Like a lot of other RVers, Larry Socha parked his motorhome at Walmart, overnighted, and the next day, ran a few errands in his towed car. Returning that afternoon, Socha was--well, surprised at least--to find his rig had vanished.
Socha's 40' Prevost Marathon coach (with $40,000 in the safe) hadn't been heisted. Rather, after knocking on the door a couple of times to no response, the Glen Ellyn, Illinois Walmart manager simply had the rig towed away. Socha, who happens to be a Walmart stockholder, was a bit dismayed when he couldn't even get an apology from management. Still, he takes the situation with a bit of philosophy.
Telling the local newspaper, TK, "Will I stop shopping there? No, I'm not a jerk," Socha said. "I learned a lesson." The lesson was a hard one, a tow bill to the tune of $872.50. Making matters a bit more stinging was history. This wasn't the first time Larry Socha had parked at the Glen Ellyn Walmart--he'd done so last year for several days--with no trouble. Socha says he found he could park there on a Internet website.
Still, Walmart says there are signs in the lot that indicate "No truck parking," and that towing will take place. Had Socha "checked in" on his arrival, he might not have had his Prevost pulled. A Walmart statement quoted by the paper reminds all of us, "Permission to park is extended by individual store managers, based on availability of parking space and local laws. Please contact management in each store to ensure accommodations before parking your RV."
Campground industry officials were quick to jump into the issue. Says the paper, "'Whenever Walmart allows free overnight camping, it not only results in lost business for local campgrounds but lost transient occupancy tax for local cities,' emailed Paul Bambei, president and CEO of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds. He noted that campgrounds pay for licenses, pass health and safety inspections and offer services not found in parking lots."
With 40 grand in the RV safe, why would Socha park at Wally-World? He makes a good case: The nearest RV campground would have made for a two-hour round trip to visit his mother in Glen Ellyn.
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29 comments:
If local campgrounds would offer CHEAP overnight no hookup stays then they would have a right to complain. Since they do not and refuse to even consider it, they have no right to complain even a little.
We love staying at Walmarts and just because somebody has money, doesn't mean they can afford to pay to stay somewhere. In this economy, that may be all he has and it needs to last him. We always check in with the store manager just to be sure. Nobody wants to pay a tow bill even if they can afford it! Walmart has always been accomodating to us. They know they'll likely receive our shopping dollars if they allow us to stay overnight. Some Walmarts are not allowed to let overnighters stay due to their city laws. That's why we always check first. They can be listed in a directory as welcoming overnighters but laws change quickly and that may not be the case once you arrive. Always check first.
Guess that is why this guy has $40 thousand in the safe. Buck the system with your EGO and save a dollar!
I have been rving for 30 years and have never stayed in a walmart parkng lot.The few bucks you save are not worth the worry about security.My safety is worth it.I have never felt thertend in an rv park.If you need to save money this bad you should not be rving!!!
What an idiot. A million dollar? Coach and still not enough money to park it! I would never stay overnight at Walmart but I know enough that you have to get permission from the Walmart management.
Macsprinter
I suppose he learned a lesson.All R.vers should ask permission before parking and spending time on private property.
Thanks for telling would be crooks there probably is money there............
Most folks park in Wal-Mart (and other companies) parking lots FOR CONVENIENCE not savings. Easy in/out and no hassles trying to find a spot for a late arrival or early departure. Staying overnight in a parking lot is not necessarily free. Are you powering your rig with a generator? Then your fuel costs are the cost of parking overnight.
We are fulltimers park in parking lots when we travel (shift locations). We drag a food cart with us (it's our business). We also are in a home converted schoolbus. Lots of campgrounds don't like home converted schoolbuses. Lots of campgrounds don't want us taking up all their space (40 ft bus + 10 ft OA food cart + Jeep Grand Cherokee)... we eat up a lot of parking space. For us it's convenience not $$.
WE ALWAYS ASK PERMISSION!!!!!!!!
We appreciate (thanks WalMart) being able to park at WalMart when we are driving late to get to a destination for it is difficult to pull into a strange commercial campground after dark not knowing the layout plus bothering the RVers already asleep with the noise of unhooking and backing into a spot.
