"Concession parking"

We live four hours drive away north of Sydney. My parent who lives in Sydney had emergency surgery recently on a Friday.

We were able to drive down on the Monday first thing in the morning. There was no parking available anywhere on the nearby streets, so we parked in the parking station. I noticed on the ticket machine a photocopied page that had the headline concessions. Can provide photos as photos could not be attached to the story. I was very relieved to read that if you had a concession card, which I do, parking is free for up to three hours. We made use of the service, had our ticket validated by customer service in hospital and all worked fine.

The next day, Tuesday, we visited my parent twice, as only one visitor per patient rule was in place. The problem arose when I went to customer service to validate the parking ticket. The receptionist would not validate it because they said they only allow one visit per day. They insisted that that was the rule written on the page near the ticket machine. I said that there was no such rule and I had not been informed. We went to the ticket machine to see if we could find a phone number to call for help. There was no phone number, so we had no choice but to pay $10.40 for just over half an hour parking.  

There is no rule about using the service only once per day as can be seen in the photos I can provide. 

Hospital visits are already very stressful but having to cope with this event just made it traumatic. In my opinion, surely the receptionist should have the flexibility to override a computer command when it's causing so much stress. Also, I think signs should be in place if there are any exceptions.

In my opinion, coming from regional NSW and not knowing the area, COVID 19 regulations and having a family member in hospital means customer service personnel should be more empathetic, not less.

In the end, we noticed that there was an intercom near the ticket machine. I spoke to a person who maybe could have helped, but it was too late, I had already paid. I believe the phone icon should be bigger, this also needs to be addressed.

I would like to speak to someone in charge of this department as I request a refund.