After I wrote this post, I shot an email to SJOG Subiaco via their website about securing the bike racks near the main entrance of the hospital.

This was my e-mail:

Firstly I want to say, good on you for providing a bike rack right near the main entrance. I found it very valuable while visiting my partner during her stay with you. I just wanted to provide some feedback, in that the bike rack, while a great rack, isnt secured to anything. During my time at Murdoch University a similar rack was stolen complete with 5 bicycles by some people in a ute who simply drove up, loaded it on and drove away. The rack that you have is also quite lightweight itself and tends to slide around a bit on the pavers, as its location had changed slightly the few times I visited it. As this is the main pickup/dropoff area for the hospital vehicle access is very easy in this location, so I would suggest securing the rack is important. I noticed there were other bikes in the vicinity which were chained to drain pipes and signage. It could be that the riders of these bikes didn’t feel secure using the unanchored bike rack.

I received a follow up response from them today as follows:

Thank you for your email of 5 July 2012 regarding your recent visit to St John of God Subiaco Hospital.

Your feedback regarding the securing of the bicycle rack has been forwarded to the Manager of Security & Grounds who has completed his review of the issues you raised. Please be assured that the Engineering Department has confirmed that they are arranging for the bicycle rack to be secured in the next couple of weeks. I again thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Feedback is a valuable way for us to review our processes and procedures to identify areas for improvement and therefore always very welcome.

This is excellent stuff and even though it seemed to take a long time for the information and action to flow through, I am very happy with the outcome.

This contrasts wildly with the response that I had from Coles Supermarkets regarding my emails to get a bike rack installed at their stand-alone store in Maylands. I understand that Coles is a behemoth, and getting something to happen with them is like trying to turn the Titanic, but after being referred to the ‘National Property Team’ my email went nowhere. The SJOG experience has encouraged me to try again with Coles. Stay tuned for developments!