The Battle of the Parking Lot

[.pokey.]

So, our office is on one end of a single-story building. The exercise center in the middle has the largest square fooeforum.xxxe, therefore the largest number of "dedicated parking spaces" in front of their business. The hair salon on the other end is the smallest, so has the least number of parking spaces. And there is us. The size of our office space allows for four parking spaces, but one of them is a handicap space, so therefore is set aside as such. This leaves us with three spaces in front of our office. There is also a strip across the parking lot, along the street, where people can park.

In general, the employees and owners of the various businesses tend to park in the "street strip", to allow for places for clients to park. Except us- whenever we actually drive to the office, we tend to pull up alongside of the building, and park in front of our a/c unit (therefore, not taking up either one of our parking spaces, nor one on "the street strip"). Even our tenant would park in "the strip"- unless she had a load to carry in, or "the strip" was full (which I have seen happen a time or two). She did take advaneforum.xxxe of my giving her "permission" to park in front of the a/c sometimes, too.

When we started building out our space, we noticed right away that the clients of the exercise center seemed to *prefer* parking in our spaces, even if the spaces in front of their place of business were completely void of parked cars. We figured, Ok, they got used to parking there when nobody was using this space, so they'll soon "get the picture" as they see us active and here more often.

That didn't happen. Over the past year, I can't count how many times I've seen one of the exercise place's customers park in one of our spots and walk over there (a matter of just a few feet), when most or all of their spaces were open- including nearly the entire "street strip. Usually, this is more of an "annoyance" than an actual *problem*. Except perhaps for all the people who tend to drive up and park ON the handicap ramp, which had left it completely cracked and separated in places. Thankfully, the landlord has told Hubby that he is going to take care of it.

That changed the day we had three full parking spaces- all from the exercise place's clients, plus the handicap place was full (again, with one of their clients), and Hubby had a very handicapped client who had to park "in the strip" and it was RAINING! To watch that man struggle to walk is hard enough; to have to watch him struggle to walk all the way across the parking lot, IN THE RAIN, with his cane, was unbearable.

Add to this the absolute frustration we had during the Sonic's "remodeling" (which turned into a complete rebuilding, and lots more time under construction), where the workers would also park in our clients' spaces. Hubby and I both marched over there to talk to the foreman more than once about their choice of parking places.

Then, once the Sonic was finished, their new EMPLOYEES began using our parking spaces! They're not even in the same building as us! Once again, Hubby and I have spoken with the managers (one of whom knows us from "before the rebuild" and who supports us- to the point of threatening to fire any employee who parks in our spaces).

We spoke with our landlord about getting "Parking for Us Only" signs- which he fully supported. He even told Hubby he'd get us the # of a towing company if they kept it up. We, being the "non-confrontational" type that we are, truly hope that it never actually comes to having to have someone's car towed. That just seems.... rude.

So, we got some signs. Nice big ones, that leave absolutely no doubt whatsoever that we wish for our parking spaces to be respected. They even have our logo on them, to leave NO doubt about it. I can't tell you how frustrated I was the day a man walked into our place looking for the MT who works in the center next door, having parked in our parking space. He left his truck there while getting his massage- and someone else parked next to him too, leaving us with only one space available, and we had TWO clients coming that day. Uh, yeah- that was the day the disabled client had to walk across the parking lot in the rain.

It is as though people in this area cannot, or will not, read.

Anyway, the clincher for me was tonight. We closed a little early, to go pick up some stuff for our new Qi Gong classroom. When we got back, there was an SUV parked right in front of our door. Once again, there were several spaces open in front of the other business. We watched to see whose car it was while we put up our new curtains and did some other stuff.

Just before we were ready to leave, Hubby informed me that he'd seen who got into the SUV in front of our place. It was the OWNER of the exercise place! He said she *looked* at him as she got into her vehicle, with a very snooty look on her face. t017 He said she left before he could go confront her about her choice of parking place.

Apparently, she takes exception to our claiming our own parking spaces, for which we pay rent along with our office space.

To be fair, neither of us has ever actually gone and spoken with her about her patrons using our spaces instead of hers. I did once go in to ask whose was a certain vehicle, and then found a Sonic employee sheepishly moving the car when I walked out.

