I know there have been a lot of complaints about being towed from Geische's Shoe Store after business hours, discussions of which have led to other bashings about their customer service, etc.

Recently my car was towed from their lot on a Friday evening after business hours. I was parked their for an event at Glen Ellyn Bible Church and have always been able to park there for church activities as long as it was outside of business hours. Geische's changed their policy recently and they now tow any car parked in their lot that is not there to do business with Geisches - that means outside of business hours too.

Well here's the deal. I wrote a letter to Brian Geische about my experience. He called me the day he got the letter and explained his situation to me. Some of the other businesses in his vicinity have had their employees parking in his lot during business hours. Also, there are times when Glen Ellyn Bible Church has activities during the week, and even though they make an announcement not to park in Geische's lot, some people still do. He talked to the businesses in question, but they did not respond favorably. He even specifically talked to someone who parked in his lot but was going to a restaurant, and that person told him where to go. This is unfair.

Geische's is open until 8:00 on Thursday evenings and they were getting almost no customers. However they were getting complaints that there was no where to park to shop there. I asked Brian if towing cars outside of business hours made a difference DURING business hours to which he emphatically replied "Yes!"

He told me he does not make a penny on the towing and he really doesn't like doing it, but feels he has been forced to.

I told him we came up short on what we wanted to donate to our Haitian Orphanage fund (the event I was attending at Glen Ellyn Bible Church) because of the cost of towing. He sent a check to the orphanage for that amount! Pretty cool if you ask me.

So I am satisfied with how things turned out and for the explanation Brian Geische gave me. I hope this helps others feel a little better too. As for me, I feel like going and buying some shoes at Geische's.

Must not comment, must not comment, must not comment.

Must stick to my 2 post per day limit.

Regardless of my feelings, if you park under a no parking sign...and don't expect to be towed...you're a big dope. And I have a hard time believing that employees from surrounding businesses would regularly park in G's lot. An isolated incident...most likely. But enough cars to fill the lot and stymie business? C'mon. It's a moot point anyway as someone mentioned that they overheard someone at the store saying the towing policy had increased their business...which is cool by me, I guess.

If a business wants to limit parking to only their customers when they are OPEN, I say fine. It's when they ok the towing of vehicles using the lot after hours that I say they deserve all of the bad will flowing in their direction.

I understand there are other lots you can't park in. Citibank for one. So lay off Geische's.

??? ??? to Agnes
It's private property!

Park somewhere else at night. Walk a little!
And we all wonder why American is fat?!

Arrrggg! Not the Geische thread again

I can't believe people feel it's ok to park on somweone's private property and are upset when they see a sign that says they will be towed and then get towed. Has nobody has seen these signs before? Every comunity has them. They have existed as long as the automobile and before that there were probably "Horse trough for customers only" Doesn't matter what time of day it is. Can I park my car in your garasge while your at work? Your not using it. Car does drip some oil though. And I know it's your property insurance and seal coating- but what the hay?

Why doesn't anyone complain about the same policy in the Youngs parking lot? Sure would be nice to park there when I need my Roger fix, but I don't. I park in the lot across the street and - gasp! - walk.

I'm no fan of Geische's - think their hours and customer service suck - but I can't pick on them about the parking policy. Particularly since they're far from the only business in the CBD that does this.

You two are right on!

Yeah, I posted my story because I knew there was a lot of ill will toward Geische's. I got towed and I have NO ill will toward them. There are many other lots in town that have always towed cars. I think people are upset because this is somewhat new for Geische's. I was trying to promote good will in the community but I guess there will always be people who just feel like being feisty.

We’re dealing with emotions here, not science. Perceptions are reality. No matter how nice Geische's may be in real life, if prospective shoppers perceive that they suck... well, then, they suck.

If you don’t like string beans, all the scientific proof in the world (as offered by the American String Bean Association) isn’t going to change your mind. You may eventually even agree that, yes, string beans are probably healthy and good for you... but you’re still not going to eat them.

The shoe store has made a business decision based not on research, surveys or a cost/benefit number crunch, but on emotions.

Similarly, shoppers offended by the parking/towing policy have made their decisions based not on The Law, or on a look at the books to see how much the after-hours parking has ruined the store’s bottom line, but on their emotional feelings.

