Car towed from shopping parking lot

[Dawg]

There's a regular racket in Chicago doing this same scam. Often the owner of the parking lot gets a kickback from the towing company so they usually aren't very sympathetic to complaints. She did violate the terms of the sign by leaving the strip mall to shop across the street. You can't really blame them for wanting to limit parking only to their own current customers, especially if there is a shortage of spaces. Just because you spend a buck at the one of their stores doesn't entitle you to park there and shop elsewhere. Check out the car really good for damage. Most of those tow truck drivers get paid on commission so they're not usually very careful.

Lincoln Park Towing......Like me to sing a few verses from the song?

 

[flashlite]

This exact same thing actually happened to me last year. $150 too!

Sometimes, these vultures only tow your car just around the corner so it's out of sight. They obviously don't tell you that until after you pay them though. That way, they can continue to rob other people without wasting time driving the whole way back their own lot. I doubt the car is there now but if it ever happens to you again, have a look around before you pay them.

Some jurisdictions have laws that limit the amount that tow companies can charge you. You might want to look into that.

In my case, the tow company made a critical mistake. They didn't write the amount on my Visa receipt. I discretely called the tow company the next day to find out how much it would cost to have my car towed 30 feet ($65). I then went to the bank and told them I only authorized the standard charge - $65. After Visa did their investigation, they gave me $85 back.

 

[greenlight]

The Safeway lot across from ...re nightclub is abused nightly by clubgoers. There are a couple of late night businesses at the lot, but others are closed. You would never see the lot full at night, even with the clubgoers parking there. Nevertheless, the tow company has a field day nicking cars from the lot, or you get a ticket. People who are smart just do their best to park on the street, or take their chances.

Like I said, if I was going to park in someone's lot for an extended period, I would at least have a shopping bag with some junk in it so that it would appear that I was a customer.

 

[Coop]

Uhm, if the towingcompany can't prove that your friend left the strip mall, and they towed the car, wouldn't that be grand theft auto?

 

[Wingerr]

Some jurisdictions have laws that limit the amount that tow companies can charge you. You might want to look into that.

That's something I was wondering about, but not sure how to go about finding out. If there isn't, then these guys pretty much have a blank check, as long as they've got the car locked up. They could say $500 just as easily, but probably realize they need to strike a balance between money and trouble. This seems more of an extortion racket rather than serving a legitimate purpose. Talking to the managers in the stores in the mall revealed none of them had any parking issues that warranted the operation. Money making, pure and simple.

Yea, the law is frequently not your friend... My in-laws have a small apartment building and a tenant abandoned their mother's car in the carport when they moved out. Could not get the police to ticket for a tow, or a tow company to remove it.

They probably saw no monetary gain to be realized without an owner being involved..


Well, almost time now to take her over there to hand over the cash for the car's release, so we'll see what surprises they have in store-

 

[Wingerr]

how did they know she wasnt still shopping in "their" strip mall?
is there a guy with a tow truck watching everyone!?

I'd imagine it was as DonShock mentioned; they probably have a spotter to look for opportunities, and they'd radio in to the tow truck to swoop in to snatch it. Don't know if they use a flatbed or drag-towed it. We'll see how the transmission or parking brake fared, if it wasn't a flat bed tow... They probably have disclaimers against damage, since they own you when you park on their lot, on their terms.

 

[3rd_shift]

Pay the towing company, and take the landlord to court with the shopping and tow release reciepts. oo:

Save the reciepts as evidence.
Also, don't forget punitive damages and any damage estimates to cover any damages to the car from when it was towed.
Landlords do have thier worst case scenario fears.
Now looks like a good time to make them come true for one. :devil:

 

[powernoodle]

Some states have statues limiting the degree to which towing companies can rip you off. Might be worth it to try an internet search. www.findlaw.com . Not worth it to pay a lawyer.

Edited: I'm with the landlord on this one. Its the towing company you have a problem with.

cheers

 

[snakebite]

have a trusted mechanic carefully inspect the car with witnesses and a camera rolling.
then once it is back in your control bring court action and become a gadfly.
do things that cost the stripmall owners money and grief.
like finding building code violations and reporting them.take pics with a polaroid and include them with the report.mail all the store manegers in the strip that untill this is reimbursed and the ripoff ended you and everyone you know will not be shopping there.
find out what other malls have the same owners/management and strike there too.

 

[Wingerr]

I'll explore the options you've all mentioned, thanks-

Funny thing, this outfit just called, and they wanted us to come in soon to get the car (the "10AM-2PM" on their sign is apparently flexible). It seems this *one* car is holding them up from starting their holiday weekend- :huh2:
Or they have a one car lot and they need to clear out space for more customers- As much as I'd like to take her over there at 1:45, she wants to get it out of their clutches as soon as she can.

This will probably be a small claims court matter, but I think it'd do some good to make it known to all that frequent the place that they do this.

 

[3rd_shift]

Powernoodle, you may have a point here.
Still, it would be interesting to find out how the landlord's contract with the towing company is structured.
Not just any towing company can tow cars from thier parking area.
Only the one that the landlord allowed to do the "nasty".

