Free parking promotion is a mess; Long post

[snugglegirl05]

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=84381

The above link pertains to this post.

This incident happened on Saturday.

Male customer walks up to the booth window & asks me about the free parking promotion & what needs to be done to get free parking. I notice another guy walking towards him, but he turns around goes somewhere else *this information is impt.*

So I explain the procedure to him. He gets pissy & tells me the following over & over...

• the store he went to was not given the colored coupons for Saturday's & Sunday's
• there have been many complaints about the free parking promotion
• this is horrible customer service
• the customers should not be inconvenienced
• he expects to get free parking
• there is a sign stating free parking when you spend $10.00 or more, but the sign does not state what must be done to get free parking, & that information should be on the sign.

I did find the sign after he finally left, & what the sign states is...

• Free parking when you spend $10.00 or more
• Parking promotion valid on Saturday's from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. & on Sunday's from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Please ask a store associate about the details

So I explained to the guy twice how the free parking promotion works. He got pissed & told me the following...

• Don't you think it is not fair to inconvenience the customers
• People have complained about the free parking promotion
• This should not be happening to the customers

So I told him "I am just a parking attendant. I can only go by what I am told."

He asked to speak to someone in charge. The MOD was at home at that time, but she gave me her home phone number & the company cell phone before she left work.

I call her on the cell phone, & the guy speaks to her. He goes on & on about what I told him & what he told me. He also told the MOD "I want you to come down here & handle the situation." At this point the guy who was walking towards him comes up to the booth window. It was obvious that both of them knew each other. The MOD does not come down to the garage to handle the situation. She tells the guy to hand me the cell phone. She tells me to give him free parking, but only this time & that she will call the store he went to *which he told her*. She also told me to leave a note with the information on his receipt, which I did.

I tell the guy what the MOD told me, but instead of being happy & leaving, he & the other guy continue on & on about what I told him, what he told me & what he told the MOD. So I told him "I do not make the rules. The company that owns the garage came up with the promotion." I also showed him the memo that the company that owns the garage sent to the stores. He then says "Well..someone around here should know what is going on. I used to be a parking attendant & so I know how it works." They continued to complain.

At that point I was stamping his receipt. So I told the guy "since you are not happy, you might want to call the company that owns the garage since they came up with the promotion." He asks me for the phone number. I gave it to him. That shut him up.

As he was leaving the garage, he glared at me.

Several minutes later other customers arrived who went to the same store he did, & they had the correct colored coupon.

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

I used to be a parking attendant.

Yeah, right. The worst customer I ever had claimed she used to be a laundromat attendant. It's all a load of crap.

I've read the previous thread and this one and honestly, it doesn't seem like that difficult a promotion to follow.

If someone had their receipt, but the store gave them the wrong coupon, and they were nice about it, could you give them the free parking? Or are the rules very strict? If so, the SCs should take it up with the stores who are giving wrong coupons/no receipts and half-assing things.

[snugglegirl05]

[QUOTE=Laund-o-rama Mama;980852]If someone had their receipt, but the store gave them the wrong coupon, and they were nice about it, could you give them the free parking? Or are the rules very strict?

The MOD told me before she left that the customers can only get free parking if...

• they have the correct colored coupon
• they have their receipt with the current date on it
• they spent $10.00 or more
• they have the ticket they pulled when they entered the garage

She also told me that the memo clearly states this & to call her with any problems.

If the guy would have been nice & not went on & on about everything, I would have called her without having him tell me "I want to speak to someone in charge."

Yesterday was my last day working there. A new employee was hired, & they begin working there this Monday. Someone else works inside the booth this Sunday.

Off topic...

The guy who works the 2nd shift at the university we both work at as contract parking attendants also opens up this garage 7 days a week. He called me this morning to ask me if I forgot to close the booth before I left work. I told him the guy who releived me before I clocked out took the key that is used to close the booth. That key is on the same key chain, that the access card that is used to raise the gate for customers qualifying for the free parking promotion, is on. Apparently he did not lock the booth before he left work because it was not locked when my co-worker got to the garage this morning.

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

Thanks, that clears it up.

One of my main pet-peeves, as an employee, are bizarre and/or overly complicated promotions thought up by managers or suits in the head office. The people who think them up never have to deal with the logistics of implementing them. And the employees, who have no power, get to absorb all the shit.

Have some rum balls and eggnog.

[Gonzo]

I have a question. Are the stores at the mall under some sort of obligation to be a part of the parking garage's promotion? Just seems strange that every store has to keep these coupons and explain how they work to promote someone else's business interest.

[snugglegirl05]

[QUOTE=Gonzo;980895] Are the stores at the mall under some sort of obligation to be a part of the parking garage's promotion?

That I do not know.

[vloglady]

so just spend $10 and be done with it. buy a cheap sweater, underwear or socks.