Just a heads up for the Walmart located in Bakersfield, CA on Rosedale Hwy. We've enjoyed our overnight stays here several times before and as usual asked for parking permission first at customer service. Getting the okay we got settled in then walked over to a restaurant for dinner and drinks. On our return a security guard said we had to leave. We told him we had permission. He said Walmart sold the parking lot and the new owner no longer allows overnight parking as of March 21st, 2018. I told him not knowing about the new rules, no new signage indicating "No Overnight Parking" and having gotten permission, we had been drinking and were not able to drive so weren't leaving. He said if we were still there when he returns at 11 pm we would be ticketed. We immediately went back into Walmart to speak to the manager. He wasn't available but we were advised about the new rules by another department head with authority. He said to stay if we had been drinking and the ticket is only a warning and carries no fine. So why does management know about the parking situation but not customer service employees...geez! At 9:30 pm we heard pounding on our door. This time there were two security guards, and the female one took charge and told me in no uncertain terms if we didn't leave they were calling the cops and we would be charged with trespassing. I said call them! We eventually got the knock on the door from the cops who were quite apologetic, and also felt the new rules were ridiculous as RV'er's have overnighted here for years. (I even offered to take a breathalyzer test to prove my point) but was told that wasn't necessary. They said I made the right decision not to drive, to have a good night and safe travels. Cool!! With such recent changes in the parking ruIes I think the security guards could have handled this better, and should have a grace period in place for unsuspecting RV'ers like us in the same situation. The next morning there were two cars parked next to us with people sleeping, and I had a ticket on my windshield...hope that made them feel better.
Acheron2010 said
05:34 PM Apr 1, 2018
"California"
LarryW21 said
04:57 PM Apr 2, 2018
Parking at Walmart is not a right. It’s a privilege and despite years of offering RV parking, Walmart has the right to limit access to its private property.
bjoyce said
09:01 AM Apr 3, 2018
LarryW21: It wasn't Walmart that limited the parking, it was the parking lot owner. In many cases the parking lot is owned by someone else and Walmart leases the space. A former coworker's parents made good money leasing their land for a Walmart parking lot and Walmart even put in the lights, paved it and maintains everything.
Just a heads up for the Walmart located in Bakersfield, CA on Rosedale Hwy. We've enjoyed our overnight stays here several times before and as usual asked for parking permission first at customer service. Getting the okay we got settled in then walked over to a restaurant for dinner and drinks. On our return a security guard said we had to leave. We told him we had permission. He said Walmart sold the parking lot and the new owner no longer allows overnight parking as of March 21st, 2018. I told him not knowing about the new rules, no new signage indicating "No Overnight Parking" and having gotten permission, we had been drinking and were not able to drive so weren't leaving. He said if we were still there when he returns at 11 pm we would be ticketed.
We immediately went back into Walmart to speak to the manager. He wasn't available but we were advised about the new rules by another department head with authority. He said to stay if we had been drinking and the ticket is only a warning and carries no fine. So why does management know about the parking situation but not customer service employees...geez! At 9:30 pm we heard pounding on our door. This time there were two security guards, and the female one took charge and told me in no uncertain terms if we didn't leave they were calling the cops and we would be charged with trespassing. I said call them! We eventually got the knock on the door from the cops who were quite apologetic, and also felt the new rules were ridiculous as RV'er's have overnighted here for years. (I even offered to take a breathalyzer test to prove my point) but was told that wasn't necessary. They said I made the right decision not to drive, to have a good night and safe travels. Cool!!
With such recent changes in the parking ruIes I think the security guards could have handled this better, and should have a grace period in place for unsuspecting RV'ers like us in the same situation.
The next morning there were two cars parked next to us with people sleeping, and I had a ticket on my windshield...hope that made them feel better.