"Hero we need": Fed-up tradie disrupts Bunnings traffic
<p>A tradie at his wit's end has pulled a petty stunt to fire back at Bunnings customers who “use the trade entry as easy access” and held him up.</p>
<p>The tradie shared his stunt to the Tradie Mayhem Facebook group alongside images of the row of parked cars at the Artarmon Bunnings, which sparked his frustrated act.</p>
<p>The man said he did it for all tradespeople who have been “held up during the week at Bunnings by people that use the trade entry as easy access, taking their sweet time” after parking in the easy access area.</p>
<p>“I double parked blocking them all in at Artarmon Bunnings,” he said.</p>
<p>The staff announced over the speaker system that his ute needed to be moved, to which he responded, “just made me take my time and let them know that’s how we feel during the week when we’re trying to get work done and are held up by them”.</p>
<p>Initial responses were positive, praising the tradie and labelling him as the “hero we need”.</p>
<p>“Tradie privilege, don‘t think so,” one member commented.</p>
<p>“It‘s so they can load their vehicle instead of dragging it through the car park. If you’re driving a normal car park outside and enjoying some exercise.”</p>
<p>“Love this, trade yard always packed with cafe dwellers,” a third wrote.</p>
<p>Some individuals shared their frustrations of having to share the space with the general public, calling for the original poster to “pester Bunnings about it”.</p>
<p>“Bring back the trade only access to Bunnings before 8-9 am that they had during Covid.”</p>
<p>Others were quick to point out a major flaw in the tradie's argument, saying the undercover parking is not reserved for tradies but a loading area of things that cannot be taken through checkout.</p>
<p>The loading bays are for any customers who are temporarily loading timber or bulky items in the trade yard.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">News.com.au</a></em> asked Artarmon Bunnings for a comment about the stunt, and the warehouse manager said the area in question was a “load and go area”.</p>
<p>“We don’t usually have too many long waits there, but there is the occasional one-off when a customer will come in and park on the side or right in the middle of the driveway,” he said.</p>
<p>“We did have a little shortage of our load and go guys that usually work down there, but that is currently being fixed.”</p>
<p>The manager said the fact the area was only one lane for a busy, multi-use loading area meant that there can be waits, but there was a staff member there to direct the traffic.</p>
<p>“But because it is one lane obviously our main priority is our customers and getting them in and out of here as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, other stores have five lanes, we only have one.</p>
<p>“There are occasional customers who want to get through and load personal items because it’s easier to bring down to the car, so we are looking at getting it to be the best system possible.”</p>
<p><em>Image credit: Facebook</em></p>
