Don’t like it? Then leave
Got time for a bit of light reading before you park your car?
Shoppers at Coastlands mall are being confronted with a 900-word sign spelling out the full terms and conditions under which they can park there.
The giant blue sign at the Paraparaumu mall has been in place since January, but shoppers say they have noticed it only since a dispute last month, in which mall customers were fined $65 for parking there twice in the same day.
The 900 words list all the terms parkers must abide by.
The sign also warns that those who don’t agree to the terms should ‘‘immediately leave the car park’’.
Shoppers in the car park on Tuesday, and others on social media, said the sign was overkill, and some said they would travel elsewhere to do their shopping.
Wendy Stafford said she would drive to Porirua or Palmerston North instead.
‘‘The drive is likely to take less time than reading the longwinded and ridiculous statement at Paraparaumu mall.’’
Another shopper, Karen Harris, said she found the sign both rude and intimidating.
‘‘It tells you to leave immediately if you don’t like all the conditions, and that just seems rude and rather bossy.
‘‘Nobody has time to read it, and all it seems to say is you’re giving up all your rights if you park here.’’
Shoppers weren’t the only ones fed up with the parking rules.
Mall staff said they were fined for parking longer than four hours, and had to shift their cars on their breaks.
In April, shoppers who returned too quickly between visits were slapped with $65 tickets from Parking Enforcement Services, a division of Wilson Parking, the parking contractor employed by the mall.
Coastlands manager Jan Forrest said that ticketing issue had been resolved, and the sign was a legal requirement displaying full terms and conditions for parking at the centre.
‘‘Yes, it’s long and detailed. But it does need to be.’’
She said the centre was happy with its parking contractor, and the only change in conditions was from a clamping system to a ticketing system.
Parking Enforcement Services spokesman Matt Ransom said the sign formed a legal contract between the company and parkers.