Predatory towing.......tell it to the judge

For the past two years we ( and about 30 other cars ) have been parking at this vacant warehouse lot when attending USC basket ball games 3 blocks away.
was Great, no fee's, no fence, no foul, because it's vacant & nobody was using it.
Wrong! Last Thrus. Evening we parked like usual, (facing the road, not facing or even paying attention to the old building, for easy exit) went to the game; & returned (with about 60 other folks) to find all our cars had been towed in the course of 2-3 hours.

the property owner spotted an opportunity even one of our presidential candidates would be proud of.
they posted two big signs on the building warning about the tow ( but not lighted, so it wasn't much help for an evening game, I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, mounted on the building like that ) ; set out "tow spotters" on game day; got their trucks ready (six double carriers), and waited until we all got settled in. Then the rascals went to work. Got us all at $135.00 each.
plus an additional $30. Cab fare to the tow yard.

Most irritating part was, even though it took us over an hour to get to the tow yard, which was all the way across town, we beat the tow truck. Because the towers new they had to move fast, so they had set up a staging area one block away. Moved all the cars to that lot, then took their time to get them to the main lot.

there were a ALOT of MAD gamecock fans in the check out line. But the tow place had that covered also.
there were two pistol armed tow truck drivers standing discreetly (more or less) behind the check out clerk.

for all our complaints and out rage the tow owner said in (a flat neutral voice),
"tell it to the judge"

Could be worse:



A grumpy home owner got so fed up with a commuter parking on her drive she blocked their car in - with a tonne of gravel.
Revenge was sweet for Julie Geue, 48, who was so infuriated when a commuter parked on her four-car driveway, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Her driveway was due to be gravelled when the man parked in her drive, meaning works could not carried out, so she ordered builders to place the tonne of gravel behind the car, blocking it in for two days before it was moved.



+2


Julie Geue, 48, was so infuriated when a commuter parked on her four-car driveway, she decided to take matters into her own hands and place a tonne of gravel behind one commuter's car

Julie, from Crowborough, East Sussex, lives opposite Farningham Road train station in Dartford, Kent.
She explained that the driver, who returned to his car after work claimed he was meant to be parking at a friend's house, but got confused.
But Julie said: 'The offender in this case claims to have made a genuine error and got confused about which house he should be parking in front of.
'Unfortunately, after over ten years of putting up with lazy, obnoxious and rude, often threatening, people doing the this I no longer care if it's a genuine mistake or not.'
She even posted a note, attached to a trowel in the gravel, which said: 'Happy digging, at least it's not raining.'


Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-car-TWO-DAYS-tonne-gravel.html#ixzz40B0wCAjg
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Frankly, I don't think you have much to complain about. You were parked on private property that was apparently so posted. Perhaps the owner didn't want to be subjected from somebody bringing a lawsuit for any injuries happening on his property in case of an accident. I'm of the "get off my lawn" generation. My private property belongs to me and no one else, even if I'm "not using it."

I think I will "tell it to the judge"
this wasn't about private property or illegal parking.
it was all about making a quick $4 grand.
and laughing all the way to the bank.

It'll be like one of those movies. You go to see the judge, and it's the guy from the tow yard without his truckers cap, and the two armed drivers are now bailiffs.

Do you solemnly swear ...

You should tell your story to the local TV stations-maybe this towing company is doing the same thing all over town? Spreading the word may help other USC fans save money.

I've been researching the "towing business".
"predatory towing" is Big & common, in most larger cities, that have out grown their normal parking availability. (Unsavory property owners find it pays much better than collecting $5 or $10 bucks per car to park in the lot during sports events, etc.)

but most cities have ordinances the property owners & towers are suppose to follow.
in this case I found four possible violations in the code:
1). Tow signs must be standard city approved
2). Signs must be posted at entrances to the parking area.
3). parking area must be marked or enclosed (fenced, barricade, lines etc.)
4). Police must be notified of the tow(s) within 1 hour.

so now ole Barney(me) can put his bullet in his gun and head down to city hall.

We came home from the wife's Dad's funeral to find someone parked in front of the door where her car goes, during a town picnic. Sent her in to the house and I called police, who said they could only give it a ticket. Finally got cops to leave, I opened the double door on the other side of garage and pulled my old Classic Range out and clipped a chain to the rear axle of the Bonneville. I then pulled it 60' towards the State Hwy and left it on our street sideways. Neighbor swept gravel to hide the dragging of the car and called Police. Different Cops showed up and expressed that they just never saw someone leave their car in the street before. Got towed immediately. Happened another time and I got a Saturn all the way to the Hwy. Troopers took care of that one. Has not happened again in 15 yrs. Got the reputation of the crazy old man lives on that corner.

We were once parked in a parking garage with our band van when someone illegally parked behind us so we couldn't get the van moved out. Fortunately, it was a rear drive vehicle, so we got out our floor jack, raised the rear differential and pushed the vehicle out of the way. We thought we were pretty clever, but our bandleader was p.o.'d about the story as he was worrying about the liability.

While at university my friend drove four of us into town and when we got back to his (legally) parked car it had been blocked in by a battered old Reliant Robin three wheeler. Small car, plastic body, can't weigh much. So one of us at each corner should be able to lift it out the way. So we tried it. Unfortunately the body started to lift with a loud cracking sound but the metal chassis stayed rooted to the ground. So we gently put it down and wondered away whistling...

catfood said:

While at university my friend drove four of us into town and when we got back to his (legally) parked car it had been blocked in by a battered old Reliant Robin three wheeler. Small car, plastic body, can't weigh much. So one of us at each corner should be able to lift it out the way. So we tried it. Unfortunately the body started to lift with a loud cracking sound but the metal chassis stayed rooted to the ground. So we gently put it down and wondered away whistling...

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So it was YOU!!

Steve Goodman sang of this back in the 70's....

So it was YOU!!

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Are you admitting in public that you owned a Reliant Robin? Thats very brave of you. Just shows how far society has moved on from those dark days of the eighties when Robin ownership was not something you mentioned in polite company!

NO, never did own a Reliant. I'd have made an exception for a Scimitar, however.