Japanese Village Plaza Parking

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. I hope people see these reviews before parking at this structure, because it’s a complete and UTTER ripoff. Attendants clearly don’t care about how long you actually stayed despite it being clearly on the ticket. The signs are also extremely misleading — it was New Year’s and we ended up paying $ 25 ($ 25!!!) for parking for not even 2 hours. Signs say $ 2 for 15 minutes but apparently it means for ONLY 15 minutes not EACH? In smaller print, it says $ 25 max.
Tickets were not automated at this time — there was an attendant taking out tickets and handing them to cars as they were driving in. Parking inside the structure was also impossible because it was so crowded; and by crowded, I mean there were literally no more spaces available. There was a free «valet» service where attendants would take your car and literally park behind other parked cars, so it would be impossible for the latter to get out without moving said car. I question if the «services» they provide here is even legal.
We will likely be filing a formal complaint, particularly against one of the attendants, Juan, who even threatened to take down our car license plate and charge us more because we were trying to explain and understand their ridiculous procedures and prices. There was also horrendous communication on their end; they were manually getting cars out of the structure, and since it was so packed, they probably didn’t feel the need to handle the situation properly. What a mess.

This parking lot does not let you pay first at a machine before exiting. Don’t charge $ 2 per 15 minutes if you can’t even offer that service and it takes 20 minutes just to exit because of all the backup. Ridiculous.

NEVER PARK HERE! Most expensive parking in Little Tokyo by far! I paid $ 8 for less than an hour! The paying system is even worse. There is no cashier, all automated. You basically pay when you’re in the car about to exit. If there is a lot of cars in front of you, just hope they’re fast enough to not add another 15 minutes to your time!

Parking is expensive here! $ 2 for every 15 minutes?! Insanity! San Francisco isn’t even that bad but we had to because we needed to park for dinner and there weren’t any street spots available. The interesting part about this lot is that you pay as you exit when you put the ticket in the machine and pay at that moment — usually we prepay then place the ticket in the machine as we leave. I felt that it was a little more time consuming and could cause traffic if many cars are trying to leave.

Super expensive even with validation– $ 2 for every 15 min. Too bad we were in a rush. There were other places that had better prices. Make sure you do your homework.

Until today, I’ve had a generally good experience with parking here. Today’s experience left me fuming.
We validated parking for 1 hour at Nijiya, a Japanese grocery store within the plaza. We were very careful to come back to our car 15 minutes before our hour expired. Unfortunately, there was a long line of cars snaking around the inside of structure. A polite parking attendant came up to us and apologized for the wait, informing us that their machine had broken and caused a delay. We thanked her and told us our parking was validated, so there shouldn’t be any issue.
Cut to 15 minutes later. We quite literally were TWO MINUTES past our validated hour, and the only reason this happened was due to their broken machine and the resulting line. When we told this to the parking attendant at the machine (a different lady), she told us it didn’t matter and that «it wasn’t a problem on their end.» I have absolutely no idea how she could make that claim when the problem was the broken machine at their end.
We were not ok with paying the amount, even though it was a mere $ 2, just as a matter of principle. She refused to open the arm until she took down our car information, opened the gate arm, and yelled through the window that we’d now be paying $ 10. We considered threatening to call the police but decided it wasn’t worth their time or ours.
Unprofessional, rude, and certainly not legal. It is below the standard of service that anyone deserves.

I parked here to go eat dinner with some friends in Little Tokyo. When I got there at 7:45 pm on Saturday night, the entire lot was PACKED. It would have been annoying if there were no spaces available and I had to leave and pay without even getting a parking space.
Thankfully, while I was circling back down towards the entrance/​exit, a car pulled out so I had a space to pull in. It was marked VISITOR, so I was a bit worried that I wasn’t allowed to park there, but it turned out to be fine.
There is no one manning this parking garage, so I guess there is no validation discount from any of the vendors nearby.
Paying for parking was fairly easy though. The machine is right at the exit and accepts credit cards and even prints out a receipt. Max payment was $ 10 for the day.

DO NOT PARK HERE PERIOD!!!
I should have checked Unilocal before I parked here. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!! They OVERCHARGE people with or without validation. I parked here earlier and when I left, the machine can’t read my ticket/​validation correctly and I was trying to explaine to the on duty employee there (she told me her name is Cecilia), she said she doesn’t care what is the time printed on the ticket or what is the validation I got, she has to collect the money based on the machine shows (which is twice more than what I supposed to pay). She won’t let me go if I pay the full amount.
Then I called the number on the sign and talked to the on call personnel from that stupid parking company, the person who picked up the call named Julio, he is the rudest person that I had ever talked to. I told him nicely about my case and asked him what I can do at that moment, he answered me in a really bad attitude and said «NOTHING, call back on Monday». I asked if I can speak to his supervisor since he can’t help me with anything, he said no, then HUNG UP on me. I kept calling afterwards but he is not picking up the phone anymore. What kind of on call support is that???
I took pictures of the sign, the machine with the time on it and my receipt (for my validation) which indicated when I left and I will file a compliant to Japanese Village Plaza management and the Modern Parking Inc. THIS PARKING LOT IS ROBBING EVERY SINGLE ONE WHO PARK HERE!!!
For those who got robbed by this place and also want to file a complaint, here is the contact info for your reference:
Japanese Village Plaza Management Office:
Angela DeGroot
(213) 617‑1900
Modern Parking Inc:
213– 482– 8400

