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Why Timing and Communication Matter When Parking Changes
Trina Tutor
February 2026
Do you know the quickest way to infuriate a customer base?
I would argue it’s making a change without notifying customers — especially when that change involves their money. There may be no better example of this right now than what’s happening at a San Antonio shopping center.
La Cantera is a large, upscale shopping center just north of San Antonio, Texas. In early December, they made a change to their parking operations by introducing what they are calling Preferred Paid Parking. The concept is simple: parking spots closer to the shops are now reserved for customers willing to pay for proximity.
In the past, La Cantera offered free parking, with optional valet services for those who didn’t want to hunt for a spot. This new option sits somewhere in between — and as someone who works in the parking industry, I can understand the thinking behind it.
From an operational standpoint, the logic makes sense. Offering paid, premium parking creates an option for customers who value convenience, helps manage high-demand areas, and provides a revenue stream without eliminating free parking entirely.
The shopping center is charging a range of rates, from $2.45 for one hour to $10.45 for four or more hours for these “preferred” parking spots. For a limited time, they’re also donating 10% of the net proceeds to the San Antonio Food Bank. On paper, that seems reasonable.
Their customers, however, don’t agree.
A Reddit thread discussing the change is filled with frustrated shoppers vowing never to return. One user wrote: “Stop shopping there. Revenue will tank. Parking will be free again. Vote with your wallet.”
It’s also hard to ignore the timing. Rolling out a parking change during the peak holiday shopping season — when customers are already overwhelmed and parking demand is at its highest — only heightened the frustration.
As I looked further into the situation, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the La Cantera parking team did their due diligence. Were customers informed ahead of time? Were they told why this change was being made?
We’ve seen time and time again how important communication is when it comes to customer experience — and parking is no exception. Most customers don’t think about parking until something changes or becomes difficult. When it does, it immediately becomes personal.
My suspicion was confirmed when I came across another Reddit comment: “As someone who works here, management at my store was not informed and yes, we have complained. I believe other stores have too. It screws over the employees as well as the customers. Just pure greed.”
If the shops themselves weren’t informed, it’s unlikely the customers were either.
Simple steps — posting signage at entrances, sending emails, or sharing updates on social media — could have helped prepare customers for the change. Sure, there would still have been complaints, but the level of outrage we’re seeing now might have been avoided. In this case, it wasn’t just what changed — it was how the change was handled.
Paid parking isn’t new, and it isn’t inherently wrong. But when customers — and even employees — aren’t informed, frustration is inevitable. Parking may seem like a small part of the customer experience, but when it changes unexpectedly, it becomes the loudest part.