Towing charges

[summit]

how about don't park illegally?

 

[EagleKeeper]

The tow guy said on the phone that they 'go to court every day' and that they end up charging $550/hr for whoever they have to send to court. Any validity to this?

I've heard stories about the AG threatening fines for private parking company violations (issuing tickets), so I hold out some hope.

better get your ducks in order via the local laws and AG before making a fool.

IF you lose; the judge can have you pay the towing court costs.

$550/hr lawyers can be a bluff or actually used to keep the towing fees legal.

 

[dougp]

Do you have any consumer advocate reporters in your city? You can try working with them since this seems to be considerably higher than anything I've heard of.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Ended up paying $798.00. Tow was about 10 miles.

So far all I've done is submit a complaint to the attorney general. I named the landlord as the primary person in the complaint, for contracting out such an expensive company. I'm not sure targeting the towing company will work because the landlord basically said 'Come get this car' and they tell them 'this is how much it costs' and the landlord approves.

The apartment manager has been here 12 years so it is pretty clear to me that he contracted out this towing company on the condition he gets a cut of all tows.

It was funny after I had paid, in this little box with a glass window, dude comes out and tries to give me advice. 'I talked to your manager and I said 'You know he seems like a good guy, he knows he parked illegally, and bla bla bla.' This being on CCTV (signs posted), I'm sure he was trying to get me to admit fault on camera (my argument is that the tow-away sign is blocked by a tree). This makes me think I have a case, but I want to see what the AG says first.

Unless you wish to subpoena the towing financials and the apt manager's bank records to prove such a statement; what I bolded can be considered libel and expose you to retaliation.

Best bet is to show that the sign was not readily visible and that the charges are outside of what is reasonable and proper for the service performed. To do that; you will have to get statements from other companies of what their charges are and possibly determine if this company charges other complexes the same rate.

 

[Farang]

Unless you wish to subpoena the towing financials and the apt manager's bank records to prove such a statement; what I bolded can be considered libel and expose you to retaliation.

Best bet is to show that the sign was not readily visible and that the charges are outside of what is reasonable and proper for the service performed. To do that; you will have to get statements from other companies of what their charges are and possibly determine if this company charges other complexes the same rate.

Thanks--I kept those accusations out of the report I wrote and submitted to various organizations/agencies.

Should I go the court route I will get invoices like you mentioned. I also heard someone call in while I was at the towing company and get quote a rate of $150, so I imagine I could get a quote from them as well.

Honestly though I'm relying mostly on the AG as I don't know if I want to add $100+ in court costs plus the potential to lose $550 more. I also don't think it is worth the added stress in my life to fight this much beyond what I've done (letting numerous organizations/agencies know what happened and if they can help). Unless I find out it is cut dry, I will 90% be the winner of the case, I doubt I'll go to court.

 

[dougp]

Thanks--I kept those accusations out of the report I wrote and submitted to various organizations/agencies.

Should I go the court route I will get invoices like you mentioned. I also heard someone call in while I was at the towing company and get quote a rate of $150, so I imagine I could get a quote from them as well.

Honestly though I'm relying mostly on the AG as I don't know if I want to add $100+ in court costs plus the potential to lose $550 more. I also don't think it is worth the added stress in my life to fight this much beyond what I've done (letting numerous organizations/agencies know what happened and if they can help). Unless I find out it is cut dry, I will 90% be the winner of the case, I doubt I'll go to court.

Do you have any businesses near your apartments? Use it as a decoy address and say that you need to tow a broken down vehicle 10 miles, and then consider mentioning anything off hours.

 

[TechAZ]

I don't have any advice, but just wanted to chime in on how outrageous this is.

I once paid around that amount to get my car towed 200 miles on a Sunday evening from a small town to Phoenix. Yours was towed 10 miles, that just seems criminal to me.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

The tow guy said on the phone that they 'go to court every day' and that they end up charging $550/hr for whoever they have to send to court. Any validity to this?

I've heard stories about the AG threatening fines for private parking company violations (issuing tickets), so I hold out some hope.

I'm sure they do go to court all time and I'm also sure they also lose a fair amount of the time. You already paid and you are suing them so they can't go after you for legal fees unless your state has some kind of loser pays provision. You need to do some homework on the procedures in small claims court in your state.

The AG can fine them but they get tens of thousands of complaints a year and don't have the resources to investigate all of them.

IANAL

 

[Genx87]

The tow guy said on the phone that they 'go to court every day' and that they end up charging $550/hr for whoever they have to send to court. Any validity to this?

I've heard stories about the AG threatening fines for private parking company violations (issuing tickets), so I hold out some hope.

Cant reclaim wages, time, or effort in small claims court. He is full of shit.

I am not sure, but you may be able to show the court the costs of such a towing is out of line with the market and get some money back if the court doesnt buy into your not clearly visible sign defense. The transaction is out of your hands. But that doesnt mean they can charge you whatever they want. Call around and find out how much it costs to tow from your location.

 

[slayer202]

Is there a reasonably easy way to try and find some past court cases involving the company? Might want to look into that, considering you are probably not the first to get screwed

 

[Blackjack200]

OP, just talk to a lawyer, you can probably get a free consultation and get really good advice as to what to move to make.

 

[Farang]

OP, just talk to a lawyer, you can probably get a free consultation and get really good advice as to what to move to make.

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice.

I talked to the AG office this morning and they recommended I get a free consultation through the county bar association. I will do that before deciding whether or not to proceed in small claims court.

Generally speaking it sounded like I was screwed, as they confirmed there is no regulation of this in my state.

 

[waggy]

Thanks--I kept those accusations out of the report I wrote and submitted to various organizations/agencies.

