What would you do - car towed

[patooyee]

Last week I bought a used, non-running Acura. I borrowed my buddy's trailer to tow it to my shop and then returned his trailer. I immediately took the title to the county clerk's office to get it transferred to my name and they said they needed the vehicle there to verify mileage since it was an out of state title. I told them it wasn't running right now and they said no problem, just bring it to them when it is. I asked them about driving to them without a plate (since you can't get a plate without a title) and they said that was allowed in cases like this and if I get pulled over to just show the officer the title.

So 2 days later I have the vehicle fixed at my shop, which is 30 minutes away from my house over a toll bridge. So to get to my shop I have to drive a vehicle there. The problem occurs now that I have 2 running vehicles that need to get across the bridge. I drive the one without a plate to the toll booth, go across, and park on the other side of the booth with plans to go get it with my wife later on. It was 7:30pm when I parked it. I have a buddy pick me up on the other side of the booth so that he doesn't have to pay the toll and he brings me back to the shop to get my other car. I then drive home at which point my pregnant wife was supposed to drive me back to the toll booth to get the other car. But she wasn't home, she was still at work, and she said she wasn't feeling well so I said, screw it, we can just go get it in the morning.

I go to get it in the morning and its been towed. Call the tow truck service. They got called at 2am to go tow the "abandoned vehicle." They say to get it back I have to pay them $100 for the tow and $30 for a day's storage fee. (They aren't open July 4th, so I automatically get charged for one day.) My car was in the toll booth parking lot for 6.5 hours when it was deemed abandoned and subsequently towed! There are no signs in the lot that say anything to the effect of "No overnight parking." The lot is paved with probably about 20 painted, demarcated parking spots in it, only about 4 of which are ever used by the toll booth authority.

Am I in the wrong here to think that whoever called the tow company should be the ones to pay the $130 that they want? The night manager of the toll booth is the one who called the Sheriff and the Sheriff is the one who authorized the tow. His name is Sgt. Richtman and he doesn't go back on duty until 9pm tonight.

J. J.

 

[patooyee]

And just to add insult to injury, it was towed back across the toll booth. So I have to pay the toll once to go get the car in another car and then twice again to get home!!!! (Its the most expensive toll bridge in FLat $3.75/pass.)

J. J.

 

[gubni]

The tow company is just doing their job, so they need to be paid somehow. $100 is cheap for 2am tow call.

Anytime you leave a car with no tag you are risking it being towed. I think you have to pony up.

Why not drive it there, tag it, then drive home and get the other car?

 

[John Galbreath Jr.]

As you did not get an okay to park from the person in charge, you own the tow. Bow up and pay the man.

 

[patooyee]

As you did not get an okay to park from the person in charge, you own the tow. Bow up and pay the man.

It's a public parking lot! Do I have to ask permission to park at Wal-Mart every time I go shopping? How about all the unlicensed vehicles for sale in the Wal-Mart parking lot? Are they all to be towed also if justice is to be dispensed equally? Because there's about 5 of them at the Wal-Mart near me right now ...

J. J.

 

[patooyee]

Why not drive it there, tag it, then drive home and get the other car?

It was a Sunday and the Clerk's Office wasn't open. I was off and I don't have time to ferry cars for hours on days that I work. I planned to park it in the garage and bring it over the the Clerk's Office tomorrow morning when they reopen.

J. J.

 

[InDaShop]

Nothings free J.J. not public parking, not Wal-Mart parking.

Wal-Mart could have all those cars towed if the Manager felt like it. Same with city street parking or city parking lots, if someone deems it towable it gets towed. You left a non-tagged car overnight in a toll road parking lot. I'm surprised it made it 6.5 hours.
City of Houston has a law about public by-ways being 10-minutes before towed. And with wrecker drivers being the scrum of the earth they are just out trying to get that nut. $100 tow is cheap. Min here is $260 last I heard.

So for trying to save $3.75 you're going to be out $130 minimum. Its just not worth it.

 

[patooyee]

Nothings free J.J. not public parking, not Wal-Mart parking.

Wal-Mart could have all those cars towed if the Manager felt like it. Same with city street parking or city parking lots, if someone deems it towable it gets towed. You left a non-tagged car overnight in a toll road parking lot. I'm surprised it made it 6.5 hours.
City of Houston has a law about public by-ways being 10-minutes before towed. And with wrecker drivers being the scrum of the earth they are just out trying to get that nut. $100 tow is cheap. Min here is $260 last I heard.

So for trying to save $3.75 you're going to be out $130 minimum. Its just not worth it.

I wasn't saving anything by doing what I was doing. I paid the same amount of tolls either way. (I have 4 Sunpasses in 4 vehicles with which I pay over $200/mo in tolls on that bridge alone, another $3.75 on the bill isn't going to matter.) I was just trying to ferry 2 vehicles with one driver. I would have been back for the car within 30 minutes had my wife got out of work at her normal hour and felt healthy. So I guess its not really anyone's fault but my own for relying on the kindness of strangers. But waking a tow truck driver at 2 in the morning to tow a vehicle that's been sitting there for less than 6 hours is definitely an asshole move albeit apparently a legal one. I guess I'll just STFU, pay it, and get over it.

