Went to Home Depot today

A business establishment remains a private enterprise and, I believe, I think the courts would find it private property
yep, a business' property (to include the parking lot, and any other property owned by said business) is pretty much guaranteed to be considered private property as it's paid for and maintained by the business.

afaik, the only thing considered 'public' anymore is land or property or whatever is maintained by the city/state/government.
 
Plants at HD usually suck anyways...I'm sure you can find a better location. ;-)
Yeah they do suck.

yep, a business' property (to include the parking lot, and any other property owned by said business) is pretty much guaranteed to be considered private property as it's paid for and maintained by the business.

afaik, the only thing considered 'public' anymore is land or property or whatever is maintained by the city/state/government.
Parking lots are private property, but if it's a non fenced open air lot, it can be argued it's a commons, especially if they regularly let people cross through their lot.
 
Parking lots are private property, but if it's a non fenced open air lot, it can be argued it's a commons, especially if they regularly let people cross through their lot.

Yes, you can argue that to your heart's content, but the fact remains that if they own the parcel of property that the parking lot resides on, it is lawfully considered private property... their rules apply.

If your car gets hit in a HD, Lowe's, or mall parking lot, even if you have the plate number, there is nothing the cops can do because it happened on private property....trust me from first hand experience on this one. They can file a report for insurance purposes, but they cannot prosecute for hit-and-run. So, yeah, the parking lot is private property.
 
Yes, you can argue that to your heart's content, but the fact remains that if they own the parcel of property that the parking lot resides on, it is lawfully considered private property... their rules apply.
We'll need a lawyer on this one, because I've seen it with my own eyes. Some skateboarders were skateboarding in the parking lot at the Target near me at around 5pm. The cops accepted their statement of commons.

Not only that, but from the curb of the sidewalk going 15 feet inwards is city property, but you're required to maintain it. If it's city property, that's also commons.

[edit]
Wait, I just realized something. If your statement is correct and those lots ARE private jurisdictions, then they have no legal authority to force us to obey those signs in the parking lot saying "slow" or "stop" or "yield," because wouldnt that fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation?
 
... better yet, go to Lowes and say ... "but HD let me do it ... " and see what happens :)
Lowes will match HD plus 10%. They do this by calling HD and finding out. So, they would match HD's not allowing you to photograph the flowers, but will add 10%. Thus, you would have been able to photograph 10% of Lowes' flowers.

Did I work that all out correctly?

:D
 
Wait, I just realized something. If your statement is correct and those lots ARE private jurisdictions, then they have no legal authority to force us to obey those signs in the parking lot saying "slow" or "stop" or "yield," because wouldnt that fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation?

If a cop sees you blow through a stop sign in a Wal-Mart parking lot, he has absolutely no authority to give you a ticket for doing such. They also do not fall under any maintenance or juristisdiction of any DOT, they are privately owned signs used for traffic control....tell me the last time you saw a city, county, or state crew in a mall or big box store parking lot repairing or replacing signs...(hint: I used to be a Ohio DOT construction inspector). The ONLY one you may see repair work by DOT is at the direct entrance/exit at the public road, which falls into the offset right-of-way.

If you blow through a stop sign in a private parking lot and strike a pedestrian, killing them, you can be charged with manslaughter, but no traffic infraction.....
 
Last edited:
Lowes will match HD plus 10%. They do this by calling HD and finding out. So, they would match HD's not allowing you to photograph the flowers, but will add 10%. Thus, you would have been able to photograph 10% of Lowes' flowers.

Did I work that all out correctly?

:D


:lmao::lol:

Sounds good to me.
 
I just might write HD HQ a letter letting them know that I will take my business elsewhere. This won't be the first time I've written HD. All I see is these big box stores coming into small towns running mom and pop stores out of business. We're stuck buying the crap that they import form China. I was there returning a shower head that was leaking, 3rd one in 2 weeks. Sorry about the rant.
 
" went to homedepot today" that was were the mistake started :lol: haha
 
If you blow through a stop sign in a private parking lot and strike a pedestrian, killing them, you can be charged with manslaughter, but no traffic infraction.....
That's very reassuring. :lol:


Given your background, I'll defer to you then. :)
 
How so?

Do you need a membership to go in?

How do you qualify a public place?

I would have thought that any place you could access without having to go through any access procedures would have classified the place as public...

I wold have thought that any place you could access without any form of screening would have been counted as public access.

No screening to get into B&Q HD here - what security do you have to go through to get into your local HD????

Technically there is no such thing as public property in America. The government owns a lot, and they don't mind you taking photos on their property. But if you are on land owned by an individual or corporation, and they don't want you to photograph anything, you are required by law to abide. But, I believe you can take photos of private property while on public property. So get out the telephoto, and shoot from the back of the parking lot! :)

We can complain and argue about outsourcing all day long, but the truth is that's not really the point. You were mistreated, and you shouldn't have to put up with that, especially considering you were kind enough to ASK before shooting. A warm friendly, "Sorry, but no," along with a short explanation would have probably have changed the reaction of the customer. IMO, someone who's working there needs to go back to business school and learn about customer service (if he ever went to business school, my friend's a manager there, and he didn't).

IMO, good person-to-person customer service can't be outsourced. So if we want to make sure the US stays an economic authority, we need to work on the smaller things, like hospitality and whatnot.
 
So is the public right of access to HD not good enough to declare HD a public place?
Private, public... I don't think they care. I got arrested (public intoxication) once for drinking in front of my apartment - which is gated, you have to know the gate code to even get inside the fence, it's a public place though, even though it has restricted access to only those who live there. If a private place (my apartment) can become a public place, I don't see why it can't work the other way around.

:raisedbrow:

What is it they say...? "Better to ask for forgiveness than permission", or something like that.
 
As I understand it, over here during hours of trade carparks are public land - the highway code applies. When the shop shuts they should put a barrier over the entrance and at that point the land becomes private.
 
Someone please explain how "no pictures in the store" equates to being mistreated? I see nothing in the original post that says anyone was "mistreated".
 

Most reactions

Back
Top