My parking experience tonight made me see more than ever that parking is about people. It is a service industry. It is not just about providing a large open space to put your car. You need people there to service your customers. And adding technology does not eliminate the need for people. You still need people there to manage the technology.
Tonight I parked in a car park off Mill St., a dining and entertainment district in Tempe, Arizona. I am not mentioning the specific car park because this blog is not about my revenge, but to make a point. On my way back to my car, I stopped at the kiosk to pay my ticket. The first problem was that the machine could not read either of my credit cards, which worked fine at several places of business minutes before. So I used cash. Amazingly, after the machine took my money, it said sorry, there is no change available. The machine instructed me to take my receipt to the cashier on the way out, and show the receipt and my ticket, and I would get my change. I pressed the button for a receipt, and the machine said sorry, there is no receipt available. Plus there were no attendants at any of the cashier booths at any of the exits, so even if I had been able to get a receipt, I am not sure what I would have done with it.
There was a button to call for assistance. Every time I pushed the button, a voice would say hello, but then would not respond to anything else I said.This truly was self service parking.
The only way this problem got resolved was that two security guards who work in the area, not for the car park, happened to stop by. They had contact information for the attendant - a single person that they said managed 3 area car parks. I did finally get my change, after more than 30 minutes of waiting. The attendant actually had to drive to a store to break bills to get change for me.
The security guards told me that the car park continuously had problems. The machines were breaking on a regular basis, and these guys had to hear all the complaints because there was nobody there to represent the car park. Customers would get stuck at the gate. Often customers would get out of their cars and lift the gates up themselves, or even drive right through the gates. And still the car park owners employ only one attendant for multiple car parks. And he gets off work at midnight. After that, I am not sure if there is anyone in the entire city that can help a customer with a problem.
Automating car parks is very practical. The technology in our industry solves many challenges and makes the business more efficient. But it doesn't mean you can be an absentee landlord. It doesn't mean you don't need people on the premises. In the end, your business will be assessed on the quality of the service you provide and the people who provide it.
It's not just about the pavement. It's also about the people.
Pete Goldin
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