[fine69]

One not so fine day, I come back to the office parking lot after completing my due for the day and see that a big sticker with my organization's name on it has been pasted on the rear windscreen of my car. I ask the security guards and they say that it has been done on the orders of one Admin (Facilities/FMG) team member. I tell those guys to take down my vehicle's reg. no. and not mess with my car again. I also tell them to instruct that Admin person that I'm not interested in getting anything pasted on my car, especially when no one has asked for my permission.

I come back home, remove the sticker, write an email to the admin person that I don't welcome such unsolicited acts and don't like anyone touching my personal property.

After about a week...

I see that the same sticker has again been pasted on the rear windscreen, this time I shout on the security guards for not keeping note of the fact that I didn't want anything on my car. The guy says that he did tell the Admin person but they insisted that the security guys should still paste the sticker on the car. Not points for guessing, I was so pissed that I go back home, write an email to the admin person's manager telling him that I don't want anything on my car, period!

I get an email back that its for branding purpose and how its a direction from the top management and if I don't like it I can park my car outside the office premises. I'm okay paying 400 bucks a month for parking my car outside but whenever it rains even a little (it just rained in Delhi a few days back) that parking area outside the office becomes a 2 ft deep swimming pool and on the very first day of my joining, I had to take off my shoes, fold my pants up and go through the pool of dirty water to get inside my car. So considering my options, I write another email, this time to his supervisor, an associate vice president level guy (appreciate my guts?) asking him that I'm not the sole user of the car and my other family members/relatives use it who cannot be associated with any brand/company.

As expected I get the same sob story about how they need to follow the directions from the top management and its an organizational mandate, its a branding exercise (I don't want to promote this organization, how do I just tell him that), blah blah blah, and that it is also from a security angle! Security angle my foot, you can't get secure enough with one parking sticker, need another one at the back, loads of crap!!

Not to mention, since this concern of mine gained a little publicity, the admin guys even circulated an email to the entire organization stating that parking stickers (both front and "back") should be pasted on everybody's car.

To add, I haven't even pasted the front parking sticker, I just put it between the windshield and the little gap in the dashboard whenever I reach the office and its very much visible from the inside, so the security guys allow me in without any fuss. I just don't like these stickers on my car, in fact I have my car's rear de-badged and the only stickers are one LTD at the back, two transparent ones on the front side doors. Though now I have that ugly looking company name sitting on my car's butt

So the reason for this post is to come up with that one unbeatable excuse about how I can't afford to have that bird poop (you must be thinking I really hate where I work, not really, just that I hate all those idiots trying to destroy my car) on my car's rear windscreen because.....

1. Is my brother/father member of xyz and since they also use the car I can't have any company name on the car?

2. The car is used for xyz purpose due to which I can't have it?

3. My car undergoes some specialized washing technique due to which all stickers get worn off except the tbhp ones

While suggesting please keep in mind how I need to keep the tbhp stickers and not have anything else.

Please pour in your suggestions considering that I'm ready to take that excuse even to the COO/CEO level, I'm that unhappy with this nonsense.

[sukhoi30]

Find a company who is a direct competitor of yours. You may have to spend a little to make a sticker of that company or you can reach out to the marketing division of that company to get some sort of sticker. Now paste this on your car and send mail to your admin that a friend/relative of yours work there and so when he took the car to his office, they put up such a sticker.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by sukhoi30

Find a company who is a direct competitor of yours. You may have to spend a little to make a sticker of that company or you can reach out to the marketing division of that company to get some sort of sticker. Now paste this on your car and send mail to your admin that a friend/relative of yours work there and so when he took the car to his office, they put up such a sticker.

But wouldn't that mean having one additional sticker apart from the one I already have. I want to have no sticker.

[androdev]

I too never wanted any stickers on my car, thankfully our security/admin people did not bother me much. I used to tell them "I live in a joint family with a handful of cars. I am not the owner and I will be coming in a different car depending on the availability" They were easy going so did not really force me beyond that. If the admin people are too thick in their head, then it is going to waste lot of your time.

Just say that it is a shared/borrowed/family car and you are not the exclusive owner and others objects to stickers. If they still insist and paste the sticker, just keep it and put a "Calvin (from calvin and hobbes) pi**ing" sticker next to your company name on the sticker.

You can always look for a company that is not so fussy with these things.

Few companies issues stickers without any logo/brand, just a ticket number. This is to protect employee privacy.

[sukhoi30]

Originally Posted by fine69

But wouldn't that mean having one additional sticker apart from the one I already have. I want to have no sticker.

Yes, at least for some time. But it should send the message to your Admin. Moreover, personal property cannot be used for commercial advertisements. I think there should definitely be some law about that.

[Enigmatic]

This is a peculiar condition, and i feel you.

If you take off the stickers then are you sure they would come back and stick them again ?? I know they have repeated the process once however would they come back again for the third time ??

You already have a sticker which you show to the security guard so getting in and out of the basement is not a problem.

Hence if you just take it off again and don't tell the admin/office guys about the same, they wont be suspicious. Problem Solved

[condor]

1. keep removing it
2. put something else on top of the sticker

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by fine69

But wouldn't that mean having one additional sticker apart from the one I already have. I want to have no sticker.

Exactly. So rather than see a competitor sticker - he will ask you to de-sticker your ride

[amtak]

wasn't there a rule that for pasting advertisements on cars, one needs to obtain the permission from local municipal corporation? How can the corporation force you to do this? Does the management team has their car stickered? does the admin has his car stickered?

[bblost]

Let them keep sticking it.
You keep removing it once you get home.

After a couple of weeks one of you will get tired of this and give up.
Problem solved.

[NinadJoshi]

I am following this thread from the sheer awe at this organization's audacity and blatant disrespect for an individual's freedom.

This is the first I've ever heard a company force itself upon an employee in this fashion.

[anekho]

Say you have a younger cousin/sibling/family member who also uses the car but drives rashly (despite you telling him/her not to) and seeing the car being driven in this manner would be bad for the firm's reputation.

Problem solved.

[audioholic]

This annoying issue happened in my college too. For two wheelers, they issued a pass which was in the form of a sticker and that had to be put on the vehicle. I am paranoid about stickers and have even got the dealer stickers removed by them during delivery of all my vehicles. Once the parking pass was issued, I did not stick it for two days. Then, the security started asking me to show the sticker. I had it in my hand and he insisted I stick it. Then I couldn't find a suitable place to stick it so put it under the seat.

When I showed that, the security insisted that the sticker be visible, without a valid reason for the same. He wouldn't let me in. So I had to forcibly stick the pass onto the foot well area. Then sparked this idea. Went home, hosed down the sticker until its glue went off. Took the sticker next day and told the security guy to stick it where he wanted. He failed to do so, and now I just carry the sticker with my ID.

[mazda4life]

I had a similar predicament when working in Blore, after some 'negotiations' with the security head we agreed that I could dangle the sticker from a makeshift plastic stand near the dashboard and leave it there when the car was parked in the lot and remove / lay it flat once I was out of the gate.
Very similar to the one that we find here in US for the physically challenged parking permits.

One thing to remember is that, security guys ( dont mean to demean any one here ) are on the tail of a long food chain and using a little bit of tact and easy demeanor might help you... no point in getting all worked up.

[vivekiny2k]

looks like they are using your car for their promotion. send them a bill for the rental usage of the car space.

then transfer that fee and sticker to another willing car, commoditization