Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Parking perils at the new Wal-Mart across the street from the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX

Howard, a convenience store clerk with whom I sometimes converse, took a public tour of the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX, during a trip to the D-FW Metroplex earlier this month.

It was during the annual Texas-OU Weekend in Dallas. He attended the game, but the story he was most interested in relating was something he learned during the tour of Cowboys Stadium, which he said took an entire hour and-a-half.

There's a brand new Wal-Mart across the street from the stadium, he said, and on Cowboys game days the operators of the Wal-Mart are not at all forgiving toward football fans who park in the store parking lot and cross the street to the stadium in order to save the parking fee, which ranges from $50 to $75.

Wal-Mart personnel, he said, patrol their parking lot writing down the license tag numbers of the cars that are parked there, and when they come back later and check on them, any vehicle parked there for more than an hour is towed away.

"It costs you $300 to get your car," Howard said.

Howard said the gentleman who gave his group the guided tour of Cowboys Stadium told him this and I have no reason to believe it is not true.

Furthermore, Howard said, there are no signs warning parking violators of what may be in store for them if they are using Wal-Mart to save the Cowboys Stadium parking fee. He based this observation on his own personal drive-by of the Wal-Mart to look for warning signs, but I must admit I find this part of his story hard to believe; perhaps he just didn't see the warning signs, especially if they are small and placed inconspicuously.

Nevertheless, it's this kind of treatment that makes people not want to go out of their house. That's all I have to say on the matter.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The SuperTarget across from Reliant Stadium will tow your butt in a heartbeat, too.

Anonymous said...

Seems pretty tacky in one way...still not sure if I blame them..

Anonymous said...

Yep, just happened to me last weekend as well. Signs are on arlington streets and not in walmart parking lot. Towed and cost us 244.10. they even towed a shopper that wasn't attending the high school football game.

I asked walmart and they said they don't have anything to do with the towing, its the police department..yes the one that is hidden in the far right corner at the end of the lot. and yes the one that is paid by taxpayers...him, save the real crime of texas..illegal parking.

worst part is that they towed you to a building that a 2X2 shoebox for taking care of business, with no bathroom, no waiting room, number ticket system...and left us to stand in the rain for two hours while the service person took their sweet time taking money. Why would she care... its not her children out in the rain.

I am so over the cowboy stadium at this point, and will not support them in the future as its about the quality of arlington.

Anonymous said...

This report is incorrect. I work for that Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart employees DO NOT patrol the parking lot and tow anyone parked over an hour.

The tow company (AA Arlington Abandoned Vehicle) patrols the lot and tows anyone who parks and walks across the street to the stadium.

A note to those who think that this practice is illegal or unfair. The Wal-Mart lot is PRIVATE PROPERTY. We have the right to tow anyone for any reason. However, on game days, we have no choice but to have cars towed because the volume of people who attempt to park and walk across the street prevents actual customers from being able to park and shop.

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