Perhaps I am missing something. Maybe where "they" come from, it is perfectly all right to not honor the fact that a place of business (or residence) has a right to their own parking space. I, however, was not raised that way, and I am not raising my children that way.

Has our society actually gotten THAT RUDE? I just don't understand how people think sometimes.

 

[Really Dude]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

Unfortunately we live in a time where most (not all) people think only of themselves and no one else. Yes people have gotten that rude.Which IMO is very sad. I am a true southern girl and I was raised to be nice,nice until you piss me off that is, I am a coonazz! lol
It infuriates me when I see a healthy person with no handicap license plate or eforum.xxx on their car parked in a handicap parking space.
If this were me,if I had the sign saying "Parking for XYZ massage studio only. all other vehicles will be towed at owners expense"
I would start having vehicles towed,regardless of who it was.

 

[abc]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

It sounds as though you need to carry out the threat to tow a couple of times for the folks at that exercise center to get the hint...Either that or simply block off your spaces with large movable posts & ropes, until right before your clients are due to arrive. I would have been very upset by any handicapped client being inconvenienced - in the way yours was - especially in the rain. If he has a cell phone & this should happen again, I would ask him to call you from his car & move your own car if needed so that he could park next to your building...then I would immediately call the police & ask them to come & ticket the ignorant person who parked there illegally. I had a brother who was wheel chair bound from age 19, until he passed away in his 50's - so I feel very strongly about people parking where they don't belong - especially in any handicapped spots! t013 :banghead: t013

 

[Bloke501]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

It sounds as though you need to carry out the threat to tow a couple of times for the folks at that exercise center to get the hint...Either that or simply block off your spaces with large movable posts & ropes, until right before your clients are due to arrive. I would have been very upset by any handicapped client being inconvenienced - in the way yours was - especially in the rain. If he has a cell phone & this should happen again, I would ask him to call you from his car & move your own car if needed so that he could park next to your building...then I would immediately call the police & ask them to come & ticket the ignorant person who parked there illegally. I had a brother who was wheel chair bound from age 19, until he passed away in his 50's - so I feel very strongly about people parking where they don't belong - especially in any handicapped spots! t013 :banghead: t013

I honestly believe that on that particular day, whomever was parked in the handicap space did have license to do so. It was the people who parked in our own spaces who inconvenienced our client. He does better parking in our first spot anyway- the ramp is on the passenger side of the handicap spot, so it doesn't do him any good to park there. I do believe that on the days this particular client is due to come in, we WILL save out that spot physically- even if it means I have to drive over and park my own car there all day until he shows up in the parking lot, and then move my car.

Otherwise, moving our car is *rarely* an option; we usually walk over (it's faster than driving, LOL!).

Our signs as of this point don't say "all others will be towed"- my naive self was hoping it wouldn't be necessary. I suppose our next conversation will be regarding having some made (to add onto our existing signs).

I wonder about having a movable "handicap parking for us only" sign made, to put in our first spot (where getting in and out is easier), and putting it up when we have a known-needy client scheduled for that day.

I still think that NONE of this should be necessary.

I wouldn't want to physically block off our parking spaces unless clients are scheduled, because that would discourage possible walk-ins from coming. We haven't really had *any* walk-ins from next door; basically, "walk-ins" for us tend to be folks who live in the area driving by, see our sign, think "OH! WE have a MASSAGE place here!", and pull in to come in and talk, or at least grab a card from outside our window. So, blocking off our spaces could dissuade "drive-by's" from stopping.

I'm honestly still kinda t017 over the whole situation, but I admit that I am not t013 like I was when I posted this last night. :mrgreen: I think I need a :massage: .

 

[vodafonewtf]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

Yeah, you're probably gonna have to start towing people...

Anyway, the clincher for me was tonight. We closed a little early, to go pick up some stuff for our new Qi Gong classroom. When we got back, there was an SUV parked right in front of our door. Once again, there were several spaces open in front of the other business. We watched to see whose car it was while we put up our new curtains and did some other stuff.

Just before we were ready to leave, Hubby informed me that he'd seen who got into the SUV in front of our place. It was the OWNER of the exercise place! He said she *looked* at him as she got into her vehicle, with a very snooty look on her face.

