Neighbors can be a real hassle sometimes, and that applies whether it is house neighbors or business.

What would you do if the business next door to yours was constantly taking up all of your parking spots, and refused to stop?

That is what happened to the business owner in this story, so he finally split up the parking lot and installed a pay-to-park system that cost the neighbor in money and pride.

Check it out.

The parking feud that finally got a solid solution

I work at a niche retail store located in the heart of town.

Our customers are dedicated and often travel from afar just to visit us, so having a clear and accessible parking lot is crucial for our business.

Unfortunately, our next-door neighbors, a family-run landscaping and garden supply store, have been a thorn in our side for years when it comes to parking.

Why would someone let a feud last so long?

The tension between my boss and the landscaping store owner goes back over a decade before I joined, all over something trivial.

I know the landscaper once complained about a tree on our side of the lot, which was unsightly for their customers.

It was the pettiest neighbor drama you could imagine, but it festered for years.

The final straw came after the ‘rona, when the physical business in town started picking back up and our parking lot started overflowing with cars again, many belonging to the landscaping store’s customers.

That is not a good use of the landscaper’s parking spots.

See, our two parking lots are connected.

Ours is about twice the size of his, but the landscaper had decided to reserve almost all his spots for his landscaping vans.

Ironically, those vans are rarely even there during business hours.

As a result, his customers just parked in our lot, leaving us with few spaces for our own customers.

My boss, trying to be reasonable, approached the landscaper with a suggestion.

Maybe they could adjust their parking setup to free up a few more spaces for customers, and that their vans were welcome to park in our lot, if their lot was ever full.

This landscape is being unreasonable.

But the landscaper shot down the idea immediately, insisting that it was “absolutely crucial” to reserve all of those spaces for his vans, even though they were rarely there during the day.

The conversation turned heated, ending with my boss threatening to put up a fence to separate the lots and enforce parking.

The landscaper, practically daring him, shot back, “Go ahead.”

Probably knowing how expensive that would be.

As you can imagine, it ended with both men storming off and not speaking for two years.

Typical neighbor stuff.

I can see where this story is going, and I love it.

Fast forward to recently, and we got a golden opportunity when a parking management company approached us with a proposal.

They offered to install automated license plate cameras to enforce parking, allowing us to fine vehicles that stayed beyond a generous 3-hour free window, if they hadn’t paid.

The setup would be free, we’d get most of the revenue and they would keep any fines issued.

It was perfect, especially since we were losing spaces to freeloaders, wouldn’t really impact the customers of the nearby stores, and if anyone had a good reason to park there for longer, then we could give them an extension at our discretion.

The landscaper will never agree to this.

However, for the cameras to work, they needed to cover both our entrance and the landscaping store’s entrance.

Being the considerate neighbor (again), my boss had the parking company rep reach out to the landscaper to explain the deal and benefits.

But true to form, the landscaper didn’t even let the rep finish before kicking him out, making it very clear very clear that, under no circumstances, would his lot become a paid parking zone.

This will work beautifully.

Instead of going through the hassle of putting up the necessary expensive fence, my boss had a better idea: big rocks.

One of his construction buddies had a stash of leftover rocks from a recent project and offered to place them for a great price.

The parking company even agreed to front the cost, to be repaid through future parking revenue.

On Monday morning, before opening hours, one of the buddy’s employees, a big, burly guy with arms like tree trunks, arrived with a truck and crane to place the rocks.

The rocks were neatly spaced to allow pedestrians to pass with carts but completely blocked vehicle access.

Don’t mess with a crane operator.

The landscaper stormed out, yelling and trying to intimidate the worker into stopping.

But the worker, unfazed, calmly told him to step back for his own safety, which made the much smaller landscaper back down and retreat in frustration.

The rocks weren’t just a physical barrier.

They quickly became a mental obstacle for the landscapers’s employees.

Their muscle memory kept bringing them into our lot, only for them to realize too late that they couldn’t drive through anymore.

This must have been great entertainment.

We watched from our newly installed surveillance cameras, just in case the neighbor tried anything, trying not to burst out laughing as their vans ended up awkwardly stuck.

They’d have to reverse out and go all the way around to their own entrance, only to perform a series of painful maneuvers to squeeze into their now much smaller parking area.

At one point, we even caught one of their rushing vans clipping a rock while trying to maneuver.

A little bonus for our viewing pleasure.

The next day, the parking company arrived to install the license plate cameras and set up the signage, which took a few hours.

Throughout the installation, the landscaper’s family members were prowling around our lot, snapping photos and videos as if they were on a mission to find a violation.

They know what they are doing.

But the parking company was very professional, and had done everything by the book, so there was nothing for them to report.

In the meantime, my boss was positively glowing with satisfaction as he helped direct the installation.

Here’s the best part: We noticed that the neighbour’s family had started parking their personal vehicles in our lot, likely out of spite to mess with us.

One day, my coworker saw one of the family members dash out of their store and sprint to their car.

We thought it was odd at the time but didn’t think much of it until the following week, when the landscaper’s son came into our store looking a bit embarrassed.

Wow, $150 seems excessive for a parking violation.

Apparently, he had accidentally overstayed the 3-hour limit and received a $150 fine.

The son practically begged us to waive it, insisting it was just a simple mistake.

My boss politely responded, “Oh, I’d really love to help, but it’s out of our control now. The parking company handles all the fines.”

The look on his face was priceless.

He left, shoulders slumped retreating back to their store.

This worked perfectly.

Ever since, our lot has been blissfully clear, and our customers have had no trouble finding spaces.

Meanwhile, the landscapers have been grumbling as they have a harder time maneuvering their vans, still trying to pretend they’re not bothered.

As for my boss?

He’s been smiling a lot more lately.

Sometimes, the best revenge is simply letting people get exactly what they asked for.

A great story of revenge while also setting up a new revenue stream.

Well played.

Let’s see what the people in the comments think of it all.

LOL. A very good point.

This commenter loves the solution.

It is not good for business.

This is a good rule to live by.

The world would be a better place.

The landscaper should have seen this coming.

You can only push people so far.

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.