Clay Street Garage

Machines often broken, people are super rude and don’t care and the final straw for me is that I just had my car broken into yesterday there. Was hoping that there was more security in a covered garage. I won’t be back.

Early bird special is before 9:30 and there is always plenty of parking. I think the early bird special is 25 dollars and if it’s after that it be double.

Cheapest place (by a lot) you can find around these parts. Most nearby all-​day parking is $ 25 – 30. If I come in around 9 or 9:30am I just go strait to the roof.

This garage is run by swindlers. It says on the sign for the garage is very tiny letters that it closes at 11PM. So small, in fact, that you probably wouldn’t notice it as you drive into the garage. Got back to the car at 11:30 and the garage was closed and locked shut. There was a bell to ring «if the gate is closed», but it clearly didn’t work. There was also a sign saying that $ 50 would be charged to get cars out after hours, and a number was provided. We called this number probably 30 times, and nobody answered. It was somebody’s cell phone and just went to voice mail. SHADY.
So we had no choice but to come back for the car the next morning. Posted prices for cars were $ 6 after 4PM (we arrived at 8PM) and a $ 6 overnight charge — so $ 12 in total. We got there 15 mins before the garage opened so we could get the car out right away. Well when we tried to pay, the machine told us (and several other people who also got locked out overnight) that the cost was $ 22. I don’t even know where $ 22 would have come from — even if it had wanted to charge us a full day instead of evening rate + overnight charge, that would have only been $ 20. After what seemed like an eternity of arguing with the «parking attendant» (whose only job was to press the button that let cars into the garage), we were able to get out without having to pay the $ 22, but I don’t think less patient people were so lucky. I bet this is a scam to get people to pay way more money for parking than they should, because most people would probably just pay the fee to leave.

Closes at 11:00 PM, or so says the tiny sign on the wall that you won’t see as you pull in. Seriously, it’s like 20-​point type. So when you get out of a show at the Fox Theater and walk back to the garage, don’t be surprised to be greeted with locked doors and gates.
Oh, and when that happens, it costs 50 bucks for them to send someone out to unlock it. And when said person shows up, he’ll be dressed like a common panhandler and will come up and just ask if you «got the money.» Then when you say no because you think he’s panhandling, he’ll get verbally abusive and start walking away. Sorry dude, but it’s Oakland, it’s nearly midnight, and you’re slurring your speech and wearing sweatpants and a gigantic hoodie. Not exactly a stretch. Fortunately, we put two and two together and got the jerk to come back and let us in (and refused to give him a cent until the gates were opened), but it was a close one.
We split the $ 50 fee with three other concertgoers (one of whom tried to stiff us, but that’s not the garage’s fault I suppose). So at least they don’t make you pay your own fee. But don’t park here, whatever you do. BART in if you’re coming from elsewhere in the Bay Area, or try your luck with street parking if you must drive.

I parked at this garage today and I am so pissed off at this garage I can barely see straight! When I pulled into the garage I swiped my credit card so I could get out quickly when it was time to leave. The attendant was standing right next to the machine when I swiped my card and watched everything I was doing. I parked my car and went to do my business. 20 minutes later I came back to the garage, got in my car and tried to leave the garage by swiping my credit card like I had done many times before. The machine gave me an error message. I backed out and went to the other machine, swiped my card and got the same error message. So, I backed up again and looked for the attendant. I told her what happened and she took my card, tried to swipe it and got the same error message. She asked if I had used another card and I told her «no». She tried to swipe it again and then said, «Now give me your other card» in a snotty tone. I told her that was the only card I had, so she swiped it again, then asked one more time if I had another card. By this time I was getting really irritated. She then told me that the same thing had happened to 3 other people on Friday. I told her I would pay in cash and she said I couldn’t and she needed to get her supervisor. She called her supervisor then told me that I had to park and wait because her supervisor was was «a long ways away». I told her I had to get back to work and she said I had to wait for the supervisor. I told her she was holding me against my will and that was kidnapping but she did not care. A half hour later the supervisor came and let me out. I am just livid that this bitch held me against my will over a malfunction of their machinery. I need to find out who owns this garage because I am going to take them to court!

Cash and checks only. Plus… closes at 11:00PM

I had to park here for business so they see me all the time and know I am always loyal. However I had an emergency and needed to leave to 20 min and come back and park for the day. I told them my situation and they were so not willing to accommodate they charged me twice for the whole day.
The final straw for me was when I left this garage I was not aware they did not accept credit or debit cards and I did not have the proper dollar amount to pay cash the woman who was the attendant at the time started yelling at me to go across the street and get cash. I asked her if I could pay the next morning when I see them again and she kept yelling it was absolutely pitiful! I ended up having to give her my ID and came back the next day to pay in full when I learned from another worker that they could have just mailed me the bill — why didn’t the crazy woman allow me to have that option?
It’s unfortunate for them they have lost a loyal customer. Parking 1 block away for $ 9 for the whole day and they will accommodate you if you are a good customer. My advice is to do business with a place that doesn’t yell at their paying customers and degrade them.

Going to the optometrist
No parking on the street.
But I only need to pick up my glasses!
I don’t want to park in a garage… it will only take minutes… only minutes!
Park on the top floor of the garage… reluctantly.
Run down stairs, run across the street, pick up cool new glasses, run across the street, run upstairs, drive down to pay… NO CHARGE!!!

$ 14 max
Plenty of space on the roof at 9:45am on a Friday. No extra charge for full-​sized trucks :)