No amount of rational explainin’ will change the gut-felt opinions of either side. Both are pissed. Both will remain emotional on the issue.

If it were my store, I’d either

• hang a heavy metal chain across both driveways after closing with a big steel “closed” sign hanging from each, or
• strike a deal with the restaurants in the area to each chip in $10 a night (or whatever) to cover the costs of insurance. And I’d add a sign that says, “Evening and Weekend Parking Reserved for Customers of Restaurants A, B, & C.”

I wouldn’t worry a whole lot about enforcing it, because, after all, I’m in shoe business, not the parking lot business. And there’s no business like... never mind.

Do the parking meters in the public lot north of Geische's charge in the evenings and/or weekends? If so--and if I ran a restaurant--I’d make a big deal of handing each departing bill-payer 25¢ (or whatever) to cover their parking.

Or better yet... tear up the Geische parking lot, landscape it with trees and bushes, and give each shoe shopper 25¢ for the cost of the meter at the next door public lot.

Maybe even add a bus to shuttle shoe shoppers back-and-forth between Geische’s front door and the south entrance of the public lot.

No, I take it all back. Signs are the answer. I’d just put a big sign in the door that says, “Customers, Please Go Away.” Or is that essentially what they have now?

Doesn't sound like Geische's made the decision on emotion. The starter of the thread asked about the policy and apparently he discovered he was losing customers and having complaining customers during slow periods in the evening as his lot was full serving as free parking for the CBD. Chaining it may cause a problem with fire insurance or the fire chief as they usually want access to more than one side of the building wherever possible. Charging other businesses seems like an argument over whether customers parked there before or after his allotted closing and would make it difficult to change hours. Seems to me like the sign worked pretty well judging from the endless discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by Gabriel:
I wouldn’t worry a whole lot about enforcing it, because, after all, I’m in shoe business, not the parking lot business. And there’s no business like... never mind.

After straining many brain cells on this comment I didn't want you to think that it went unnoticed.

quote:

Desn't sound like Geische's made the decision on emotion.

I disagree. The problem may have been identified after a bit of research, but the solution (punish prospective shoppers by towing their cars and charging them a ton of money for the privilege, without earning a dime with the exercise) clearly was not.

quote:

Originally posted by Gabriel:
The shoe store has made a business decision based not on research, surveys or a cost/benefit number crunch, but on emotions.

People who have parked there and have been towed, based their decision as a personal entitlement with little if any regard for the rights of the property owner.

Why not leave that lot alone and park in front of the fire hydrants? No one is using them and there is no fire. Better yet, park behind the Civic Center. There are always a few empty spaces. Disregard the signage for police vehicle parking, they are out on patrol.

punish prospective shoppers? What are you babbling about?

Gus and Gem... you're both missing the point. You're arguing reality. Perception trumps reality every time.

There's little point to being right if your prospective customers think you're wrong.

It doesn't matter how correct, legal or obvious the policy is. If people think it sucks, it sucks.

Some observations:

The sign says "Customer Parking Only". One cannot be a customer without a business being open. The towing sign does not say you will be towed 24 hours a day. The towing company has no idea whether or not you are an authorized user of the lot.

If you think the policy is wrong, file a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission. It is also illegal for the towing company to pay the landowner for the privilege of gouging the car owner for removal of their car. The gouging fee is set by the ICC.

Okay I hate when people say "perception is reality." REALITY is reality. Period! You cannot placate the people who refuse to see truth. Some people like to be ticked off and nothing you can say will change that. I say deal in TRUTH and ultimately it will work out. I will say that some good PR would help (truthful PR).

John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things." In my own words, facts is facts. The fact is that Brian Geische OF COURSE does not want potential customers mad at the business for this issue. The fact is that he is only doing it to help his business because he sees no other way.

I say if anyone has an issue with Geische's they should take it directly to the source like I did rather than bad-mouthing them in a passive-aggressive manner.

Amen

quote:

Originally posted by RMK:
Some observations:
The sign says "Customer Parking Only". One cannot be a customer without a business being open.

Some more observations:

The sign is written in plain English.

The towing rate is clearly posted.

The sign clearly states "customer" parking only, logic would dictate that if the store isn't open, you are not a customer and you are not authorized to park there.