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Please help, I have some questions about a possible lawsuit

A

Arkitech

Diamond Member
I don't know if there any lawyers or people knowledgable on law at ATOT but maybe someone can steer me in the right direction. Please bear with me on this post its kind of long.

Here's my situation, I went out for lunch today on the north side of Chicago (Diversey and Halstead) (this part of Chicago is always crowded and parking is kinda hard to comeby) There was a shared parking lot for a KFC, a bank and a Walgreens drug store, there are signs all over the lot that say only customers of the above stores are allowed to park there and violators will be towed. So I parked my car in the lot, I bought a paper from one of those newspaper machines which was adjacent to the lot and then I had lunch at KFC, I came out 20 minutes later and my car was towed. Naturally I'm pissed, but I figured maybe there was a misunderstanding and I could straighten it out. To make a long story short I arrived at the towing companys lot which was about 2 1/2 miles away. I told the dispatcher what happened, she said that I had to pay 105 bucks to get my car back. I told her that I had ate lunch at the KFC so there was no reason my car should have been towed to begin with. She countered by saying that I left the lot and that their tow truck driver had observed me leave. While this was true, the fact is that I literally walked 2 feet away from the lot for less than 15 seconds to buy a paper at which point I immediately went into the KFC.

Unfortunately these buttholes were only concerned about ripping people off. Finally I got tired of talking to the dispatcher and asked if I could speak with someone else. She claimed that there was noone else I could talk to, at that point I blew up. I walked out of the office and waited until a tow truck began to enter into their fenced lot, once they opened the gate I walked in behind the truck into the lot to look for my car. The dispatcher called the police, they arrived about 5 minutes later and I told them my side of the story. Fortunately the officers were very reasonable and they admitted that they had heard numerous complaints about the towing company. Unfortunately they could'nt do anything, but they suggested I pay the fine and then take my receipt to the small claims court.

Fast foward to right now, I finally got home after spendiing 6 hours and 20 bucks because I did'nt have my car. My boss left a message on my machine about a big server outage at work that I should have been there to handle, but of course I was'nt able to get there because my car was towed. Anyway management is pissed at me and my job is already going to be phased out in a few months as it is.


So if you're still with me my question is can I sue this company for all the trouble they've put me through? And can I get financial restitution if I lose my job because of their shady business practices?


Thanks for any information you can share, I'm really, really, really pissed off about this and I determined to find a way to make these guys pay.
 
I'm not a lawyer, I don't play one on TV. As an outsider I would say Small Claims court is your only recourse.
Sorry you had such a bad day.
 
Do you have the receipt from KFC? Seeing as those receipts are dated and have the store number, it would be pretty solid proof that they took your car without good reason.
Boy that sounds like theft to me....

I'd get a lawyer, I think....
 
that is just wrong, if you can do a little research as to who else has had run ins with this particular company and get written statements from them, then take it to small claims court. (I am not a lawyer though)
 
Sounds like you have a claim for the 105 dollars. BUT not much more (in my honest layman's opinion). If you lose your job it won't be b/c you had your car unrightfully towed. It will be because of many factors. Hate to say it, BUT you should of just paid the money, gotten your car, and gotten back to work, and then sued the tow company later, on your own time.

good luck.

 
why was the damn tow truck guy sitting there anyway?

seems to me that they are true butthole scammers.

take 'em to court!!!
 
Seems like you could do the $105 + $20 (what was the $20 for?) on your own in small claims, for the damage to your employment and emotional distress you might try seeing if one of the slip'n'fall fellows will take it on contingency - if it doesn't look profitable to them then drop it.
 
You should be able to easily get back the money for the tow. However, trying to go beyond that would be difficult. If you could not get your car away from the towing company because you did not have the means (i.e. didn't have the cash, didn't have your checkbook or any credit cards with you), then you might be able to go further if they caused you to lose your job. However, if you end up losing your job simply because you didn't want to pay the money on the principal of the matter, you might not have so much luck. At the very least, you can get the money back from the towing company. You can also check your car very carefully for any damage the tow truck may have caused, and go after them for that, but don't get greedy. You want the amount to remain small enough to keep it in small claims.

Of course, if you want to drive them out of business, you did say the cops had gotten plenty of complaints about the towing company, and that reeks of class action, but that requires a lot more work on your part. I'd stick with small claims to get your money back, and if you explain the situation to your boss he/she might be understanding.
 
Unfortunately I did'nt have the money to pay the fine so I had to take a cab and a train to get back, by that time my boss was looking for me. To make matters worse its pretty cold in Chicago today so I ended up freezing half to death while I tried to figure out how to get my car back and why they took it in the first place.

I plan on going back to that lot later today and take some pictures of their signs and the layout of the lot, then I'm filing a police report of everything that took place. These guys are gonnna pay
 
You don't have a case if you don't have the reciept from KFC, it's your word against theirs. If you have a reciept then you have a case and you can get your $120 back. You can ask for punative but those are rare.
 
The receipt or a witness that works at KFC would give you a case. I would also sue those bastards for punitive damages.
 
I would think KFC (and the other 2 stores) actually hired the tow company. Since you ate in their restaurant and their tow company took your car, they might reimburse you w/o the court haggling (doubtful perhaps, but worth a try).
 
First off you were silly not to get the car out right then.

What were you going to do IF you found your car? try and take it out? that would against the law also. yes i know it is your car but it was impounded for traspassing (thats why the towed it).

I understand you didnt have the money right there or a way to pay for it. But in chicago there are plenty of ways to get the money. you could have gone to a atm. The bank etc.

Now the price is more then the $105. They have daily impound fee's. But you shouldnt have any trouble getting them back if you can prove you were at KFC for the lunch. But i doubt you got or kept the reciept i know i dont keep them. when/if you file a small claims suit on them add kfc, the bank and walgreens in the suit. They might just pony up the cash to forget it.

oh and if you lose your job the court will basicaly say tough you should have found onother way to get there.

anyway good luck! keep us updated
 
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