Ok, this is getting old. Today was the second time in about two months that a towing company decided to tow my 4R. The first time, they said I did not have a parking permit displayed. It was on the floorboards so I give them credit for that, but I caught them just after they hooked up the runner, showed them the permit, and they still charged me. I tried being nice that time, but they were bastards, and got in my face. I finally had to pay, but made sure I wrote F*** off in giant letters across the release form.

This morning, I was leaving for work and guess what...... the 4R was gone again. I called the towing company, sure enough they had it. My permit was displayed. They said that it was illegally parked. Anyone want to guess who the tow truck drivers were?

The parking lot I park in is right next to a basketball court. The end spot has some of those cement stoppers running parallel to the parking space, and two of them are actually within the parking space (probably 80% to one side). If I back into the spot just right, both of my wheels are still within the space, but on the other side of the cement stops. This makes towing difficult because those cement blocks run under the bottom of the 4R. My wheel was on the line because of the stops there.

The tow truck driver, having an axe to grind with me, determined that I was illegally parked, then towed my 4R. The bastards had to work for it though. They had to jack up the 4R, then use a dolly to extract it from the parking spot.

I'm definitely going to complain to the manager of the apt complex to see if they'll drop the towing company, but what outer recourse is there? IF any other vehicle had been parked in the exact spot as mine, they would have left it alone, but these bastards recognized my 4R.

Can you guys thing of any outher recourse? Taking it up with the manager of the towing company wouldn't do a thing because everyone there is an ass.

Shouldn't burn bridges... I would report it to the police as a theft or invest in a small recording device and place it inside your truck showing the legal parking job and permit. If they tow it again, take them to small claims court.

CV

Take them to court (small claims) sue for the costs and time lost. Your word agains't theirs and it costs them time (both the owner and driver will have to show up or you should win). If you sue them even if you lose a couple of times they will stay far away from your 4runner. It costs them way more to take off work and have 2 people show up to court then they make towing your vehilce 10 times.

Get a box of roofing nails and dump them around your truck, if they want it bad enough they'll really have to work for it. Damned tow truck drivers!

They don't have to be hooked up. If they are parked in front of your vehicle, you have to pay. You can not cut a deal, you can not bribe them. I watched it happen so many times in college it was not funny.


I've also heard of tow companies stealing from the vehicles they tow.


Check the apt. complex parking regulations. Is there a 'no parking' sign? Sounds like the end spot could be for motorcycles. Any security cameras?

The end spot is perfectly legal, and intended for vehicles. Unfortunately there are no security cameras. The tow truck driver's justification was that some kids may have wanted to play basketball, but somehow my trucks' wheel on the line would prevent them from playing basketball at 4AM....... hmmmmmmmm........

Are you kidding? They threw a hook on it and dragged it like a sack of dirty laundry.

Koz

i've seen it happen too many times. tow companies abuse those cars they tow. don't think they took care of yours. they want to tow it quick before the owner gets there so they won't take the time to be careful with your ride. i would've stopped parking there after the 1st time they towed it.

You can also have some fun with them if you want to be really confrontational. Even if they are towing it or just parked or just hooking up, get in your vehicle and sit there. See what happens! They will get downright ignorant and pissed. I don't know about other areas but in Ontario they can't move a vehicle with an occupant. They can hook it and lift it but they can't tow it, even if you're considered to be trespassing (ie. no time left on the meter.) My wife and a friend were able to avoid a tow this way. They waited the guy out for 30 minutes. Talk about threats and lies but the girls stood their ground. It helps to have a cell phone to call the cops just in case it gets out of hand. They give in because they are losing money by not towing someone else.

I've seen the tow company call the cops, threaten assault charges.

And what works for two women in a city may not work for a dude.

Plus in an apt. complex, the lease probably states you are responsible for your guests. If they/you cause a disturbance, blah blah blah, face possible eviction.

My window faced the parking lot, I've seen and heard it all.

The best thing you can do is pay the piper, and go to court later. Towing compaines have to much power, and rarely answer to anyone.

All your points are valid but in our neck of the woods they CANNOT move a vehicle with occupants. Hence the cell phone to call the cops and say "guess what? I'm in a moving vehicle and were not driving. It's being towed." See how fast the cops get there and pull their licence! The girls were definitely threatened and harassed. In the end (hindsight) they thought it was a fun thing to do because they won but it was scary.
Use your best judgement when dealing with goons.

call the cops, report the vehicle as stole and make sure the report states where the vehicle was parked. once the report is filed, they should be able to track the vehicle down and then deal w/ the problem them.

take them to court and let the law handle this problem.

i would also let the apartment owner/manager know of the situation by fowarding the police report and let the apartment owner/manager decide. if they feel that you are being victimized then they might do something as you are their tenant ($ they don't want to lose) and don't want to lose you or any other tenant.

good luck (o and look into moving or something cuz it looks like that problem will not go away at all)

They didn't drag it out of the spot. According to the paperwork, they had to jack it up, then pull it out on a dolly. I knew that they wouldn't be able to get it out by putting the little carts under the rear wheels like usual because there is a connector rod that goes between them. There wasn't enough clearance over the cement post. I did however see a fair amount of paint scraped off the cement barrier. I'm going to check under my truck to make sure nothing was screwed up when they jacked up the rig. Imagine the hell they would get if the Xreas lines were damaged.

I had a family friend who had a problem with a tow company, long story short, he was a fast runner, knew where they parked the flatbed, figured a way to blow the truck up and ran like a crazy mofo, he was never questioned.

Everything was perfect, and he put the guy out of buisness and actually could park anywhere cause the other tow companies heard about him

In VA, after being a cop, I can attest to just how much these tow-truck cars are full of SH!T. I also know, that in VA, if they have your car hooked up, and as long as they havent traveled down the closest public roadway more than 25 feet, then they MUST drop your car and ONLY CHARGE A DROP FEE OF $25. I had a lot of calls when I ws on the street of them trying to con people into paying the whole bill, or more than the $25. People who this has happened to have sued sucessfully for for damage to their cars, as well as being changed criminally for "unauthorized use", also known as taking a car without permission from the owner. Try to get your manager to pay for it since there were blocks or what-not blocking you from parking "legally".