5/26/15 at the Santa Rosa NM SC. Solidly iced two stalls, and encroached on two others.... Plenty of alternative parking available.
There's a big URL on that big ICE. At that URL, there is a "Contact Us" link, with the name, phone number, and email address of the person to be contacted with your "Comments and Concerns". You even have a photo to send her.
I only have one comment: front loaded ion vaporizing cannon! That bus is complete BS. Believe or not, I am calling that 800# right now and complaining. Of course, I got voicemail. But I gave the bus number and I will follow up when they are open. This is complete F-ing cr-p. I will let you all know what they say (lame excuse). Update: Called again today and got farther through the phone tree, but still got VM. Left another one.
Yup, plenty of info on the back of that bus to raise the issue to the correct people. Also, let a pic like that go viral and the company will have another set of issues, i.e. Yelp. @blogth, thanks for capturing the ICE event. Jeez, I can't believe how blatant that is!
I sent an email to julie chalmers at the bus company and included your photo. Thanks for bringing this up. Unacceptable! What are they thinking? Or not thinking.
I did get an email reply back from Julie Chalmers. I did indicate date and place that @blogth mentioned, as well as a link to this forum. This should be good progress. Thanks all!
As sent: Dear Ms.Chalmers, I took the picture of your company's bus completely blocking, and partially blocking two additional, charging stalls. This occurred last night in Santa Rosa, NM. The bus was there when I arrived at about*7pm, and was still there when I left at*8 pm. The Hotard driver blocked four of six stalls. This location is well signed as to indicate the spots are for Tesla (an all electric car) only, and only for 1 hour. This charging stop is crucial for westbound drivers, since the next supercharger is in Gallup, NM, (over 225 miles) as well as eastbound drivers that cannot make Tucumcari.* There was apple adjacent parking that would have accommodated the bus. Please instruct you drivers to avoid Tesla chargers (there are hundreds accross the country), as well as all othet marked Electric Vehicle charging stations - we don't have the option to just go the the next gas station. My number is below if you have any questions.* Best,* Tom Blog
I thought you guys were using hotard as a derogatory term for the driver (see Urban Dictionary: hotard ) Then I noticed the name on the bus :smile:
Dear Ms. Chalmers, Thank you for your prompt reply.* Clearly the driver knew he was parking in an 'unusual' and well-marked location: Pedestals and a sign in every stall. The enclosed picture shows (the back of) a sign directly in front of the the bus. It's red and reads "Electric Vehicle Parking". There are two Tesla supercharging stations in Louisiana: Lake *Charles (casinos!) and Baton Rouge.* Here is a link to a map showing all current and under construction Tesla chargers.*Superchargers Please realize there are hundreds of charging stations installed for other vehicles (GM, Nissan, BMW, etc.) at other locations. Again, thank you for your response, and agreeing to get the word out to your drivers. It's a small but rapidly growing part of the transportation infrastructure. I will post your fine and professional response at:*Big ICE... Best, Thomas Blog This message sent with 95% solar or wind generated electrons From:*[email protected] To:*blogth Subject: RE: Hotard blocking Charger - my picture. Date:*Thu, 28 May 2015 14:16:09*+0000 Hi Tom, * Thank you for calling this to our attention.* I am hoping that the driver did not realize what he was doing and did not intentionally do this (lesser of two evils).* I am embarrassed to say, but when I showed the picture around the office no one knew why this what a bad thing.* They are not aware of the charging stations.* To my knowledge we do not have any here in New Orleans (unfortunately) and so it is not something we look for.* However, that will now change.* We do too many trips across the country for our drivers not to be aware of these charging stations.* We will send a memo to all drivers and incorporate it into training for our new drivers.* Hopefully in the near future they will pop up in our area too. * Again thank you taking the time to call it to our attention and helping us to stop this from occurring in the future. * Thanks, * Julie H. Chalmers Director of Sales and Marketing Hotard Coaches, Inc.
**SIGH** And there it is. I've come across this myself. I was once ICE'd, but the driver (a young lady) was still in the car. When I approached her she said she had been wondering for a long time what these things were, and had even asked some of her friends. When I told her they were charging stations for electric vehicles she said "Oh, you mean those green cars?" ... but at least she moved and let me charge.
Ms. Chalmers contacted me by phone a few hours ago. Very professional, friendly conversation. She told me that she had reached the driver, and that the driver said he was instructed to park in the Tesla charging area by the front desk. (The hotel is a Holiday Inn Express). He is aware of charging stations, and would not have parked there on his own.
Mmm. Did things just get better or worse? I think this is something that Tesla now needs to know about, seeing that they would have been the one striking the deal with Holiday Inn.
