OPEN LETTER TO MALLS: Car washers in public parking

[Foxhound5366]

So I sent the letter below to two malls exactly a week ago ... and got zero response.

Anyone else who feels the same is welcome to send this same email to them, or another mall in your area which is guilty of the act of welcoming shoppers with the refrain of "Carwash?" the very second you open your car door in the parking lot.

Dear Centre Management at Clearwater and Cresta,

You are my two favourite malls, except for one massive flaw I've endured silently for years.

When I told my girlfriend this joke recently, you'll immediately understand. When I arrive in Heaven one day when I die, I will immediately proclaim: "No carwash thanks!"

I don't know how often you as managers park in the public bays (I presume you enjoy private staff parking), so you might not even know how bad this is for your clients' very first experience of your malls.

Grab parking ticket, find parking, grab things from car ... see looming (hopeful) shadow, loudly proclaim "No carwash thanks" and stride off ignoring the hurt look like I've just denied someone's entire reason for existence.

And here's the thing: I don't blame them. I blame mall management for allowing them to be there. Why? Who agreed to this? And what surveys have you done which deems this to be a good idea? Whatever they're paying you, it's not worth the feeling of "Urgh" you greet me and everyone else with every single time we visit your mall.

If you're dead set on enabling parking lot sales, why stop at carwashes? I might not mind biltong sales people, coffee sales people, people handing out discount vouchers with sweets attached. I will never want a sub-standard car wash in a mall however, no matter how dirty my car is.

Please, I'm begging you to stop this. Or at the very least ask for proof that it's a good idea. I know I'd love to understand WHY you let this happen. Or maybe put up signs demarcating carwash-free zones, so I can go park there instead (might even be a USP for you).

Like I said at the start, this isn't just you. And I like both of you, I really do. There's just this one bad habit you have. And darling ... you gotta stop!

Yours in shopping delight and parking displeasure,

 

[rustypup]

How.... .dirty is your car?

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

I don't know why people want the dirt rubbed directly into their paintwork anyway. 'Waterless' car washing is idiotic.

 

[Crowley]

So I sent the letter below to two malls exactly a week ago ... and got zero response.

Anyone else who feels the same is welcome to send this same email to them, or another mall in your area which is guilty of the act of welcoming shoppers with the refrain of "Carwash?" the very second you open your car door in the parking lot.

Given the job situation in South Africa, I’m sure the families of car washers wouldn’t mind them missing out on income for food, as long as you don’t have to say “no car wash, please” when you visit the mall.

 

[Foxhound5366]

How.... .dirty is your car?

I've been offered car washes even with a sparkling car, that makes no difference. Carwashers will "helpfully" point you towards open parking, run after your car, and then thrust a dog-eared carrwash menu at you the moment you step out of your car.

 

[dualmeister]

I wouldn't read it either.
Too many words

 

[Foxhound5366]

Given the job situation in South Africa, I’m sure the families of car washers wouldn’t mind them missing out on income for food, as long as you don’t have to say “no car wash, please” when you visit the mall.

Oh please, why stop there? Bring on the coffee sellers, biltong hawkers, maybe a quick shoe shine in the parking lots? Don't give me a bleeding heart routine about a pure annoyance with zero benefit.

 

[Lupus]

How.... .dirty is your car?

You can go with a shiny car and they'll still pop up.

 

[Foxhound5366]

I won't read it either.
Way too many words

Carwash people in parking big bad. Malls must do better.

I can sketch you a picture too, if you're not yet at the reading for meaning phase of your development?

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

Oh please, why stop there? Bring on the coffee sellers, biltong hawkers, maybe a quick shoe shine in the parking lots? Don't give me a bleeding heart routine about a pure annoyance with zero benefit.

There's an element of slavery/exploitation going on too. Pretty sure our hosts wrote about the washers having to 'rent' their places and the fat cadre franchise owners treating them like dirt.

 

[dualmeister]

I can sketch you a picture too

No need.

 

[w1z4rd]

I can totally understand why you didnt get a response.

 

[Foxhound5366]

There's an element of slavery/exploitation going on too. Pretty sure our hosts wrote about the washers having to 'rent' their places and the fat cadre franchise owners treating them like dirt.

In this day and age where marketing people understand the user journey and optimising every single touchpoint in order to build loyalty, I want to know how some of the biggest malls in Johannesburg allow this? Fourways Mall doesn't, and it is just so much more pleasant arriving there as a result. Clearwater and Cresta can't even respond to an email, apparently it's simply easier to continue frustrating their clients.

 

[Foxhound5366]

I can totally understand why you didnt get a response.

Yes. Marketing hard. Ignore valid concerns easy.

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

In this day and age where marketing people understand the user journey and optimising every single touchpoint in order to build loyalty, I want to know how some of the biggest malls in Johannesburg allow this? Fourways Mall doesn't, and it is just so much more pleasant arriving there as a result. Clearwater and Cresta can't even respond to an email, apparently it's simply easier to continue frustrating their clients.

They are at Fourways when you drive in at the top of the flyover.

I sympathise with the plight of these people, the conditions are horrible and dingy. I'm just not interested in the flawed product and the treatment of the washers.

 

[w1z4rd]

Yes. Marketing hard. Ignore valid concerns easy.

 

[Foxhound5366]

They are at Fourways when you drive in at the top of the flyover.

I sympathise with the plight of these people, the conditions are horrible and dingy. I'm just not interested in the flawed product and the treatment of the washers.

Sensitising the middle class to the dire plight of the lower classes is not a sufficient justification for car washers in closed mall parking lots. Because again, where does it stop? At that rate, just invite in every traffic light beggar and also give them a nice space out of the sun to beg from people entering malls.

 

[Crowley]

Oh please, why stop there? Bring on the coffee sellers, biltong hawkers, maybe a quick shoe shine in the parking lots? Don't give me a bleeding heart routine about a pure annoyance with zero benefit.

Maybe because the car washers are in THE PARKING. You know, the place you leave your car when you go shopping?

Not everyone is like you or me, some people get their cars washed while they spend hours at the mall. This helps put food on the table for those who don’t have cushy jobs with guaranteed income.

Maybe you should get one of these to stop them nasty car washers asking you if they could wash your car.

 

[Cheens]

Monte Casino has also just let them all into the parking. Went 2 weeks ago and the lady stayed there looking at me and kept asking me to support. It really is a deterrent for people to go to these places. The worst thing is also that my car has ceramic coating so the dirt aka sand needs to be sprayed off first and then washed with proper soap that does not damage the paint but these people do not know about this and have not been trained either.

 

[Foxhound5366]

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Wait let me get this straight, do you visit malls where this is an issue? Or are you living in Sedgefield, where the one carwash is where Jim and Sipho work, so none of this makes sense to you?