Holy moly... goin' to court.

[darin3]

Sorry, this might be long....

 

So yesterday afternoon, I drove over to a buddy's place in my truck to have a few beers and build my website (he's an attorney, but has experience with building websites). I park in their apartment complex's lot and was at his place for several hours before my wife joined us (buddy's live-in girlfriend and another friend were also hanging out, having some beers, etc.). About a half hour after my wife arrived, the girls went outside to sit by the pool and saw a tow-truck leaving the lot. We went out to the lot to see what was up and my wife's SUV was gone.

 

We called the tow company and wife/friends hopped in my buddy's SUV to try and find the "holding lot" (sometimes they'll tow illegally-parked vehicles to a nearby open lot before taking to the actual yard). Finally got to speak to a person at the towing company and we were informed that it was $193 to get it out tonight, and $213 for tomorrow after 7:30am. We opted to just wait until the next day, as we were all having alcoholic beverages and didn't want to drive the 30ish miles round trip to go get her SUV. So naturally, I went and moved my truck to the complex's other lot, which had parking spaces marked "visitor", as instructed by my buddy (the resident).

 

We are at the apartment for another 4-5 hours (watching UT game , playing a board game and just hanging out) and when I went to drive the wife and I home, guess what........ yup, my truck's gone too. Call the towing company and confirm it was towed. This time, we're more than livid. They state that vehicles in the "visitor" spaces need to have some sort of "visitor pass", which is available at the complex office (we both arrived after-hours, of course).

 

Now, as I mentioned earlier, my buddy is an attorney so immediately goes into attorney mode. Actually, he was in this mode after my wife's SUV being towed. We went out to the lot to measure the sign, take photos of its location (hard to see for people entering from the south), etc. We file an "unauthorized towing" report with the Austin PD (necessary for anyone planning on taking the towing company to court).

 

So, given no choice but to head down to the towing company's lot, we head out at nearly 3:30am. and naturally find a line of people at the company's office. Apparently the wreckers had a very busy and profitable night. So we go to pay to get my wife's SUV and their credit card machine won't read my debit card (they only take debit and cash, of course). The fat piece of crap behind the little 10"x10" window says it won't go through. I say "well, not my problem. Make it work." Of course he's a jerk and hands my card back through the window. I put it back in my wallet, pull it back out and say "here, try this one". So my wife pulls her debit card out (she rarely uses it and didn't have much in that account) to try it. It works, and we proceed with the paperwork. There are several things stapled together (debit card receipt, towing company's report, and the back page is a "damage report" that indicates any existing damage found on the vehicle [supposedly] done before the tow). My wife flips through this stack of crap and signs it and then does a double-take and says to the fat piece of crap "hey, wait... can I see that again?" This fat jackass says "NOPE!".

 

At this point, it was about to get ugly. We call the police and they sent an officer out. At this point, I'm doing the paperwork to get my truck out. I make sure to review the "damage report" and it's a bunch of scribbles with words that appear to be "damage", but it's spelled "damge" and there's just a bunch of chicken scratches. I of course ask for a copy of this report and they refuse, stating "policy... take it up with the manager tomorrow". I told them "well, I'll be doing a bit more than that, see ya in court."

 

The officer was helpful and used his flashlight to inspect both of our vehicles for any damage that may have been caused by the towing. Got home after 4am.

 

Every net search (J and J towing in Austin, TX) results in tons of consumers' complaining about this company illegally towing, stealing things out of towed cars, etc.

 

We're suing these bastards. Apparently there are all sorts of ways to nail towing companies based on the sign placement (again, the one lot's sign is difficult to read for drivers coming from the south). There is a sign in the other lot (with the visitor spots) but does not indicate that you need a "visitor pass" to park in those spots.

 

I'm an urban planner by trade and deal with parking regulations, signage, etc. all the time. My buddy's a criminal defense lawyer and this is right up his alley. They most certainly towed the WRONG vehicles last night.

[Big John]

Quite a racket thet have over there I would be livid too

[Guest Chappy]

Good luck with crusade and nailing their asses to the wall. I'm sure far too many people allow them to get away with this chirade, pay for their towed vehicle and therefore it continues.

[Wolverines Fan]

Good luck nailing these scumbags.

 

Was there any damage to either vehicle?

[rocknrobn26]

The Northside of Chi is famous for this, thus the song by:

 

Steve Goodman

LINCOLN PARK PIRATES

 

The streetlamps are on in Chicago tonight,

And lovers a'gazin' at stars;

The stores are all closin', and Daley is dozin',

And the fat man is counting the cars...

And there's more cars than places to put 'em, he says,

But I've got room for them all;

So 'round 'em up boys, 'cause I want some more toys,

In the lot by the grocery store...

 

To me, way, hey, tow them away,

The Lincoln Park Pirates are we,

From Wilmette to Gary, there's nothin' so hairy

And we always collect our fee!

So it's way, hey, tow 'em away,

We plunder the streets of your town,

Be it Edsel or Chevy, there's no car too heavy,

And no one can make us shut down.

 

We break into cars when we gotta,

With hammer and pickaxe and saw;

And they said this garage had no license;

But little care I for the law!

Our drivers are friendly and courteous;

Their good manners you always will get;

'Cause they all are recent graduates

Of the charm school in Joliet.

 

To me, way, hey, tow them away,

The Lincoln Park Pirates are we,

From Wilmette to Gary, there's nothin' so hairy

And we always collect our fee!

So it's way, hey, tow 'em away,

We plunder the streets of your town,

Be it Edsel or Chevy, there's no car too heavy,

And no one can make us shut down.

 

And when all the cars are collected,

And all of their fenders are ruined,

Then I'll tow all the boats in Belmont Harbor

To the Lincoln Park Lagoon;

And when I've collected the ransom,

And sunk all the ones that won't yield;

I'll tow all the planes that are blocking the runways

At Midway, O'Hare, and Meigs Field!

