I come back from a warehouse run and see one of my neighbors struggling with the sign over their unit, he's trying to get it out of the bracket and working off a stepladder, which is not tall enough and he is balancing on it very precariously. So I say, "Hey, I have a solution - let me raise my lift deck, back the truck up and you can work off the wide liftgate and have a good, safe platform." He was very happy, and we did this.
Now we had this set up for no more than two minutes when his boss, and the owner of the unit comes out and starts getting into with me about where I park the truck in the complex. He and I have gone round and round about this - my unit is 4x the size of his and I've been parking the truck in the same spot for 33 years. He's been here 2 years. Not that it gives me 'rights' or anything, but he saw that the truck in the same parking spot at the end when he bought the unit, so its kind of like moving next to the airport then complaining about the noise. His claim is he needs that spot I am in to unload pallets every day. And that's a stretch - I see what he gets, maybe one every two weeks. And I have told him I will move the truck if he needs that specific space whenever he requests. He says "Well, I request it all the time." I tell him that "All the Time" is not happening. Then while he's leaning on the deck platform of MY TRUCK parked to help him fix HIS SIGN he says "I'm going to sue you and the association". This guy is Norwegian, and seems to be a bit of an odd duck.
I said "Seriously? Here we are using my truck to fix your sign and you want to barge out of your office and threaten to sue me? What's wrong with this picture? What part of this are you not getting?"
That stops him and he motions for his guy to get off the platform. His employee that I'm helping out says "I'm sorry, man" and of course I am wanting to move the truck now. But I stop and said "No, stay up there and finish your task, this is better this way and if your boss doesn't care about your safety - I do. I'll move the truck out when you are done." And so the truck is still in the same spot as I write this. I go back in the store shaking my head....
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Ha! Sue you for what, parking in a parking space that is not assigned? If anything it is assigned to you just from repeated use over time!
Lol, well you know - you TRY to get along. I moved the truck to a back space on the other side of the complex so Mr Fussy-Pants won't get himself all tied up in knots over it. I just turned 63 years old and at this point in life you pick your battles, and this isn't one of them. I'm always amused that people (in my experience) that threaten to sue are the ones with the least amount of money. Usually its just something they say when they run out of counterpoints to make, a nuclear response. My commercial unit is 4x the size of his, and he drives a clapped-out, 20-year-old Subaru Outback that's worth maybe $ 1,000. They can't even afford to have a professional fix their sign properly so I kind of doubt he has $ 10K laying around to initiate a civil suit. But if it makes him feel better.....
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Although there is never an excuse for bad behavior, I suspect your neighbor may be taking his frustrations out on you. The business climate is not that great for small companies. When anger management issues and maybe some customer service issues are tossed into the mix, I suspect that Subaru may be around for another 10 years.
Some other nuclear responses for those with anger management issues (I have several colorful but less polite terms for these people) are keying vehicles or cutting valve stems so a vehicle is temporarily out of service. Unfortunately, I have had to experience being on the receiving end for both responses.
I absolutely relate to Kevin's experience. I was witness to such deplorable behavior...over a parking space dispute. The salon I go to is located in a center much like yours, Duane. Each business owner has one assigned parking space directly in front of their shop, with the remaining spaces unassigned. The names of the businesses are stenciled on the curbs of those assigned parking spaces. Because the stencils are not very bold, it is a common occurrence that new customers park in the wrong spaces. One of the business owners has a nasty attitude and goes off when that happens.
That did happen during one of my salon appointments. A new salon customer missed the sign and parked in that guy's one designated space. Keep in mind that there were many more available spaces. Instead of coming in the salon and politely asking the new customer to move, he went another route. When the new customer left, she discovered her vehicle had been badly keyed! And, as if that wasn't enough, the guy came out of his shop and had a screaming hissy-fit! The salon owner then went out and let him have it, verbally.
This happened in front of God and everybody. It was unprofessional, upsetting, and frightening.