Should I go the court route I will get invoices like you mentioned. I also heard someone call in while I was at the towing company and get quote a rate of $150, so I imagine I could get a quote from them as well.

Honestly though I'm relying mostly on the AG as I don't know if I want to add $100+ in court costs plus the potential to lose $550 more. I also don't think it is worth the added stress in my life to fight this much beyond what I've done (letting numerous organizations/agencies know what happened and if they can help). Unless I find out it is cut dry, I will 90% be the winner of the case, I doubt I'll go to court.

take them to court? over what? the fact you illegally parked and have to pay for towing? lol

good fucking luck. unless there is a city law limiting how much they charge you are shit out of luck (MOST have a limit).

but hell i suspect you are going to lose more money. so go for it! i want to read about it lol.

IF you win it will be very litte. doubt worth your time. Though i would turn in the prices to every agency you can and leave it at that.

lol good luck.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Thats insane.

I work for a towing company and our average charge for a private impound is in the $150-200 range.

Also NEVER, EVER, park in a reserved spot at any apartment/condo, they all seem to have super bitch's on the Strata(or building management comitee or whatever you want to call it) that have nothing better to do that watch the property all the time and report people who illegally park immediatly.

I've been asked by said super bitches specifically to send out a truck without a backup beeper and wait till late at night so they are alseep to insure that we actually get to tow the vehicle. Now dont get me wrong if you illegally park you are a moron and its all on you but to go to the level of trying to get someone to sneak in and tow the car is a little much.

Where I work, if you get towed it is like $75 to get your car back.

They can no keep your car though. If they do it is considered theft, isn't it?

 

[Farang]

take them to court? over what? the fact you illegally parked and have to pay for towing? lol

good fucking luck. unless there is a city law limiting how much they charge you are shit out of luck (MOST have a limit).

but hell i suspect you are going to lose more money. so go for it! i want to read about it lol.

IF you win it will be very litte. doubt worth your time. Though i would turn in the prices to every agency you can and leave it at that.

lol good luck.

My complaint is not that I was towed.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Contact the BBB and attorney general and the town sheriff and the local media. While at it, contact the IRS and tell them you think there are kickbacks being made.

Go balls deep on this F'er. $800 is robbery.

 

[waggy]

My complaint is not that I was towed.

just you have to pay.

again while $800 is insane the odds on you wining is low. even if you do you wont win enough to justify it. not to mention if you lose you can be on the hook for lawyer fees.

Though check out if the town has a limit on how much they can charge (im betting 800 is under it though).

 

[Blackjack200]

Generally speaking it sounded like I was screwed, as they confirmed there is no regulation of this in my state.

That doesn't make sense to me. Why not just charge $7,980 then? or $79,800?

There has to be some kind of check or sniff test somewhere in the system, and $798 for a 10 mile tow doesn't pass it.

 

[Farang]

That doesn't make sense to me. Why not just charge $7,980 then? or $79,800?

There has to be some kind of check or sniff test somewhere in the system, and $798 for a 10 mile tow doesn't pass it.

My sense is that $800 is probably the right balance between lawsuits and people just saying screw it I'll pay the bill. My car is only worth $2k, for example, I would have just let them keep it.

 

[gevorg]

For $800, I would raise hell, doesn't matter if I loose even more, its a matter of principle.

OP:

- If you haven't already, don't just focus on the towing company, bring all the inconvenience and questioning to the apartment management too. Ask neighbors, post signs, etc. Make it a big deal in your apartment complex.
- Check for any damages on your car (even small), and use it against towing scammers
- consider "unethical" methods of retaliation, thats all I'm going to say :sneaky:

 

[Rifter]

Where I work, if you get towed it is like $75 to get your car back.

They can no keep your car though. If they do it is considered theft, isn't it?

The city my company is in has a bylaw that all private impounds follow local insurance tow rates(we have 1 insurance provider for the whole province, they set rates yearly)

The minimum amount for a 6 km tow is 72.99, almost all private impunds require dollies as we are not legally allowed to enter the vehicle to secure the steeriong wheel or release the e-brake so thats a $25 charge that could be avoided if we were allowed to enter the vehicle.

So after tax and fuel surcharge the cheapest it will be is around $125, goes up a few $ for every km the tow is over 6.

We are not allowed to keep the vehicle, but the bill goes up by $20 a day as the storage charge is $20 a day. If it has not been picked up within 30 days we can apply for a scrap order to take the car to scrap and squish it and get paid scrap metal prices for the vehicle.

After 90 days we can apply for papers to take ownership of the vehile but that requires alot more paperwork, sending registered letters to the owner, posting adds in the local papers, and alot of time. And if the owner has no intention of paying the bill or getting his vehicle back ever he can still can extend this process for months or years by lieing and saying he will come up with the money so mostly we just scrap everything unless the vehicle is worth more than $20,000 because its not worth our time.

Its a stupid setup IMO because we scrap tons of good working vehilcles worth 5,000-15,000 just because it would take to long or too much effort to get ownership and sell it, and for whatever reasons the owner cant pay the bill. Its a waste but thats the way the local laws are setup.

 

[DayLaPaul]

Most states have laws against usury, don't they?

 

[the DRIZZLE]

In Washington State all towing fees are based on an hourly rate, with the maximum rate set each year by the state.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=204-91A-140

Find out what the maximum rate is for 2011.

 

[Genx87]

just you have to pay.

again while $800 is insane the odds on you wining is low. even if you do you wont win enough to justify it. not to mention if you lose you can be on the hook for lawyer fees.

Though check out if the town has a limit on how much they can charge (im betting 800 is under it though).

Small claims court doesnt reimburse for lawyer fee's.

 

[waggy]

Most states have laws against usury, don't they?

maybe i'm confused. but i thought usury was only on loans. I don't see a loan here.