Another time we were fortunate to be able to stay in the far corner of mall (check, many malls do not allow overnight parking) parking lot that was across the street from the nursing home (the nearest campground was about two hours away) where a relative was residing. This allowed more time for visiting with a place for us to go while she was napping, plus it was convenient for us to shop to resupply her needs.
RV parks are missing the boat when it comes to quick overnight stays by RV'ers. The reason RV'ers park everywhere but their parks are price. Rich or poor you don't like being taken advantage of. 10 bucks to park without hookups is not unreasonable and would fill some parks that stay mostly empty because of greed. Even a small park could get an extra $1000.00 a week. Don't blame businesses like Walmart for being smart.
If you read carefully, he was parked there to visit his mother. No commercial campgrounds were nearby. We have also had problems locating a place to leave motorhome when visiting relatives. Thank you WalMart for your hospitality.
We second that.....
We have never felt UNSAFE at Walmart, it's a great place to pull over to get some shut-eye and restock
I'm sure there are a lot of people without means traveling in a Prevost bus conversion and having a safe containing $40,000! Get a life! He's just a cheap b_____d!
We use Wal-Mart overnight stops as much as possible. We always get permission before we settle in for the night. As far as the Prevost; It was a 2000 model. May have cost a million bucks at that time. I've looked at severa this past year including a 1999 model. The asking price was $99,000.00!
The $40,000. grand that was missing is another issue entirely.
A 40 foot Prevost Coach and a thief needs to read a blog to know there's money there?
I've never felt threatened in a WalMart, but always try to check in with the management and only stay overnight. This guy was using it for a longer period of time without checking with the manager, which is sort of foolish. Overnight parking, no problem, trying to keep your motor home there while visiting in the area, not so good.
My question is Why would anyone tell the world they have $40,000.00 in the safe?
True he may have had a need to park close to what ever he needed to do. It stated he was a Walmart stockholder and had the $40k in the safe. Why wouldn't any sensible person ask to stay there instead of just parking the rig and taking off. Even if it was only for a few hours!!! Courtesy and local laws require such actions!!!! I don't blame the management or the company for towing his rig. It was his fault, not theirs!!!
What is the local laws there for staying overnight in such lots? Why didn't he ask? Was it too late when he pulled in, but still he didn't ask before he left in his toad? How many days was he there before it was towed? What stopped him from getting permission or did he feel he had a right to park there? Sounds like he learned a lesson, hopefully!!! I always ask before I stay somewhere like he did, and shop there making sure the person I asked permission sees it. The local campgrounds most definitely make a lot of money if they would have a reduced rate for making allowances for those of us who arrive late and do not use their hook-ups, or just charge a minimal fee, even for just emptying our sewage since they have to pay for this service too. Again, local communities need to look what is good for their businesses and make allowances. However, the campers need to respect the communities too. Too many campers take advantage of these communities and have caused problems for those of us who abide by their laws and respect other people's properties and rights. If they are to camp at such places they need to find out if it is legal first, then ask permission. Not just camp and leave as they please. Most hospitals allow one to camp in their parking lots if there is a relative in the hospital. If his mother was not in a hospital but just home, why wouldn't he take her and go to the nearest campground or somewhere she could really enjoy being with him? If she was in a nursing home or such then he needs to ask them the possibilities for a place to park his rig. No matter how old his Prevost is, he had money to park the rig at a legal place, he had a toad to travel back and forth, or to go to a hotel/motel and pay for a room there and conduct his business. These hotel/motels have parking lots too, was he too cheap to do this? Sounds like that is the problem, he is too cheap to pay for such necessities, not only failing to ask persmission, but disobeyed posted signs, and tried to take advantage of the business, whatever it was. It is people like him who are ruining this privilege which Walmart and communities allow.
He isn't owed an apology from anyone but needs to accept the fact he is totally at fault for this happening!!!!!!!
He still did not request permission, he still disobeyed posted signs, and he is the type of person who is ruining the privilege of staying over night at Walmart or other parking lots for all of us who do!!! It doesn't matter how much his rig is worth, he had the money and the opportunity to ask permission to park his rig there,,,That is all!!!!
The money was NOT missing!!!!!!!
My biggest issue is how the towing company can justify
charging $872.50 to tow the motorhome a few miles.
