Deserving or not?

[MrColin]

Sounds like a conspiracy between a store clerk and the towing company to rip off people. The clerk at one of the stores calls the towing company and then receives a nice "reward" from said towing company. Very lucrative business, just think if they tow 10 cars a week $2000 bucks, 25 cars a week $5000 and in a year your talking $260,000!

There was a similar racket in Raleigh some years back. People would sue for their money back and after being sued by enough people they would just incorporate under a different name and refuse to pay. Eventually someone firebombed the office and sabotaged the trucks.

I fear that I might harm a parking nazi one day and go to prison, I will not regret harming Mr. Im-just-doing-my-job. Prison will suck though.

 

[CZroe]

You fight it on the grounds that they violated a city ordinance. If you qualify, you might consult with your local legal aid office.

You need to find out who contacted the towing company: the library, another business in the strip mall, the property manager, or owner.

What ordinance? I read it and as far as I can tell it was a legal tow. When I was in San Diego I enforced 20 minute parking at a high-rise. He says that the space was painted with "20 minute parking" at they had the tow notice posted at the lot entrance. Did I miss something?

 

[sixone]

What ordinance? I read it and as far as I can tell it was a legal tow. When I was in San Diego I enforced 20 minute parking at a high-rise. He says that the space was painted with "20 minute parking" at they had the tow notice posted at the lot entrance. Did I miss something?

The fact that you enforced it doesn't make it legal. Just because no one was educated enough to challenge the limit doesn't mean it shouldn't have been challenged.

If they in fact towed his vehicle within one hour, they broke the law.

They can ask people not to park for longer than 20 minutes, but legally, they can't touch the car until it's been there for an hour.

 

[CZroe]

The fact that you enforced it doesn't make it legal. Just because no one was educated enough to challenge the limit doesn't mean it shouldn't have been challenged.

If they in fact towed his vehicle within one hour, they broke the law.

They can ask people not to park for longer than 20 minutes, but legally, they can't touch the car until it's been there for an hour.

He was parked there for THREE HOURS and you assume that it was towed within one hour and then assume the we follow your logic and made the same idiotic assumption?

*facepalm*

ALL indications are that this was a perfectly legal tow unless the OP indicates something otherwise (a detail we don't know). The fact that I enforced 20 minute parking in the same city DOES mean that I know a thing or two about it.

 

[amdhunter]

OP - do what I did when I got towed once.

Find the phone number of the tow company.
Set up a VoIP account on someones open wi-fi.
Call in bullshit calls to make them waste their time.
Repeat for 3 weeks.
When they figure out what's going on, call repeatedly over and over and threaten the operator until she cries and says she'll get fired.
Keep calling until they don't pick up the phone anymore.

Repeat over the course of a year or two.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

How did you not notice that they painted 20 minute parking in the space???

 

[7window]

How did you not notice that they painted 20 minute parking in the space???

Easy, I parked there for over a year without any issues, so automatically I just pull up there and didn't notice the newly painted 20 min. parking. I didn't think twice about looking because it was a learned behavior.

I paid to get my car out the same day and just now have to figure out how to get the $200 back from somewhere. Maybe the stock market will be nice to me.

 

[BUTCH1]

signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

Blocking out the scenery....

 

[SS Trooper]

Similiar thing happened to me. I parked in the corner spot of my friends apartment lot every time I came over for 2 years. They dont paint the spot, but they throw up a handicap sign (in the garden 6 feet in front of the spot) and I find a ticket for $350.

I was lucky to know a person who worked at the police department, and she made the ticket "disappear"

 

[Meghan54]

signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

Geez....if you're going to quote a song lyric, at least get it correct.

The correct lines:

Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign.
Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?