NU l2 by RT: What Pisses Me Off at the Mall

Good morning, Sir!

Below is my NU12 assignment for this week.

Thanks and Regards,

Risha

WHAT PISSES ME OFF AT THE MALL?

This topic was a natural choice for me since I go to the mall once a week on average for business, work and leisure.I spend an average of 3 hours per visit, and indeed there are some items within the mall setting that does piss me off. Mall developers and management should understand that malls should bring service to their clientele and it should be a totally pleasant experience.

PARKING RATES

I personally find the parking rates in malls exorbitant. Currently they range from 40 to 50 pesos for the first three hours. And ever since Quezon City implemented free parking (for the first three hours) for senior citizen residents of the city, both Trinoma Mall and Eastwood Mall hiked up their parking rate from 45 to 50 pesos.

It is quite obvious that many malls get a a lot of revenues from parking alone, that SM Megamall is building carpark buildings left and right.

Parking at the mall should be part of the service provided by the mall. They should find a way that parking would be free for minimum purchase at the mall. For SM malls for example, they have the SM Advantage membership card, which serves as a loyalty program. They can add free parking feature as follows:

1.     SM malls set minimum purchase to avail of free parking. (ex. P1,000)

2.    The SM Advantage card should serve as the parking stub when the mall-goer checks in, instead of them issuing stubs (so it would be paperless and earth-friendly).

3.     SM Advantage Card should be tied in with a particular car and plate number.

4.    The SM Advantage Card would be used for all purchases in the mall, not just in the department store and grocery, but for all tenants.

5.       When that customer makes purchases amounting to the minimum amount (i.e. P1,000) this will reflect in the card.

6.     When they leave the carpark building, the guard will scan the card to see that the customer spent at least P1,000 and is entitled to free parking.

7.       In the event that the customer wasn't able to meet the minimum, that's when they're charged with the parking rates.

Other malls can follow suit. This way, it would serve as service to their loyal customers, and entices customers to make more purchases in the mall.

BAG INSPECTION

Of course I understand why they have to go through this – for the safety of everyone. But it's frustrating to see long queues of people waiting for their bag to be inspected, when the guards end up rushing inspecting the bags and not really scrutinizing the contents.

Malls should invest in the detectors which should be more reliable. Right now I can only think of Podium Mall as having this.

PAY LOUNGES

In some malls, you have to go to pay lounges to have toilet paper in the cubicles. It is more than enough that they already charge for parking, but for bathrooms too?

In the same way that I proposed that cards such as the SM Advantage card can be used to track spending by the customers. So for example they set a minimum purchase of P200 then the card-holder is entitled to enter these "pay lounges".

MAINTENANCE

Many of us mall-goers must have experienced non-working escalators and closed-up ones, so people are going up and down the steps manually. Escalators shouldn't be fixed during mall hours. Malls should make an arrangement with the escalator subcontractors that maintenance and repairs should be done outside mall hours.

FLYERING

I do understand that some business models rely on aggressive sales practices to be able to get customers. Lately, there are a bunch of salespersons for condominiums, fitness centers, massage chairs, etc at the corridors of the malls, and they don't just stay within the confines of their booth. They cross the corridor to meet you halfway to give you a flyer and give their sales pitch.

Personally I feel like my personal bubble or comfort zone is being intruded. Mall management should set rules that flyering should only be done within the boundaries of the booth, or at most up to 1 meter around, so that the sales representatives are allowed to move around.

Also, there have been and there are still cases of misleading sales strategies of companies such as scratch cards within reputable malls. The management should properly scrutinize the merits of the tenants. If the customers of the malls end up being harassed or misled, it wouldn't be good for the reputation of the mall. 4