 

To me, way, hey, tow them away,

The Lincoln Park Pirates are we,

From Wilmette to Gary, there's nothin' so hairy

And we always collect our fee!

So it's way, hey, tow 'em away,

Now citizens, gather around,

And I think it's enough, let's call his bluff,

Let's throw the bum out of town!

 

Good luck Darin! Hope you beat them down!

[SF409ers]

City of San Diego / Central Parking --> <-- Me

 

Just thinking about it makes me

[polksalet]

I would consider parking where these guys normally do their business and hding in the back under a blanket with a claw hammer. I guarantee a few taps upside the head would slow their nightly progress

[darin3]

Good luck nailing these scumbags.

 

Was there any damage to either vehicle?

My truck's pretty much a beater at this point but nothing was discovered on either vehicle.

[keggerz]

good luck.....what happened to me once was the following:

 

there is no street parking where i lived(2hrs max) but there is a City Lot that you have to have a

parking pass for to park in it longer then 2 hours..of course people that work and live there buy the passes...

me I had two cars and two passes....I leave on a Monday morning to go to the airport on a business trip....i dont

return for just short of 2 weeks...I get back and my car is stolen...no wait when i went to the police station to file a report they

tell me that it was towed because it was in a no parking area...i was like what the....evidently they did some paving in the lot while i was gone and on that first wed. they posted that there would be no parking and gave dates...so yeah they towed my car and proceeded to charge me for the towing AND THE STORAGE FEES...worst part was that I was just to busy to do anything other then to pay the $350ish to get the car out.

[Savage Beatings]

You need to do more than just take this tow company to court. You need to do two other things... you need to make the lives of the employees there absolutely miserable (I'm talking about finding ways to personally make the employees lives hell, without getting caught of course)... secondly you need to try to get the local news coverage to do a story about them. Rally other people to your cause and try to pressure them out of business. Spend money and use all available resources for the sole purpose of exposing them and blackening their name.

[polksalet]

pay my way and I'll tar and feather him

[Puddy]

Can you get this on one of those TV courts so we can watch?

[polksalet]

If something like that happened here there would be bad consequences. You cannot imagine what would happen.

[SheikYerbuti]

So, how'd your website come out?

 

[darin3]

So, how'd your website come out?

 

Actually, pretty good. I'll probably post the link in a few days (need to tidy up a few things, add a thing or two....)

[Kid Cid]

Good luck. I hate when honest people are held hostage by unscrupulous companies with supposed government authorization.

[Furd]

Raining on your parade a bit, unless you have a really tough consumer protection or other statute that will punish it, the towing company isn't going to tremble at the thought of defending against a $400 lawsuit.

 

Also, if the property owner didn't post the appropriate signage concerning towing, it seems to me that they would face exposure, and perhaps some type of fine from the state as well.

 

So I guess what you need to determine is how much time and effort you want to spend attempting to collect few hundred bucks.

Edited March 29, 2008 by Furd

[darin3]

Raining on your parade a bit, unless you have a really tough consumer protection or other statute that will punish it, the towing company isn't going to tremble at the thought of defending against a $400 lawsuit.

 

Also, if the property owner didn't post the appropriate signage concerning towing, it seems to me that they would face exposure, and perhaps some type of fine from the state as well.

 

So I guess what you need to determine is how much time and effort you want to spend attempting to collect few hundred bucks.

Appreciate the devil's advocate POV, but from what me and my attorney buddy researched last night, it appears Texas' consumer protection against unauthorized towing is pretty in favor of the consumer. We're not trying to make them "tremble", we just want our money back for a complete and utter BS move. Whether that money comes back from the towing company or the management company of the apartment complex (for not properly posting signage) is academic at this point. The time/effort portion of this isn't that troublesome... my buddy has absolutely had it with his complex (not the first big issue he and his girlfriend have had with management) and this was basically the last straw. It's $486... while not bank-breaking, that's a chunk of change for - again - something that is total and utter BS.

 

Bottom line, towing companies are by and large a racket... a scam... and for the most part, many apartment management companies - especially in a college town like Austin - are out to screw you (or at very least take no hits and provide sub-par customer service).

[Footballjoe]

did your attorney friend hand out cards to the others that were in line with you?

[darin3]

did your attorney friend hand out cards to the others that were in line with you?

I suggested it halfway-joking...

[Footballjoe]

I suggested it halfway-joking...

 

 

If numerous people take them to court it seems you would have a better chance and it would hurt them in the pocket more.

[Ursa Majoris]

Bottom line, towing companies are by and large a racket... a scam...

Yep. My car was clamped in a parking lot. Apparently the building owner was pissed at the bar next door because the bar patrons parked in the (totally empty) building lot so he got the local tow company to come and tow over 150 vehicles. They showed up, clamped all the cars and began towing them. If you got to your car before it was towed, you could fork over $100 to have the clamp removed, which is what I did. I was talking to the tow company owner while the clamp was taken off and he said he was going to make $35,000 from that one evening.

[darin3]

If numerous people take them to court it seems you would have a better chance and it would hurt them in the pocket more.

Well I think in most cases, the towing was legit. Most of these people fessed up to simply parking in lots they weren't authorized to.

 

Although, it would have been nice to see more of the two smokin' hot sorority chicks that were in line with us.

[SheikYerbuti]

I was talking to the tow company owner while the clamp was taken off and he said he was going to make $35,000 from that one evening.

 

I'm suddenly thinking about changing careers. . .where can I get my hands on a tow truck?

[loaf]

what a hassle.

this was awesome though

I put it back in my wallet, pull it back out and say "here, try this one".