autopay on your behalf with a few-dollars service fee. I'm convinced their business model is fairly scammy in that they hook you with the promise that you've received an invalid ticket that can be dismissed. When in reality they know the majority of the tickets are valid, have no chance of dismissal, and reap the service charge you agree to when you file your contest with them. Fixed is clearly not a sustainable business anyway - really, what percentage of tickets are not valid? A very small percentage I'm sure. And if their revenue is seriously modeled around winning contested invalid tickets then there is very little money to be made. Edit - I missed the Founder David Hegarty reference. Maybe someone can fact check me but I think this is fairly inflated to spin his case for his business.