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Completely agree. Hats off to the city as SFPark is absolutely brilliant. Are people actually using these "jerkTech" services though? If you've got the SFPar

Completely agree. Hats off to the city as SFPark is absolutely brilliant. Are people actually using these "jerkTech" services though? If you've got the SFPark app, why would you bother with Monkey Parking? I get the feeling that they're all enjoying the free hype/hate which is being doled out right now as it's probably steering more users their way. Ultimately though there is no way any of these services will be viable. If you face a $300 fine for renting out your parking space (as is the case in SF) and Monkey Parking makes it easy for law enforcement to track you down with their app, not a lot of people are going to want to bother. It's a similar thing for making restaurant reservations. If restaurants start getting hit with a ton of no shows to the point where they're losing money, it doesn't take long to figure out that it's listed and file a cease-and-desist order.

silencio 12y ago
SFPark's most useful feature - the per-spot sensors - was disabled last year ... Kind of a shame, that would have eaten Monkey Parking's lunch, I think. Not sure if people really used it or if people use Monkey Parking at all, but the hate doesn't really help the image problem that tech already has in SF. > It's a similar thing for making restaurant reservations. If restaurants start getting hit with a ton of no shows to the point where they're losing money, it doesn't take long to figure out that it's listed and file a cease-and-desist order. Trying so hard not to rage here. I own a restaurant. Reservationhop guy could have spent literally a few more seconds taking his idea to the logical conclusion that he should work with restaurants - just like EVERY OTHER service involved including the ones in his defensive blog post. Nope. It's like all he saw was "oh, something like ticket scalpers for concerts!" and ended there. Not sure why they jumped to the stupidest option possible instead of taking a look at seriously starting something in the big, generic, terribly done to date foodservice needs area (everything from reservations to POS systems) or becoming the Airbnb of privately owned parking spaces. You'd think they'd see the nonviability of their ideas sooner.
- CaptainZapp 12y ago
  I'm not a restaurant owner, but very much feel your rage (you don't have to be in a business to violently detest parasitic douche bags). Here's an idea, slightly based on Alinea's ticket system: Charge a relatively low deposit. Say if I make a reservation you charge my credit card with 20$ (or whatever). If I cancel (it does happen) up to three hours (or 6, or 24, or whatever) in advance the charge is reversed and the transaction is at no cost to me. If I show up the 20$ are fully credited and deducted from the bill. This would certainly only work for restaurants that can generate the necessary demand. Then again those are also the victims of those DoucheScalpers. As a patron I really wouldn't mind guaranteeing my reservation with a small, up front payment. Especially when I can cancel within a reasonable time frame, no hassle and get fully refunded. On a off topic side note: I actually cancel reservations if I don't need them. It seems to me just common courtesy and the right thing to do. It may enable somebody else to use the table and I strongly suspect that it doesn't hurt my karma with the restaurant for next time I want to book a table.

silencio 12y ago

SFPark's most useful feature - the per-spot sensors - was disabled last year ... Kind of a shame, that would have eaten Monkey Parking's lunch, I think. Not sure if people really used it or if people use Monkey Parking at all, but the hate doesn't really help the image problem that tech already has in SF. > It's a similar thing for making restaurant reservations. If restaurants start getting hit with a ton of no shows to the point where they're losing money, it doesn't take long to figure out that it's listed and file a cease-and-desist order. Trying so hard not to rage here. I own a restaurant. Reservationhop guy could have spent literally a few more seconds taking his idea to the logical conclusion that he should work with restaurants - just like EVERY OTHER service involved including the ones in his defensive blog post. Nope. It's like all he saw was "oh, something like ticket scalpers for concerts!" and ended there. Not sure why they jumped to the stupidest option possible instead of taking a look at seriously starting something in the big, generic, terribly done to date foodservice needs area (everything from reservations to POS systems) or becoming the Airbnb of privately owned parking spaces. You'd think they'd see the nonviability of their ideas sooner.

CaptainZapp 12y ago
I'm not a restaurant owner, but very much feel your rage (you don't have to be in a business to violently detest parasitic douche bags). Here's an idea, slightly based on Alinea's ticket system: Charge a relatively low deposit. Say if I make a reservation you charge my credit card with 20$ (or whatever). If I cancel (it does happen) up to three hours (or 6, or 24, or whatever) in advance the charge is reversed and the transaction is at no cost to me. If I show up the 20$ are fully credited and deducted from the bill. This would certainly only work for restaurants that can generate the necessary demand. Then again those are also the victims of those DoucheScalpers. As a patron I really wouldn't mind guaranteeing my reservation with a small, up front payment. Especially when I can cancel within a reasonable time frame, no hassle and get fully refunded. On a off topic side note: I actually cancel reservations if I don't need them. It seems to me just common courtesy and the right thing to do. It may enable somebody else to use the table and I strongly suspect that it doesn't hurt my karma with the restaurant for next time I want to book a table.