...starting with this one!

She does have some nerve, doesn't she?

 

[Vishal]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

You can buy your own "handicapped parking" sign, post, and a pack of stickers for placing on cars stating that they are parked in a handicapped spot from this site:

http://www.myparkingsign.com/Handicapped-Parking-Signs/Handicapped-Reserved-Parking-Sign/SKU-K-1433.aspx

I imagine there are others, this is just the first one I came across. The sign is about $14 and ships within one day. I've seen similar signs on a post that is cemented into a 2 gallon bucket. Then it is mobile, but isn't something that would be too easy to move around. You could put that in front of your shop for your guy on appt. days.

Ohhhh.....you could put those tire spikes out and just move them when you have clients! :

 

[paddy]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

You can buy your own "handicapped parking" sign, post, and a pack of stickers for placing on cars stating that they are parked in a handicapped spot from this site:

http://www.myparkingsign.com/Handicapped-Parking-Signs/Handicapped-Reserved-Parking-Sign/SKU-K-1433.aspx

I imagine there are others, this is just the first one I came across. The sign is about $14 and ships within one day. I've seen similar signs on a post that is cemented into a 2 gallon bucket. Then it is mobile, but isn't something that would be too easy to move around. You could put that in front of your shop for your guy on appt. days.

Ohhhh.....you could put those tire spikes out and just move them when you have clients! :

:evil: :

 

[supaspy]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

I like the idea of the tire spikes...and the sign in nice big heavy cement bucket...thinking of what it would be like if it was "accidentally dropped" onto someone's front hood...Of course one could get some of the police boots for putting on the car tires of illegally parked vehicles - which only you would have the key for...http://www.tirelock.com/ 8)

 

[Bubba]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

But seriously. seems like there is bad energy developing between the exercise place and your business and I wouldn't want that. I would think the two businesses should be able to work together and that this is a sign that there is likely a communication issue or lack of understanding. Perhaps the exercise people do not feel that parking places should be assigned. perhaps they don't realize you "pay" for your spots - do they "pay" for their spots? I would ask the landlord to, first in a non-confrontational way, go over the rules about the parking and then I would, to repair any future bad energy between you guys, talk to them. It will only help you to try and work this out without negative assumptions. be open and honest. explain why you need that spot and what happened to your client. Unless the owner is a really piece of work, I would he/she would understand. Then I would try to repair the bad energy because if you both are planning on being in this space for any length of time, it would only benefit you to get along. perhaps even do a trade... give a massage and get a 'training' to understand why their clients might need your massage and why your clients might like to use this exercise place. focus on a solution.

just my 2 cents

 

[Timinator .]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

Agreed. Try mending fences before you build higher walls.

 

[Beebs]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

Unfortunately, she does seem to be a "real piece of work". Our landlord constantly asks us if she seems to be "doing ok" business-wise; he says she is always late with her rent, and seems to be concerned that she is either hiding from him or about to go under. (Of course, none of that is any of our business, so we respond as generically as we can, letting him know that we really don't poke our noses into other peoples' business.)

Every time I've tried to talk to her over the time we've been here, I've been met with coldness, and sometimes even a lack of verbal response (as though I had not spoken, or she couldn't understand me- she is "American" and English is her primary language, so I know it's not a language barrier).

We put the signs up not just because of the exercise place's customers, but also because of the Sonic employees using our spaces. I noticed that the bar on the other side of the Sonic had a hand-made sign up in their parking lot indicating that non-customers would be towed, so apparently the Sonic employees have not just been using our spots, but others' as well. I cannot fathom a business owner who would rebuild, expand his business, and yet not ensure enough parking places for his own employees. They're not supposed to take up THEIR customers' parking spaces. They also built their trash dumpster hidey-hole thingy- solid concrete- in the corner of their property right up against the street-- which leaves it extremely difficult for us to see around pulling out of our parking lot. Huh..... maybe it is the person who approves the building plans for this city who needs that talking-to.

