The older I get the less I tend to let things go. I mean the little things.. like being overcharged 10 cents on my phone bill or finding hidden fees on my GE Creditline –that kind of thing.
When I was younger, (oh no! I even sound like a cranky OLD person!) I used to let all this pass me by. Now, as a (gulp) 30 year old I tend to have the opinion that if I don’t pipe up about it, none of the apathetic 20 somethings (me 10 years ago) will.
Take for example, paid parking. In particular paid parking at Shopping Centres.
This concept angers me immensely. So much so that I refuse to shop at Charlestown Square and visit it as infrequently as possible.
Why am I so annoyed by it?
For one thing, it just doesn’t compute in my head that a business that is trying to get you to spend your hard earned dollars then hits you up again for parking there.
I actually understand the reasoning behind paid parking for shopping centres. It’s all to do with turnover. They want to discourage people from just hanging around the centres without opening their wallets. I get that.
But I am not one of the minorities that think spending time, not money, at a shopping centre is fun.
I think you might find that is only fun when you are 15 and even then only for about 3 minutes then you get over it and go try and find someone to bum smokes off (because at this point in your life you possibly are even more of an idiot to think smoking is cool)
Now before your start commenting “But Kez you can always take your receipts to the concierge and get your parking free” I will get onto point number two.
If I have spent my fortune, and wasted my weekend buying groceries, clothes, and the million other unnecessary items you get suckered into buying just by being there do you think for one minute I am going to drag myself one further step more than I have to?
Half these places are already pushing you to walk kilometres just to get the essentials… now at the end of that hard slog you have to walk ANOTHER gazillion k’s to then walk all the way back to your car knowing that your reward for spending all your cash is an additional 10 minutes out of your weekend and a few more exhausting kilometres for something that should have been free in the first place.
Grrrrr!
I could only hope that CEO’s and Marketing people for these centres read my blog and think “Hey Kez has a point – that IS a crappy thing to do to our customers. We will stop it immediately.” But somehow I don’t think they do..
So I take my own stance, and gain satisfaction avoiding those centres like the plague. It doesn’t add up to much in terms of their profit and loss statements – but it is a sweet, sweet victory for me.
Have a great weekend.
Kez x