 

[BB]

Probably the best you can do is return everything purchased that day and inform the retailers why... That they tow their customer's cars and charge them some $150 for the privilege. Nothing would tick a store owner more than having a lot with free spaces and a done sale being returned because of what their landlord did.

And find out if the neighboring strip malls have the same owner and return those goods too...

Hmmm..., if any of those other strip malls you visited are owned by the same person/company (might be likely, you might even find several levels of "ownership" to argue; management company the same, or building owners, or land ownership--do the other properties contract with the same tow company? Argue that the since the same tow company is listed on all the signs, and they are the only name listed--you never left "their controlled" lot)--you might be able to argue that they towed the car while you were still on "their" property--in violation of their sign. Or if no owner was listed, you have no idea which is their properties or not

-Bill

 

[Wingerr]

Just did the extraction, a real hole in the wall operation, with a tiny office to work out of, and the only one there someone who said he was a friend of the owner, and knew nothing about the operation. The owner already left for vacation (open season parking for the weekend?). The guy had a photocopied form with a handwritten amount paid, with no details listed. He said to call back Monday to talk to the owner, but I don't expect anything will come out of that; from past conversations with him. He just said "go back and read the sign, it tells you everything you need to know." He said there was no one else to contact about it; he didn't know the owner, and had that confusing bit about how he was contracted out by the towing company, as if it was a separate entity from him.

It appears it's an autonomous operation, and he wasn't called by the landlord, and not the individual stores. I believe it's simply an operation where the landlord gets a cut from the proceeds, but doesn't need to take any active role in calling for a tow.

 

[Wingerr]

Probably the best you can do is return everything purchased that day and inform the retailers why... That they tow their customer's cars and charge them some $150 for the privilege. Nothing would tick a store owner more than having a lot with free spaces and a done sale being returned because of what their landlord did.
-Bill

It wasn't their doing though, so none of it was their fault.
I don't know how much effect it could bring about, since it's not a single store, just a bunch of small shops. They were all sympathetic when she walked in there asking if they knew anything about it. A young employee said it happened to her, but she didn't pursue it and just paid off.

 

[CLHC]

. . .at the local Trader Joe's. . .I have never seen or heard of someone getting tagged for parking in the lot. . .I always go in to the store, purchase products, then head to the Whole Foods across the street. That takes 10 mins. I'd be pissed if I returned to a ticket because someone had watched me leave the lot.

That sounds like the Pruneyard area. Hamilton and Bascom. . .:thinking:

 

[Lightmeup]

If this ever happens to anyone else, try not to let your car sit around their compound longer than necessary, because they will be billing you for "storage" on a daily basis, and it won't be cheap. The big outfits in Chicago are open 24/7, and when you go there, they usually just have one guy, a cashier, who sits behind bulletproof glass and only accepts cash. After you pay, he buzzes you through the security door and you can get your car, and he opens the gate so you can leave. There's not much you can do about it. Your only chance of avoiding the sting is if you can catch the tow truck driver before he gets your car hooked up, and physically intimidate him into stopping. Most of them have been threatened before, so you'd better know what you're doing if you try it.

I successfully intervened against one of the notorious Lincoln Park Pirates once. I had parked in a lot that was curiously empty, which I thought was odd, but I looked around and saw no No Parking signs, so I thought it was safe. After parking, I walked down the block a little and stopped to watch, and within 2 minutes a tow truck zoomed in to snag my car. So I ran down there and stopped the guy. He tried to continue hooking up my car, but when push came to shove he backed down. It didn't hurt that I was 6-1/220, and he was about 5-9/160. It turned out that there was a No Parking sign there, but it was hidden by a tree at the opposite end of the lot, about 100 feet away.

 

[Wingerr]

News article on predatory towing

I guess it should be no surprise the company and guy
involved is mentioned in the article.

 

[Brighteyez]

As Lightmeup mentioned, it is a common scam that is engaged with the property owners and tow operators in collusion. It occurs in all major urban areas, and your Lat/Lon seems to indicate someplace in the NYC boroughs, so it really doesn't come as any surprise. While I know a number of methods to exacting restitution plus intrest from both the tow operator and the property owners, none of them are 'legal', so I won't discuss them. While it is more likely that the shopowner may have had knowledge of it and just denied it to protect him/herself, it is possible that the shopowner had no knowledge if it was some sort of conspiracy between the tow operator and the property owner (or their management company.)

 

[MScottz]

If it is private property and properly marked, it's not a conspiracy or scam, no matter how unethical it may be. It's just business.

 

[James S]

yea, it's private property, and it's all the fault of the landlord, but you STILL have to complain to the businesses. And if they are loosing your business, then they will complain to their landlord. And enough complaining and he'll do something. Enough lost business and the businesses will go somewhere else, or go out of business.

You guys need to stick up for yourself and punish the only people that you can, the businesses that are operating there. And it will be up to them to insist that the landlord provide an atmosphere where they can do business. If the heat was broken he'd darn well hear about it, and if the towing company is broken they need to make sure he knows that too.

If you dont actually say anything, then everybody is getting away with it! Talk to every darn owner of every business in the mall. even if it's just dropping by to say hi and let them know whats going on.