I was told to "f off" and "bl**y get a grip" in a long tirade by a female employee of the local BMW garage today - with my 3 year old daughter in the car with me - just because I asked them to move one of their Minis from over the white line of my drive.
The female employee came out to move it, with a male employee, but when she saw it, in her opinion it was not over the white line. So as I was waiting to park she looked at the Mini, said to him it wasn't over the drive and they walked off. Blocking the road (about to reverse) I tooted my horn and when she still didn't see me I had to get out and shouted over my car "Hello, please move it!". I couldn't park and would have had to drive back down to the garage and ask again.
She launched into a huge tirade of abuse that just stunned me. And my 3 year old in the back. And if she hadn't seen my daughter, when I got back in my car and drove down to the garage to complain to the manager, I had my daughter in my arms and she was STILL yelling - f*ing and blinding - and waving her arms at me!
We live on a busy main road next to a tube station and it also happens to be next to a BMW showroom. They park their cars all up the road, they spot a space so quick you wonder how they know someone's moved. My neighbour and I had a white line painted to discourage people from parking over the drive - it is difficult and dangerous to get out of our drives when they are obscured by vehicles.
I spoke to the BMW manager and explained that it wasn't that far over the line but it made manouvering out of the drive really difficult. He apologised for his employee's behaviour but what stunned me was this was a lady in her 20s or early 30s, yelling at me in the street with a string of swear words having been asked as a member of BMW staff - therefore representing the company in the local community - to move a car.
The manager then asked me if I knew anything about vandalism, which I said I didn't but that I'd called them once when I looked out the window and saw someone who I thought was going to take one of their convertibles if they didn't move it quick and suggested they checked all the cars were locked. He said 2 or 3 cars are "keyed" a week. In fact our car alarm did go off not long ago and our badge was nicked off the car. It only occurred to me later this afternoon that he might have been thinking we'd vandalised the cars. I don't condone that behaviour but is someone keying a car worse or better than someone telling you to f* off over and over, with your small daughter having to listen to every word?
It really upset me all day, I was shaking. What would you do, apart from suggest I don't buy a BMW or Mini?