Hubby got a ticket downtown last fall for parking at an expired meter, which was broken. He put money in it and it stayed expired. He called the number and explained to whoever who said they would 'take care of it.' A month or so ago, he got a notice that he did not pay the ticket and it was x more dollars. Being convinced that wasting more time dealing with dolts was unproductive, he just paid the money.

That's the way they do it, blanket the place with tickets then have no sensible way to deal with errors. The lesson we learned, if the meter is broken, let someone else have the spot, and the joy of dealing with Detroit bureaucracy.