LA County woman given $7,800 parking bill after visit to Glendale hospital

A woman in Los Angeles County was left with a nearly $8,000 parking bill after visiting a local hospital. 

Cate Daniels said she visited Glendale Memorial Hospital on Friday. After spending 45 minutes in the facility, the parking machine said she entered the lot three years ago and charged her $7,829. She also said the parking attendant accused her of parking there for weeks. 

"How can, when people are receiving healthcare, something like this happen with any frequency?" she said. "That is appalling. That's my concern. That this is something that is systematic. I don't hear any inclination to correct it."

Parking Company of America, which operates the garage, said the charge should not have happened. The hospital also apologized for the charge. They attributed the error to a computer glitch. 

"We apologize for any inconvenience or concern this may have caused," a hospital spokesperson wrote in a statement.   

They said they are in the process of crediting the chargeback. While she's happy to get her money back, Daniels said it should not have taken so much effort for them to fix the problem. 

"Two different people have sai things like this happen in that lot," Daniels said. "Makes me think I'm not the only one this has happened to."

The company plans to replace the parking machine.