The man in his 70s, who did not wish to be named, said the issue had come to light during a visit to The Warehouse Gore last week.
Although his own mobility was limited by recent operations, his concerns were not for himself, but for a man in a wheelchair he had helped with his groceries.
"The man looked like he would appreciate a hand getting to his car with his bag and extra groceries so I headed out with him, but I was surprised to find he wasn’t parked outside in the mobility parks, which were full.
"It was pretty busy in the carpark, so he’d parked about 40 metres away, near the road entrance."
When he returned to the store to continue his shopping, the retiree said he was shocked to see one of the vehicles did not have a mobility pass on display.
"That’s pretty thoughtless of someone to do that, so I asked inside whether they police the parks, which they said they did not.
"If no-one is policing them, then they’re worse than useless."
He said he would like to see more done to enforce proper use.
"They’re there for people with mobility issues. Think of others and don’t be selfish."
Gore’s bigger retailers said proper use of their mobility parks relied on good will and, where monitored, was only enforced lightly.
The Warehouse Group corporate affairs manager Rory O’Sullivan said the store’s mobility parks had recently been repainted for clarity.
"While we trust and expect people to do the right thing, we’re finding that our mobility and EV charging spaces continue to be misused," he said.
Asked about Gore New World, a Foodstuffs South Island spokesperson said misuse of its parks was "rare".
"If it does happen, the store takes a common-sense approach and will speak to the person if needed."
A Woolworths New Zealand spokeswoman said Gore staff would make an in-store announcement if misuse was reported by customers.
"[Our team] will ask the vehicle owner to remove the vehicle. Unauthorised vehicles may be issued a breach notice but are not towed nor clamped. We recognise the importance of mobility parks for our community and would ask anyone who notices an unauthorised vehicle to let our team in store know."
However, Mitre 10 Gore principal Allan Ferguson said the store had not experienced any issues.
"We’ve never received a customer complaint, possibly due to easy access from the front row of 10 carparks outside our store."
