But if the city makes the mistake, they shouldn't own it? It's their own rules, on their terms, designed to confuse newcomers. I can't fathom how you would think this is fair.
Sure, if that's the case. In my experience, though, these services simply contest everything in the hope that the officer in charge or the ticket will not have time to follow up, and the case will get thrown out even if it's a perfectly reasonable fine. It works, but that doesn't make it right.
> these services simply contest everything in the hope that the officer in charge or the ticket will not have time to follow up
No. If you actually read the article, they generally contest things on the grounds that there was a mistake or error in issuing the parking ticket that makes it invalid.
Generally? That doesn't sound like an argument against the basic idea. If they only contest when they fins a specific error, I would agree. If they contest everything hoping the police won't show...it's a short term hack. If a service makes every ticket contested, cities will change the process.