Don Giaquinto thought he had done everything right when he tried to appeal a parking ticket he received in Hillcrest earlier this year.

After he received the citation for an expired meter, he went online to appeal the ticket, including documents to support his case. Within a few weeks, his appeal was denied, so he requested an in-person hearing, paying the citation fee as required by the city and then sending a request via email for the hearing.

But ultimately, the hearing was never scheduled. In a follow-up email, the city said Giaquinto needed to send in his citation fee and submit the request again — all of which Giaquinto said he previously sent in.

Assuming that the city did, in fact, have the required information, Giaquinto said he didn’t send the city additional details. But the deadline came and went for him to schedule the in-person hearing. Without much else to do, he accepted the $42 ticket and moved on.

“I’m just confused on the entire process,” he said.

Giaquinto isn’t the only person trying to appeal a parking ticket. Since July, the city of San Diego has issued about 76,000 citations and received about 7,000 appeals.

The success rate for an appeal is low. Of the 7,000 appeals, 908 of them have resulted in dismissed citations.

A citation could be dismissed if there was a factual error on the citation and the driver provides enough evidence to meet the burden of proof, Richard Berg, spokesperson for the city’s Office of the Treasurer, said in an email.

This could include a parking enforcement officer using an incorrect violation code on the ticket, the street signage not corresponding with the citation or if the meter was paid at the time a ticket was issued.

Parking tickets are common; the city issues hundreds of thousands each year. And if drivers aren’t careful, they may be getting more under the city’s new parking regulations, which include extended parking meter hours, Sunday enforcement and the implementation of a new law that prohibits parking less than 20 feet from a marked or unmarked crosswalk.

The cost at most parking meters has doubled, and last week a City Council decision moved to end free parking at the San Diego Zoo.

In most cases, a driver will have no choice but to pay a parking ticket if they’re in violation of a policy. But for those trying to appeal a parking ticket, the process can have its own challenges. The city will send information to drivers about their citation both digitally and by mail, and drivers must be sure to carefully submit all supporting information at every step of their appeal.

Berg says the city doesn’t intend to make the process difficult for drivers, and it won’t hesitate to dismiss a citation when the requirements are met.

“It is not very common, but when there is an instance of officer error resulting in citation dismissals, we will alert Parking Enforcement leadership for training to resolve the issue,” Berg said in an email.

But for drivers like Giaquinto, the appeals process left him disappointed in the city’s communication.

“At some point, you just get frustrated and give up,” he said.

The San Diego Union-Tribune can’t give advice on how to successfully appeal a parking ticket, but here’s a guide on how the city’s appeal process works.

The first step

If you think you received a parking ticket in error, head to the city’s website to request an administrative review online or via mail. This is the first of three steps in the appeals process, and it gives drivers the opportunity to explain why they are contesting a parking ticket and provide evidence to support their position. A driver must request an administrative review within 21 days from the date of the citation.

Evidence submitted with your request can include documentation such as charts, diagrams, photographs, drawings, maps or receipts. Keep in mind that you can only submit a limited number of attachments, and there is a list of requirements for attachments and file types.

If your request for administrative review fails to properly submit, try again. It may be due to the file type of your attachments.

The appeal webpage is hosted by a vendor service, Berg said, and the city is currently working with the vendor to provide a notification page that would explain why an appeal did not successfully submit.

Once your appeal is submitted, you should be taken to a confirmation page, and you will receive a confirmation email. Citation payment will be put on hold while the city reviews your case.

You can also submit your appeal via mail to the city’s Parking Administration: PO Box 129038, San Diego, CA 92112-9038. Make sure to include the parking citation number, license plate number and state in the request. Including a copy of the citation could help expedite the process.

The city says it reviews appeals within seven to 10 days, but it can take up to a month depending on the backlog. The city will also send a notice in the mail with its decision on your appeal. The city also recommends that drivers check the status of their appeal on the city’s online portal.

Once an appeal is denied, a driver has 21 days from the date that the notice is mailed to pay the citation or request an in-person hearing to continue trying to appeal the ticket.

Requesting a hearing

A small number of appeals make it to the next round of the appeal process: meeting with an administrative hearing officer. Of the approximately 32,000 appeals that the city received last year, only 2,500 went to an administrative hearing.

To request an in-person hearing, a driver must first submit payment for the citation, as required by state law. If a driver is unable to pay the citation for financial reasons but still wants to request an in-person hearing, they can complete a hardship waiver form, which would waive the deposit fee if approved.

State law requires the hearing to be scheduled within 90 days of the request, which can be made via mail, in person, over the phone or via email. The email must include all pertinent information: full name, address, phone number and whether you’d like a hearing by phone, mail or in person.

The final stage

Your parking ticket payment will be refunded if the administrative hearing officer determines that your citation should be dismissed. But if not, there’s one final step in the appeal process: taking your case to the Superior Court.

Berg says that only a nominal number of appeals make it to the Superior Court, which is when a judge on the San Diego Superior Court reviews the details and documents of the citation and determines if it should be upheld.

There’s a financial risk to taking your citation to the Superior Court, though. Drivers appealing their ticket must pay a $25 civil court filing fee. If your citation is overturned, you’ll be reimbursed this fee. But if the citation is upheld, you won’t be refunded — leaving you with both a parking citation and court fee to pay.