Bad Business Practice Bayshore Towncenter Mall Glendale, WI

If you want to attract business don't hassle customers.

Bayshore Town Center Mall, Glendale WI, if a customer is doing something that is safe, that does not affect other customers in any way, and can potentially help market your business, let them do it. Everyone wins. There are no pictures with this post for a reason.

I admit I am ticked off at the moment.

My wife and I just went to the Bayshore Mall, Glendale, WI. I was about to take a picture when a security guard told me I could not. Cameras were not allowed unless you had permission from the office. What!? There were not signs prohibiting photography. Photos are not mentioned in the code of conduct for the mall!

Get this, I was outside.

It is one of those new outdoor community malls. The Bayshore Town Center Mall in Glendale, WI. I was going to take a photo of the street. A street, I might add, that is patrolled by the local policed department. While I had a DSLR, I was not using a tripod. I was simply going to take a picture of the street.

Some of the national parks had this type of stupid mentality.

The idea is they did not want people shooting large commercial productions that would interrupt other visitors or harm the park. Idiot park rangers started hassling anyone with a camera and tripod. They forgot it was the work of photographers that motivated the creation of the national parks in the first place. Now, I am told they have made clear the policy is not directed at photographers (even professionals) that are simply photographing nature.

I understand the City of New York is becoming a bunch of Nazis and not allowing photography with a tripod in public.

That is just dumb. It is draconian. It is backwards. You want people to visit and bring money. You encourage them to take photos and share the good points of your city or business. Read the photography magazines, you are becoming a place that people who love photography (hobbyists as well as professianals) will avoid. Those are exactly the people that would show you off the best.

You want good press in business.

You want those that will tell others they had a great time. You want them to take pictures of the good time they had. In this day of camera phones, tiny digital cameras, and video cameras, everyone is taking pictures all the time. They are sharing and advertising your business. You want bloggers (like me) to take photos of your business and show them to others. It is free advertising.

To the Bayshore Mall management.

This is a dumb policy. I understand your need to avoid things that would inconvenience other shoppers. This was not the case. I understand the need to protect your image from improper commercial use (I used to be a professional photographer). You have lawyers who can take care of that when it happens (most photographers would not want to show anything trademarked in a commercial photo anyway). You should encourage photography for personal and editorial use.

For Officer Dreyer at the Bayshore Town Center Mall, WI

You should have done your job instead of standing in the middle of the street where no one was crossing and held traffic when my wife and I crossed. I know you were surprised when I asked you for your name Officer Dreyer. I also know that being a security guard is not the most rewarding career. Use your head. You represent Bayshore Mall. Would you have hassled a mother taking a photograph with her kids? Or are you not allowed to use your brain on duty?

There were no signs prohibiting photography.

I was told I needed to check with the office first. There are no signs stating where the office is. It is not on your map. The mall is outdoors and covers several blocks. How is someone supposed to find it?

I am creating a site featuring Wisconsin tourist attractions and business. The Bayshore Mall in Glendale, WI will not be on it.

The Bayshore Mall in Glendale, WI is unfriendly to tourist.

It is that simple. I can't recommend someone who is on vacation and taking photos of their vacation to go there. Yes, people do that. All the time. At the Bayshore Mall, they will be told to put their cameras away. That is either your policy (and it is wrong) or Officer Dreyer is getting very bad training. It is hard to have security officers with bad training, it does not take much. This means the management is not doing its job. Even Mayfair Mall with all its problems would not hassle someone taking a photo.

The Bayshore Town Center Mall says "Live, Work, Play" in its brochure.

Seems like a place where memories of a good life living, working, and playing are prohibited. Despite the fact it is not in the code of conduct for your mall! Who would want to live in a community with this kind of censorship being practiced? When people play nowadays, they usually have a camera.

What does Ritz Camera Bayshore Mall have to do with this?

I was taking the photo outside Ritz Cameras Glendale, WI. I do not know how Ritz Cameras can survive in this situation. I know that if I went to Art's Cameras Plus, no one would hassle me about taking photos, indoors or out, even with a tripod. Bayshore Mall is a bad place to have your business. It is affecting my opinion of yours to the point the link in this post is going to your competition. So will any of my photography business.

It is bad business to hassle customers who are not creating any kind of inconvenience or danger to someone else.

I was not loud. I was not disturbing anyone (there was no one else near but my wife and Officer Dreyer). I was not even holding up traffic when I crossed (someone should have held it for me as the traffic is supposed to yield to pedestrians, he must have been too busy standing in the middle of the other side of the intersection by himself).

To you the reader

What do you think about this situation? Am I all wet? Was I doing something that should have been discouraged or encouraged?

I want to know how others feel about this.

If you make a post about this subject (your own experience or your thought about mine) comment below with a link. I will make a post next week with a link to all the posts. The subject of your post should be censorship, bad business customer relations, or dumb business policies. Has something like this happened to you?