Boss gets fed up with neighboring store's customers parking in his lot, he places boulders between the stores to block them, leading to a dispute with next-door owner: ‘A solid solution’

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Nov 13, 2024 7:00 AM EST

Even though cars are one of the most valuable inventions humans have ever come up with, they are also one of the things that enrage people the most. Gas prices, traffic, and parking are just broad examples of the kinds of rage that sitting in a car can cause a person. With that rage, a lot of feuds between people arise.

If you think that parking pettiness is only an issue where one lives, then you will be surprised by this story. OP (original poster) is working in a store, and their boss has been feuding with the next-door store owner for years. Their latest feud was about, you guessed it, parking. The stores' adjacent parking lots caused the two to fight about who gets to park where, until OP's boss decided to take action and put a stop to people parking where they should. He installed cameras, put up boulders, and even hired a parking management company to get his neighbor to stop parking in his lot. 

Keep scrolling to read the full story. After you are done, click here for a story of an employee who refused to respond to their entitled boss after resigning. 

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  • 01
    "The look on his face was priceless"
    via welcomia
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    The parking feud that finally got a solid solution
    via Hieloun
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    Hopefully a good one for you. Sorry for any mistakes as English is not my first language. A few details are changed for anonymity.
    via Hieloun
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    I work at a niche retail store located in the heart of town. Our customers are dedicated and often travel from afar just to visit us, so having a clear and accessible parking lot is crucial
    via Hieloun
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    for our business. Unfortunately, our next door neighbours, a family-run landscaping and garden supply store, have been a thorn in our side for years when it comes to parking.
    via Hieloun
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    The tension between my boss and the landscaping store owner goes back over a decade before I joined, all over something trivial. I know the landscaper once complained about a tree on our
    via Hieloun
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    side of the lot, which was unsightly for their customers. It was the pettiest neighbour drama you could imagine, but it festered for years.
    via Hieloun
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    The final straw came after the 'rona, when the physical business in town started picking back up and our parking lot started overflowing with cars again, many
    via Hieloun
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    belonging to the landscaping store's customers. See, our two parking lots are connected. Ours is about twice the size of his, but the landscaper had decided to reserve almost all his spots for his
    via Hieloun
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    landscaping vans. Ironically, those vans are rarely even there during business hours. As a result, his customers just parked in our lot, leaving us with few spaces for our own customers.
    via Hieloun
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    My boss, trying to be reasonable, approached the landscaper with a suggestion. Maybe they could adjust their parking setup to free up a few more spaces for customers, and that their vans
    via Hieloun
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    were welcome to park in our lot, if their lot was ever full. But the landscaper shot down the ideal immediately, insisting that it was "absolutely crucial" to reserve all of those spaces for his vans, even
    via Hieloun
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    though they were rarely there during the day. The conversation turned heated, ending with my boss threatening to put up a fence to separate the lots and enforce parking. The landscaper,
    via Hieloun
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    practically daring him, shot back, "Go ahead." Probably knowing how expensive that would be. As you can imagine, it ended with both men storming off and not speaking for two years. Typical neighbour stuff.
    via Hieloun
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    Fast forward to recently, and we got a golden opportunity when a parking management company approached us with a proposal. They offered to install automated license plate cameras to enforce
    via Hieloun
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    parking, allowing us to fine vehicles that stayed beyond a generous 3-hour free window, if they hadn't paid. The setup would be free, we'd get most of the revenue and they would keep
    via Hieloun
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    any fines issued. It was perfect, especially since we were losing spaces to freeloaders, wouldn't really impact the customers of the nearby stores, and if anyone had a good reason to park there
    via Hieloun
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    for longer, then we could give them an extension at our discretion. However, for the cameras to work, they needed to cover both our entrance and the landscaping
    via Hieloun
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    store's entrance. Being the considerate neighbour (again), my boss had the parking company rep reach out to the landscaper to explain the deal and benefits. But true to form, the
    via Hieloun
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    landscaper didn't even let the rep finish before kicking him out, making it very clear very clear that, under no circumstances, would his lot become a paid parking zone.
    via Hieloun
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    Instead of going through the hassle of putting up the necessary expensive fence, my boss had a better idea: big rocks. One of his construction buddies had a stash of leftover rocks from
    via Hieloun
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    a recent project and offered to place them for a great price. The parking company even agreed to front the cost, to be repaid through future parking revenue.
    via Hieloun
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    On Monday morning, before opening hours, one of the buddy's employees, a big, burly guy with arms like tree trunks, arrived with a truck and crane to place the rocks. The rocks were
    via Hieloun
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    neatly spaced to allow pedestrians to pass with carts but completely blocked vehicle access. The landscaper stormed out, yelling and trying to intimidate the worker into
    via Hieloun
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    stopping. But the worker, unfazed, calmly told him to step back for his own safety, which made the much smaller landscaper back down and retreat in frustration.
    via Hieloun
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    The rocks weren't just a physical barrier. They quickly became a mental obstacle for the landscapers's employees. Their muscle memory kept bringing them into our lot, only for them
    via Hieloun
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    to realize too late that they couldn't drive through anymore. We watched from our newly installed surveillance cameras, just in case the neighbour tried anything, trying not to burst out
    via Hieloun
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    laughing as their vans ended up awkwardly stuck. They'd have to reverse out and go all the way around to their own entrance, only to perform a series of painful maneuvers to squeeze into their now much smaller parking area.
    via Hieloun
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    At one point, we even caught one of their rushing vans clipping a rock while trying to maneuver. A little bonus for our viewing pleasure.
    via Hieloun
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    The next day, the parking company arrived to install the license plate cameras and set up the signage, which took a few hours. Throughout the installation, the landscaper's family members were prowling
    via Hieloun
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    around our lot, snapping photos and videos as if they were on a mission to find a violation. But the parking company was very professional, and had done everything by the book, so there was nothing for them to report.
    via Hieloun
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    In the meantime, my boss was positively glowing with satisfaction as he helped direct the installation. Here's the best part: We noticed that the neighbour's family had
    via Hieloun
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    started parking their personal vehicles in our lot, likely out of spite to mess with us. One day, my coworker saw one of the family members dash out of their store and sprint to their car. We thought it was odd at the time
    via Hieloun
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    but didn't think much of it until the following week, when the landscaper's son came into our store looking a bit embarrassed. Apparently, he had accidentally overstayed the 3-hour limit and
    via Hieloun
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    received a $150 fine. The son practically begged us to waive it, insisting it was just a simple mistake. My boss politely responded, "Oh, I'd really love to help, but it's out of our control now. The parking company handles all the fines."
    via Hieloun
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    The look on his face was priceless. He left, shoulders slumped retreating back to their store. Ever since, our lot has been blissfully clear, and our customers
    via Hieloun
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    have had no trouble finding spaces. Meanwhile, the landscapers have been grumbling as they have a harder time maneuvering their vans, still trying to pretend they're not bothered. As for my boss? He's been smiling a lot more lately.
    via Hieloun
  • 38
    Sometimes, the best revenge is simply letting people get exactly what they asked for. TL;DR: Neighbouring landscaping store took up parking, refused to cooperate. We
    via Hieloun
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    followed their instructions and blocked off our lot and set up parking enforcement cameras. Within a week, they got fined, and came begging us to waive it. Boss simply told them it's "Out of our hands." Now, our lot is clear, and we're happier than ever.
    via Hieloun

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boss neighbors store owner owner malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit reddit story petty workplace entitled Reddit store entitled people workplace story
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