Our landlord has been in negotiations with the Sonic's owner about selling them a portion of our parking lot that is adjacent to theirs. He also indicated to Hubby that if they did not start to respect where they AREN'T supposed to park, he would not sell them the land, and he would also begin enforcing towing himself. We have seen someone continue to park in the strip along the street; but as I said before, *that* doesn't bother me. We never have enough clients at one time, with just the two of us here, to need more than three spaces.

Lately, we haven't had any trouble from anyone. Not since that last day when the exercise place's owner did what she did. Perhaps she was just trying to "run in for a sec" and grabbed the first spot she saw open- I don't know. That wouldn't excuse the look she gave Hubby, though. We haven't seen her since, to even talk to her about it. At least, I haven't- don't know if he has. He hasn't mentioned it if so.

Anyway, it looks as though things are settling down.

 

[young pop-eye]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

...give a massage and get a 'training' to understand why their clients might need your massage and why your clients might like to use this exercise place.

Yeah, I hear you. Cross-marketing, in this instance, wouldn't work. She has an MT renting a room in her place, so we do not market at all to their customers. They are free to pop in here if they choose to- and one or two have, but that's it. And it is a Curves that is next door. I'm not interested in their "training style". I know personal trainers to whom I can refer clients who ask.

I know, this still isn't any "excuse" to be enemies... but please believe me when I say that we have tried. See the second paragraph of my previous post. The hair salon owner doesn't "get along" with her either, and she is about the most outgoing, friendly person I've met around here. Other than that "snooty look", there's been no aggression, but she does not seem to be a very happy/content person.

 

[Pompal 09.]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

Perhaps a bit of Feng Shui would be in order to ward off the negativity....

 

[Pompal 09.]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

...give a massage and get a 'training' to understand why their clients might need your massage and why your clients might like to use this exercise place.

Yeah, I hear you. Cross-marketing, in this instance, wouldn't work. She has an MT renting a room in her place, so we do not market at all to their customers. They are free to pop in here if they choose to- and one or two have, but that's it. And it is a Curves that is next door. I'm not interested in their "training style". I know personal trainers to whom I can refer clients who ask.

I know, this still isn't any "excuse" to be enemies... but please believe me when I say that we have tried. See the second paragraph of my previous post. The hair salon owner doesn't "get along" with her either, and she is about the most outgoing, friendly person I've met around here. Other than that "snooty look", there's been no aggression, but she does not seem to be a very happy/content person.

Sounds like you are at a stalemate then as for as keeping good communication between the two of you. My only advice would be to not speak ill of her to your clients or anyone in the neighboring businesses. Nothing screams 'trustworthy' and 'professional' any better than not speaking ill of someone who is disrespectful of you and your business. Potential clients will pay attention and you will gain their respect. I'm not saying you do that... I just know (by personal experience) it's easy sometimes to be aggravated in a situation and speaketh before we thinketh. lol

 

[syla]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

Sandra, I hear you. Why thinkest thou that I come here to discuss the issues? LOL!

 

[Shay Shay KAY!!]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

You can buy your own "handicapped parking" sign, post, and a pack of stickers for placing on cars stating that they are parked in a handicapped spot from this site:

http://www.myparkingsign.com/Handicapped-Parking-Signs/Handicapped-Reserved-Parking-Sign/SKU-K-1433.aspx

I imagine there are others, this is just the first one I came across. The sign is about $14 and ships within one day. I've seen similar signs on a post that is cemented into a 2 gallon bucket. Then it is mobile, but isn't something that would be too easy to move around. You could put that in front of your shop for your guy on appt. days.

Ohhhh.....you could put those tire spikes out and just move them when you have clients! :

Palpable,

THANK YOU! I may just purchase some of those myself. I hate it when people park in handicap spots.

 

[The Ladies Man]

The Battle of the Parking Lot

Do you actually have the parking spaces as part of your leased space? If not, I would think there is nothing you can do about it. Outside the handicap issue, most people probably could use a little walking!

It's sort of like if you buy a house on a street and can only park on the street. We assume that everyone else will respect that you own a home and want to park in front of it but it's a street and people can park anywhere.

My office has a lot of available parking but there are a few businesses there and often times they are taken. We actually have no handicap parking. It all works out, most employee's and business owners park farther away so clients can park closer but even they sometimes have to walk. No biggie.