Macquarie Centre — Local services in Sydney

IGNORE 5 STAR REVIEWS OF THIS PLACE! They were mostly written by people who are new to the country so everything is amazing to them!

It is actually disturbing that this centre is rated so highly, because it has to be the WORST and most stress-inducing shopping centre in all of Australia. Why? Because it is designed like an absolute dogs breakfast. Not only is it a dogs breakfast inside the centre, but the car parks are designed so poorly and illogically as if the person who designed them was drunk!

You will constantly ask yourself where you are in the centre due to the spiral ramp near Myer/Kmart/the food court, and when looking for a parking spot you will constantly wonder how to get out. Not only that, but when you come on weekends prepare to wait in a line of traffic getting in AND out of the shopping centre because of how busy this place is. You will literally spend at least 45 minutes in total just sitting in your car waiting in line to get in AND out of the carparks, it is a massive waste of time.

You will scratch your head constantly wondering where a certain shop is because the layout is confusing. It’s also extremely crowded because of how densely populated Macquarie Park is and since there’s a uni nearby. You come on a normal Saturday and wonder why it’s Boxing Day, but then realise it’s not Boxing Day and it’s just THAT busy. All. The. Time. Not only that but they want to actually develop Macquarie Park further which will make this place even more of a nightmare to visit in the coming decade.

This place needs to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up it’s actually that confusing and terribly designed. Also, you get free parking after spending FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS in one day. If that isn’t a crazy promotion I don’t know what is. It is not efficient coming to this place, stay away. They also charge you for parking after a mere three hours most of which is spent looking for the entrance and exit and then scratching your bum wondering where anything is in the centre.

If you’re going to build a shopping centre in an highly populated area why would you make it so confusing and inefficient for people to get in and out if they drive in by car? It’s silly and with how they’re going to cram even more people into Mac Park in the next 5 years it’s just going to get worse! This place needs a serious redesign before the population grows even more, because when it does (and it will) it will be harder to navigate and even more of a nightmare to visit.

Do not trust the 5 star reviews for this place. If you actually read them, a number of the 5 star reviews actually have a negative comment which makes absolutely no sense at all. It's as if some of the reviews are left by people who are absolutely clueless on what a five star review actually means.

I would highly recommend going to Top Ryde or Carlingford Court (for groceries anyway because there are a lot less stores there) instead.

If you absolutely must visit then the best times are early in the morning before 9 am, and after 7 pm at night. These are the quietest times. Enter via Waterloo Rd and go up the big ramp, park at the Coles/Woolworths parking. If you visit between those times then...

This place has the worst layout. You walk up or down little slopes and suddenly end up on a different floor without realising you have gone up or down a floor and there are no markings to inform you you’ve just moved to a different floor like you do at the end or top of escalators. But it doesn’t end there.

This also applies to the car park. Not only does it have many different parking areas, but half of them shut their doors at 7pm even though the shops and restaurants inside are open way past this time.

The aforementioned layout issues extend to the car park too. Park at Level 2 Blue? No problem. You enter the mall on Level 2, no problem. Trying to go back and find all the escalators all closed off after 7pm or whatever and one of the lifts don’t go to level 2, for some reason. No problem though, because you can use those devious slopes to go down to level 2 (if you knew how the slopes worked, if not, enjoy walking around like a moron getting angry and cursing at the management in your head) - then exit where it says Blue Car Park from level 2 only to find out you are in Level 3 Blue in the car park and you car is actually below you. After your head explodes and you calm down enough to muster up some energy to use your head, on what was meant to be a leisurely day out, you will realise there’s another elevator that you take down to Level 1 (gasp!) and exit near the ice rink to Blue Car Park on level 1 and go up like 8 or 10 steps (note: nothing like a standard flight of stairs to suggest you’re going up a floor) and voila you’re at Level 2 Blue car park.

Seriously, the brilliant architects and management (including those at that once prestigious institute AMP) have collectively punished people by way of wasting their time, energy, boiling their blood and probably also sending their blood pressure up. I hope karma bites them all...

Today I parked at Macquarie shopping centre podium level, when I finished shopping and went back to my car and tried to drive out, two long Woolworths truck parking on the driveway and block my turning circle. I unfortunately due to had no enough space to drive my car out, scratched my car. I tried to question Woolworths logistics manager whether it is permissible to park their truck at NO Parking Spot (there’s clearly mark on the floor) and he said it’s my own problem. Can I ask Macquarie shopping centre how this logistic is managed and whether this method is safe??? Rules are rules and there’s a reason why Australia Building Code is set with circulation requirements. In any emergency of fire, there’s no enough space for path of travel! If things like that happened, and Woolworths’s truck blocked the way, are Woolworths doing the same, blaming people that they were not running fast enough from the fire? Similar situation to me, I scratched my car and Haris from Woolworths said I should blamed myself. But I would not have to get that consequence if there were no Two Woolworths trucks Cleary blocked the entire half of the driveway, (for at least 20m long).

Can I ask, did Macquarie shopping centre management approve the way Woolworths parking? I see this is a serious WHS issue.

It can also been seen from the photos that currently some of the car park space was also blocked off for construction which also took away some of the driveway area. I recommend people do not shopping here as the terrible building management and there’s no restriction pose onto Woolworths on how they should comply to the management guidelines/rules. Who’s responsible for my thousands dollars car repair cost? Don’t shop here if you don’t want this situation...