The company behind the parking “smart cards” used in Hamilton is addressing problems with merchandisers who are telling customers they can’t top up their cards.The news came after two EasyPark customers complained to this newspaper of problems adding credit to their devices. According to EasyPark, the problem is that merchandisers are running out of credit to give customers because they are not ordering it from EasyPark in time.EasyPark was launched in 2009 to replace parking vouchers in the city, and was billed as a convenient and easy method of paying to park.However, one customer, who works in Hamilton, told The Royal Gazette: “It’s very difficult to get them topped up. I’ve gone to three different gas stations and they tell the customers the station gets the money from EasyPark and we can’t top them up. We have nowhere to go.”The customer said she had to visit City Hall to stock up on the old blue parking vouchers after various gas stations turned her away on around six to eight occasions in the last two months.Another customer told The Royal Gazette: “A couple of weeks ago I tried to top up my EasyPark at Miles Market and it took about 20 minutes before this was actually completed.“They tried on one machine and it would not work, then tried on another machine where the device could not be recognised. I would have walked away at this point but they had already charged me via the Miles till. So I had to wait until they managed to get this sorted. It seems to me like these places need to be trained properly on how to use these things.”Responding to the concerns, EasyPark general manager Danny Faria said EasyPark is distributed through a network of distributors across the Island.“As indirect distributors, none of our retail partners are under our control so sometimes it is problematic. For example, they manage their own EasyPark inventory and are responsible for ensuring sufficient balances are on their terminals,” he explained.“Unfortunately, a few merchants run out before they reorder inventory and often misinform customers by telling them that EasyPark is not operational. However, normally this is not the case as in 2011 we have only had one outage. Over the last few months we have been working with our retailers to improve this; but for the most part we are not authorised to replenish their stock without approval. We have plans in place to help correct this in the future using alternative technology.”He noted that customers can also top up online.According to Mr Faria, there are approximately 14,000 EasyPark meters in circulation, representing over 60 percent of all parking activity in Bermuda. Other options include pay and display meters and vouchers.Useful website: www.easypark.bm.