94103_1.txt

Costco San Francisco

Alec Proudfoot 2/21/02:

I was at SF Costco on Tuesday afternoon [2/19/02], and
as promised, the tires that were blocking the left charger have been
removed.  Both chargers are now operational.


Alec Proudfoot 2/8/02:

I spoke with Shannon Weeks, manager of the San Francisco Costco store at
10th and Harrison, about the tires that are blocking the left charger.
He said that they had a special promotion which caused them to have
tires piling up faster than they could haul them out.  The promotion is
over soon, and the tires should all be hauled out on Monday the 11th and
the left charger spot will be freed up.

I also asked him for and update on the conductive charger that they plan
to install.  He said it is on order and they are waiting for a
particular part to come in, then it will be installed.  He didn't give
me a timeframe.  When it is installed, it will be across the aisle from
the current inductive chargers.

============
Marc Geller 2/5/02:

I finally found the Costco SF Manager info.
Shannon Weeks
w144mgr@costco.com
415-626-4388
===========

Steve Oddo 2/4/02:

I will try to swing by Costco in the next day or so and speak with the
manager Shannon Weeks about this.

It looks to me that since these are used tires, they are likely having
 a problem with their disposal company and needed an emergency storage
area until such time as they can resolve it.  It is unlikely that this
will go on long as it is a huge fire hazard liability for them not to
mention an eyesore.  This is just my supposition, I'll try to get 
details as soon as I can.

====================

Steve Oddo 2/3/02:

Hi all,

Well it's official.  The Costco on 10th & Bryant here in SF is effectively
down to one charger until such time as they move the mountain (literally) of
used tires. Said mountain extends from the corner where the tire shop wall &
the exterior wall that has the chargers mounted, out to about 2 feet from
the middle parking spot (which is between the 2 chargers) and all the way to
the end of the space practically into the isle.  Since the stack-O-tires
starts at the charger end and moves out it will virtually be impossible to
get to it until the mountain is moved.  From the edge of the tires to the
charger is nearly 5 feet.  I hope the charger itself is not damaged as it
has tires stacked and leaning on it. You almost can't see it.

The second charger seems to be working just fine, and believe it or not it
is not ice'd!  I have been charging there for over an hour.

That's the update, plan accordingly.

Cheers,
Steve


Michael Schwabe 1/31/02:

I was there last Tuesday for the TechTV interview and had a similar hassle.
The right charger (facing the street) was ICE'd but the left spot was
free. I went upstairs to check out the Costco and when I came back down,
a tire employee had stacked a row of tires next to my car so close I could
not get in the car. I collared him and he moved enough tires so that I could
get in the car and then squeeze out.

What was this guy thinking?
==================
Alec Proudfoot 1/31/02:
I use the Costco SF chargers (at 10th and Harrison) fairly frequently.
On January 22nd, some tire shop employees were beginning to stack tires
at the edge of one of the parking spots.  It was possible to still fit
the EV1 in the spot and charge, but they asked me to move to the other
charger.  No problem, I moved.

Last night (January 30th), The entire parking spot on the left charger
was filled with three rows of stacked tires.  As usual, the right
charger was ICEd but it belonged to a tire shop employee and I was able
to get him to move his car.  I was in a hurry so I didn't get a chance
to query him further about the tires, and I got back after closing so
there was no one to talk to.

I am concerned that they are starting to use this left parking spot as a
permanent used tire storage area, thus effectively blocking one of the
two chargers.  I have twice seen two EVs using the two chargers (one of
which was mine) in the past three months.  And often one or the other
spot is ICEd, so having both of them available is handy, and even
necessary if the ICEing car does not belong to a tire shop employee.

Any ideas on how we should approach this?  I know Mark Geller talked to
the manager of the Costco, Shannon Weeks,  recently (about installing a
new inductive charger!).  Does anyone have his contact info?  Would
approaching him about this issue be the best way to proceed?

If anyone else up there uses the chargers there in the next few days or
is in the area, perhaps you can stop by and see if the tires are still
there.  I will be up there again in about a week.

These chargers are key for being able to reliably make trips to the
South of Market area of San Francisco from the Peninsula.  I want to
make sure everyone still has access to the chargers.
==============