That bridge went bankrupt on Fri. I guess its not a wonder why if this is how they treat their best customers though.

J. J.

 

[John Galbreath Jr.]

I overnighted three nights in WalMart with the RV last month in Florida. Each time, I asked the manager for permission, always granted.

I did not know JJ was a whiner.

 

[COLT]

After 9-11-01 people dont take any chances on stuff going down. I must admit, if I saw an untagged car I did'nt know sitting in my parking lot I would call it in as well. It sucks, but there are crazy folks out there that make it hard for folks like us. I am glad that dumbass bridge went belly up. I take 5 axles over that SOB and the toll sucks...

 

[patooyee]

I overnighted three nights in WalMart with the RV last month in Florida. Each time, I asked the manager for permission, always granted.

I did not know JJ was a whiner.

Next time I will ask for permission. No whining from me. When I am wrong I will make atonement and do what is right, hence the purpose of this thread. And as we all know, no one is right more often than John G.

J. J.

 

[patooyee]

I must admit, if I saw an untagged car I did'nt know sitting in my parking lot I would call it in as well.

I had one in my lot a while back. I gave them 3 weeks before I towed it. Of course, the next day the dude came to pick it up. I felt bad so I paid for the tow, gave him the ride to get to the tow lot. The guy, Mike, was really nice and has since become a regular customer and we BS about cars twice a week now when he comes in. Apparently he parked it there to have a buyer come look at it and they never showed. Mike just forgot it was there. He has an autistic son that he brings with him. He is divorced from the mom but they still come in together and act like a family for the benefit of the son. I am honored that my business is where they choose to take their son for a family experience. I have been paid back for that tow ten-fold at least.

Contrast that to my experience where I am left sitting here thinking of ways to avoid that business altogether and celebrating in joy at the fact that they went bankrupt ...

J. J.

 

[COLT]

I had one in my lot a while back. I gave them 3 weeks before I towed it. Of course, the next day the dude came to pick it up. I felt bad so I paid for the tow, gave him the ride to get to the tow lot. The guy, Mike, was really nice and has since become a regular customer and we BS about cars twice a week now when he comes in. Apparently he parked it there to have a buyer come look at it and they never showed. Mike just forgot it was there. He has an autistic son that he brings with him. He is divorced from the mom but they still come in together and act like a family for the benefit of the son. I am honored that my business is where they choose to take their son for a family experience. I have been paid back for that tow ten-fold at least.




Contrast that to my experience where I am left sitting here thinking of ways to avoid that business altogether and celebrating in joy at the fact that they went bankrupt ...



What the heck are they going to do with the bridge now? Can some other company buy it and try again or what?

 

[patooyee]

No one knows. It will remain open and at its current rate for the foreseeable future. All but one of its board members has resigned. There were talks of the state buying the bridge and running it but Doug Broxson (FL House Rep.) says that is definitely not an option. So right now the people that the NY bank sold the bonds to are set to bear the brunt of the financial loss. The SEC is investigating the people who initially started the project who are long gone now because it appears that the studies they used to predict traffic counts were at least erroneous and at worst fraudulent. The county representative who was primarily responsible for the idea of the bridge has long since gone to jail for tax evasion. Its all up in the air right now but for the end-user, nothing changes any time soon.

I think one thing is for sure though ... it won't be torn down. It would cost more to do that than it would to continue operating it at a loss.

J. J.

 

[nwflyj]

I think you should have let me pick you up at your house instead on the bridge. Who towed it? I might be able to get it for you if it was Kell Recovery. Mark

 

[patooyee]

I think you should have let me pick you up at your house instead on the bridge. Who towed it? I might be able to get it for you if it was Kell Recovery. Mark

It was Kell.

J. J.

 

[nwflyj]

It was Kell.

J. J.

I will call him in the AM and see what he says.

 

[patooyee]

I will call him in the AM and see what he says.

Thanks. Check your texts before tomorrow though please.

J. J.

 

[nwflyj]

I just talked to the owner. He said no storage fee was the best he would do. He said the sheriff'd dept was called because the toll booth folks saw you take the tag off of the car. I will pick it up for you to save you two tolls. I can put it back in the shop yard. till your next day off. Mark

 

[patooyee]

I just talked to the owner. He said no storage fee was the best he would do. He said the sheriff'd dept was called because the toll booth folks saw you take the tag off of the car. I will pick it up for you to save you two tolls. I can put it back in the shop yard. till your next day off. Mark

Thanks but I'll go get it tomorrow first thing in the AM. I'm off so I'll just take it straight to the Clerk's Office and hopefully be done with it. Plus, you don't have a key.

I guess that's something I didn't mention. I had a tag on the car on my way there just to avoid the hassle of being pulled over in the first place. I took it off as I was leaving but on the way out I stopped and had a conversation with the lady who called the police about the bridge's bankruptcy and what was going to happen going forward. We were both very cordial and polite to one another. If she saw me remove the tag and was talking to me anyway wouldn't it have at least been polite to say, "Hey, if you leave your vehicle there I am going to have it towed." She couldn't have seen me remove it from her vantage point but it would have been hard not to notice in my hand as we spoke.

J. J.