We were robbed last night at Japanese Village Plaza Parking – thanks to the unbelievable scam that now we see is «status quo» according to these Unilocal reviews. The owners should be dragged through the courts and shut down. Here’s what happened: my friend Barbara was driving when we pulled up to the entrance and asked the attendant how much the parking is. She said, «$ 1.25 for every 15 minutes.» A sign near her said the «Maximum» is $ 10.00. In the elevator, we noticed a sign warning us to get a «Validation» from the Village shops. We were there 3 hours, and got our ticket validated where we had dinner. The server said it would be good for 2 hours. Ha!
Instead, when we got to the exit, the attendant whose name (she said) was «Inga,» kept insisting that we give her $ 10.00 for the 3 hours. First, she checked the restaurant name to see if it was a 2 hour validation (it was), and for a moment we thought, «Oh great. We’ll pay for the extra hour and go.» But she would NOT let us go until we paid her $ 10.00 (cash). Robbery plain and simple.
Now I see one Unilocaler was able to get out by threatening to call the cops. Why didn’t we think of that? Well, when there’s a line of cars waiting behind and the clock keeps ticking and the attendant keeps shoving the ticket through the machine and shrugging, «No, it’s still $ 10.00,» you get more than a little addled.
Today in the clear light of retrospect, I am Unilocaling to anyone who will listen, «DO NOT PARK HERE!!!» We plan to report this to the BBB and the Little Tokyo Association for businesses. Shame! Shame! Shame!

This parking structure is ridiculous. We went to eat sushi here today and parked at this parking structure. We got validation but the guy refused to refund us our money because we were one minute beyond the time. However we had spent 5 minutes waiting in a line of three cars cuz this idiot couldn’t get his shit together! Don’t ever park here! Rude and ridiculous robots with no sense. Zero stars! There’s only a star up there cuz they wouldn’t let me post without one.

The parking attendant is the epitome of rude. There is NO grace period. If you go in and out with with out validation he will charge you the full amount. Happened to me a couple of times the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed and we forgot. Got there and wanted to leave in less than 5 mins. He was rude and apathetic. Plus if you enter the lot after 4 pm you have to pay the $ 7 first then on the way out you cam get your money back with validation. This causes a huge line of cars going into the lot and a line of cars trying to leave. They are banking on people not knowing you can get money back. Shady. Also the spots are really small and often times the lot is packed.

Beware!!! This parking lot is running a scam to steal your money!
After 4p, they ask you to pay up front $ 7 and then when you get validation, you
should get the money back. However while I was existing, they asked me for more
money for being over the parking validation duration. (When I asked him how long is my allotted time, he didn’t answer) These details are not indicated on the sign.
We were there for less than 2 hours! Once I argued with him that it didn’t make sense we need to get a validation if we need to pay additional fees. He tried to tell me that it was a misunderstanding but he didn’t make this clear. He clearly tried to get additional money from me, then changed his mind when I asked detailed questions.
They are inconsistent as the car in front of me (my husband) went out, the parking guy also collected more money in addition to $ 7 of $ 3 for being a little over 2 hours.
My husband didn’t realize this and paid…
Complete scam! I can’t imagine all the older japanese ladies and grandpa’s getting scammed by this whole ordeal.
Can’t believe the property manager allows this parking company to exist and scam all their customers.
Unbelievable!!!

Its the only real place to park in little tokyo but this parking facility is pretty tight. I mean the lanes are thinner than usual. They do validate but not for long. just make sure to get your parking ticket validated. best bet is to park on the roof where its not so tight.

I hate parking in this structure but sometimes there’s no other option available unless you want to pay an arm and a leg. The spaces are pretty small in this structure and it’s hard to maneuver around because there’s not that much space. I also found out last night that they make you pay BEFORE you park now even if you are planning on going somewhere that validates! WTF so dumb –_​_​_​– this creates a long line waiting to get into the structure because each person has to pay $ 7 to the attendent instead of just taking a ticket. You can get your money back if you get validation from one of the restaurants in the plaza, but it’s a dumb system because you have to wait again at the exit for the attendant to give you your $ 7 back… so lame. I wish there was more parking around little tokyo but unfortunately there is not.

PARK SOMEWHERE ELSE IF AT ALL POSSIBLE !!! Parking is bad in Little Tokyo… it is even worse when places like this basically force you to pay to have a good time in Japanese Village Plaza. They used to offer 2 hours free parking… I thought they still do. However beware!!! one validation only? WTF !! So if you go to 2 places and get 2 validations for 2 hours the second does not count? even though 90% of the businesses only offer 1hour ! So they are saying you can eat and leave, but if you want to stay and shop, have coffee, wait for the shabu shabu house line for an extra hour/​w extra validation guess what you pay $ 7 bucks! Its a sneaky way for them to make sure they get cash as well as validation money! PARK SOMEWHERE ELSE EVIL PARKING DEMONS !!!

pretty small lot.
2 $ for 15 minutes. but you can get validation at certain stores in the village.
café dulce is not one of them…
after 4 or something its $ 7 for parking but you get it back if you have validation.