Parking machine messes with tourists at Buda Castle

Foreign tourists who tried to pay for their parking at the bottom of Buda Castle have met an uncomfortable fate.

A card swallowed by a parking machine

The tourists’ credit card was swallowed by the machine, because the card slot is not designed to accept credit cards. However, there is no warning on the machine’s side. As it turned out, it was not the first time this had happened, 24.hu reports.

On 10 August, a reader of 24.hu was stopped by three foreign tourists at a parking machine. They asked for help because their bank card had been swallowed by the machine. It later turned out that this happens from time to time, as the credit card slot is not what it seems.

At the vending machine, a German couple who spoke English and their 20-something son stood at a loss. They wanted to use their credit card to pay for their parking like they always do, so they inserted it into the slot on the machine. However, the card was immediately swallowed up by the bar. They had no idea why. As they had only seen information in Hungarian, they did not know what to do.

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The reader called the error report number

The reader of 24.hu checked the Hungarian-language notices, but could not find an explanation either. The card slot was just the right size to fit a bank card. There was also a card pictogram on the near it. The reader called the fault reporting number, gave the parking machine’s ID and then told them what had happened.

They asked how the tourists would get their bank card back. The answer was that the administrator would enter the notification into the system and then a technician would go and take the card out. However, the administrator could not say when help would get there.

The reader could not tell 24.hu how the story ended. They he had to leave the German family as they had work to do. They advised them that if the mechanic did not come, they should call the same number the reader had called.

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This was not the first time a card was swallowed

24.hu learned that the card slot is not for credit card payments, but is needed to program the equipment. The parking company explained that, according to them, there are several indications that the machine is not suitable for credit card payments.

For example, there is no keyboard (so it is not possible to enter the PIN code and the amount), and there is no pictogram on the machine indicating that it is suitable for credit card payments. However, these signs do not seem to be so clear. The machine swallows a credit card once or twice a month.