Bizarre blunder that sparked ridiculous Circle on Cavill shopping centre TikTok parking dispute

Parking bosses issued a humiliating apology in the wake of a large parking line in which a stubborn attendant refused to let a woman leave, prompting a huge buildup of angry drivers.

Dozens of frustrated drivers were stuck for more than half an hour in the parking lot of the Circle on Cavill shopping center in Surfer’s Paradise, Queensland, on Thursday.

An angry customer service employee had refused to let a woman who did not have a ticket through the gate.

Video of the incident blew up online, racking up more than a million views on TikTok, with the vast majority of commenters siding with the host. Many called for the assistant to be fired.

Now, Care Park, the company that manages the car park, has apologized to the driver and “everyone affected by the delay”, admitting that a mistake by the head office caused the incident.

The driver claimed that she had paid her parking membership dues, but the attendant disagreed and showed no sympathy for the other drivers in the parking lot, telling the woman she should just back off.

That was impossible, since there were dozens of cars piled up behind her.

Now it has been confirmed that Care Park was wrong. The company admitted on Friday night that the lady’s pass was ‘accidentally disabled’.

Care Park would not comment on whether the aide has been disciplined or fired.

“Care Park has apologized for the situation that occurred to the lady while she was trying to resolve the card issue at the exit gate,” a spokeswoman for Care Park said.

‘Care Park is grateful for the public assistance given to this lady to help her pay her parking fee to get out of the parking lot and the tremendous support shown to her.

“Care Park has taken appropriate measures and held urgent meetings with all the team involved to ensure we improve our customer service processes going forward.”

However, the spokeswoman emphasized that the intercom is a “one-way line that allows only one person to speak at a time and therefore it appears that the customer service officer is speaking over the car park.”

The video that set the internet alight begins with a frustrated man getting out of his car to find out what is holding up the woman at the front of the line.

He explained his dilemma and said the valet attendant was trying to charge him a $25 lost ticket fee because his membership card won’t scan.

The man then called the assistant using the electronic help button and was caught in the middle of a heated argument.

He told the attendant, ‘You have about a hundred cars in this parking lot because one of your machines is down.

‘This lady has a membership to go out.’

The attendant then told him, ‘She doesn’t actually have a valid membership. She doesn’t have one with us, so she must pay the amount that appears on the screen.

The woman tried to explain that her card wasn’t working, to which the attendant replied, “I’m sorry, but if everyone else has to pay for their parking, you should too.”

As more cars piled up in the small parking space, the woman repeatedly tried to tell the attendant that she had paid for a month’s parking and should not be expected to pay a $25 fee.

However, the attendant repeatedly interrupted her and told her to call the membership company to ‘fix it’.

“You either reverse or pay the amount that appears on the screen,” the assistant said.

The man then jumped into the conversation and said, “We can’t go back, you’ve got a hundred cars here.”

The attendant again told the woman that she must ‘pay like everyone else must pay’.

As the frustrations began to come to a head, the man yelled at the attendant to ‘open the door’ and offered to pay the $25 fee so everyone could leave.

The angry attendant continued to talk about him and the upset woman until she finally decided that he could pay the fee if he walked back to his car and took his card to the register.

The man tried to explain that his car was a long way down a hill and asked if he could open the door and let the line through so he could get in.

‘No, I’m sorry, we can’t,’ he said. “The rules are clearly posted on the front gate and it says that a condition of entering our parking lot is that you pay the amount on the screen.”

The man replied, ‘I’m trying to pay for it, I just can’t bring my car here because there are a hundred cars… I ran all the way up the hill because there’s a big traffic jam because you’re not being a human being.

After more back and forth, the attendant told the man she didn’t care if he had to walk the distance, saying, ‘Okay, then do it. There is nothing I can do on my part.

We will wait here. We will wait for you. That’s not a problem.’

As the upset woman and the rude attendant continued to discuss the payment, people started yelling at the attendant from the car lane.

A frustrated man yelled: ‘We have to get out of here. Open the door.’

The man ended the video by telling the assistant that he recorded their conversation and that he will report it to center management.

“That’s not a problem,” she said.

The Australians rushed to call the parking attendant.

“The fact that you were willing to pay for her and she STILL refused to let her out is ridiculous,” said one.

Another wrote: ‘What about all the other cars in line with a valid pass? Are they expected to stay there because they won’t let her out? Absolutely ridiculous.’

A third added: ‘Can other people waiting get parking refunds because of the extra time they waited? The lady behind the intercom is crazy!

“That person on speakerphone is on a power trip,” added a fourth.

“My worst nightmare,” said another.

The man later shared an update saying another angry customer yelled at the woman to open the door, after which they were able to get through.