Always trying to tell other people how to spend their money. In a motorhome you have your electric and water and do not need campground everynight. Campgrounds are too expensive. Especially if you are spending it 365 days a year.
So is he bragging that he had $40,000 in the RV? Idiot all the way.
I think that the store manager needs a class in 'customer relations'. He could have put a note on the windshield saying to move the vehicle or else. Unless the motor home was parked in such a way as to create a health or safety issue, or prevent customers from getting in to the store, then the manager is a punk. He knew, roughly, how much it would cost to retrieve the vehicle from the tow company and he did not care. I highly suspect that the manager is getting a cash kick-back from the tow company for sending them the business. Can you imagine the profit margin in this situation? It is enormous... Kick-backs in situations like this are common and in many instances, they are also illegal. Check it out and see for yourself. You have been sorely abused...
The key word used here was "Camping" ; meaning he stayed more than just overnight while traveling. I believe the intention of Wal-Mart (when allowable) is to provide a safe, unused area (during late night hours) for RV travelers to get some needed rest before safely driving to their destination, hoping they purchase some needed items at the W/M store. We usually arrive late (after 8 pm), ask for permission and where they want us to park, leave fairly early in the morning and say Thank You for the courtesy. We don't unhook our towed car or use W/M as a base of operations ! It only takes a few " bad apples" to end up spoiling it for many.
I third that. I would be willing to pay a small fee for overnight parking..no swimming, no hookups, just sleeping.
Guide to Overnight RV Parking at WalMart:
1) Don't stay if "No overnight parking" signs are posted. If you do, be prepared to be asked to leave during the night if you don't have prior permission. You might also be issued a citation by the local law.
2) If you arrive during store hours, always go in and ask for permission to park overnight. Get the name of the person you get permission from.
3) If you arrive after the store is closed, park in the furthermost corner away from the store. If you'll be arriving after hours and already know that you'll be staying at the store, call the store ahead of time for permission. Always get the name of the person you talked with.
4) DON'T unhook your tow vehicle or towed-vehicle and leave the RV. THIS IS NOT A CAMPGROUND.
It is ONLY okay to unhook if you have repairs that need to be made to the tow vehicle and you are taking it to a local shop for the repairs. Never do any repair work in the lot yourself. Put something under your supports so they don't damage the parking lot surface. Discuss it with the store manager first, so that they know what is going on and they also may be able to direct you to a local reputable repair shop.
5) It's okay to open the slide-outs, but do not put down stabilizer legs, supports or jacks. It's understandable that you might need to open the slides to have access to areas inside your RV.
6) Never put outside any chairs, or other personal belongings. Do not open your awning. In otherwords, the only thing you own that should be visible is the RV and the tow vehicle.
7) Never cook outside of your rig.
8) No loud music or tv. Try to be as quiet as possible.
9) It's okay to use your generator in very short intervals. Never run it for more than absolutely necessary, and never after 10pm at night or before 7am in the morning.
10) If traveling with children, do not let them run around and play in the parking lot.
11) The dumping of ANY tanks in the parking lot is NOT okay. Report anyone who does, to the store management right away.
12) Be good neighbors to the store. Purchase something during your time there.
13) Never stay more than one night. Period.
If you have a reason that it's absolutely necessary to stay more than one night, discuss it with the store manager.
14) Leave the area cleaner than you found it. Don't ever leave any trash.
15) Carry a pack of post cards with you. After you leave the store after staying the night, send one to the manager thanking him/her and noting that you purchased something while there (if you, in fact, did).
It all makes very good sense, doesn't it? We the RVers, should do everything possible so that Wal-Mart continues this gracious policy in towns where there aren't ordinances prohibiting it.
Much of our lives in America are a matter of privelege both in our Constitution (paid for by our forefathers) and also licensed as in drivers and registration. The folks at Walmart where possible extend overnight parking hospitality as a sign of good will. It is NOT a right.
While I generally elect a campground and its amenities for which I pay, if my arrival is well after dark, I may well find a spot at a Walmart because the campground administrators have closed the office and rather than drive my rig through sleeping campers,I let them sleep.
If you want Walmart's hospitality, first ask and don't take. Say thank you with a purchase!
Old Bill from Virginia
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