The new, lighter toonies and loonies are still being swallowed up by Vancouver parking meters, despite promises by the city that the conversion would be completed by late May.

Driver Alexandra Caldwell estimates losing $6 in the past week while using the 2012 coins, because the lighter coins haven’t registered any time.

"It’s pretty frustrating when it's already expensive to park in Vancouver,” she told CTV’s Steele on Your Side.

Taryn Scollard, manager of parking operations for the City of Vancouver, says 25 per cent of the city’s 10,000 parking meters have still not been converted to accept the new coins.

“We've run into a few snags with some of the fixes from our manufacturer.  Before we roll them out on the street we want to make sure they are 100 per cent," she said. 

Scollard wouldn't say how much the meter conversion is going to cost taxpayers, but up to $1 million from Vancouver’s capital budget has been set aside to pay for the upgrade.

In contrast, Toronto estimated the cost to readjust its 3,000 parking meters would top $1 million. 

The new coins have also caused headaches for TransLink, which has scrambled to retrofit 155 ticket vending machines at its SkyTrain and Canada Line stations. 

"We got about two dozen complaints…from people who for one reason or another didn't get a ticket when they thought they'd paid for it,” said spokesperson Drew Snider.

TransLink's coin conversion was completed Wednesday at a total cost of $17,000.

But the City of Vancouver still has to retrofit about 2,500 parking meters. Motorists like Caldwell are fed up.

"We’re going to penalized because it’s eating our coins. And if people haven't set up the pay by phone then it’s just a big nightmare. So I definitely think they need to make it a priority, especially since we're nearly in July now,” she said. 

The good news is you can get your lost coins back. 

City staff can either put that money onto a pay-by-phone account or go to city hall and collect a refund. 

Here’s a look at how other cities are handling the coin problem:

  • Burnaby: Finished conversion in May. Cost of $25,000 for 1,500 meters
  • Surrey: Spending $45,000
  • New Westminster: 90-per-cent complete
  • Victoria: Completed in May. Cost of $20,000
  • Kelowna: No plans to change meters, no complaints registered

Vancouver drivers are being urged to be patient as the final conversion is completed. 

"We can completely understand the frustration,” Scollard said. 

The federal government estimated a one-time cost of $40 million to the vending machine industry to recalibrate its equipment but never estimated the cost for cities to convert their parking meters. 

The new loonies and toonies could save the government $16 million a year, according to the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Canadian government.