$#*%#$&& Tow Truck Company

[Snibble]

Let me explain what happened because I feel like going postal on their as$es Sunday night.. I come over to a friend's apartment building to study for our Cheimistry quiz. I stayed there one hour and when I went to my car. My car was gone. I told my friend... we drove to the tow place to see if it was there or if it was stolen. I come out of the car with my friedn and his girlfriend and were about 8 feet from the fence looking at the cars. We didn't see anything.. but had some people there see us. Next thing I know.. we have 3 thug-looking individuals coming at us with heavy duty flashlights. I asked him calmly we are looking for a car, I am not sure if it was towed or not. He asks what kind of car.. and I said it was a white mercedes. He laughs to his buddy and says yea its here.. in the green building. I look and I see no building. Im confused at this point. But he;s nice enough to let me follow him in. Then I have this person, a young lady.. clearly visible that she's been on crack at some point in her life... arms covered in tattoo's and kindly greets me with a "what car are you hear for?" I tell her.. and she proceeds to give me a bill. I am expecting $90 as the sign said. I was pissed off at this point, but bit the bullet and dealt with it. Remember, to some of you guys $90 might not be that much.. but thats almost my weekly paycheck from what I work part time during my free hours when I am not at school. Then she says my bill is $130.24. I asked why isn't it $90? She says you got the $90 towing fee... $12 for STORAGE... yes, for one hour there is a $12 storage fee in the open area of Columbus' finest GHETTO ... and on top of that a $20 FILING fee which basicaly is a notepad reciept. The rest is tax.

I will summarize the situation because it will be a long thread if I went in detail... but this should give you a general idea.
1) They only wanted CASH... how many college kids do you think have $130.24 in CASH on the weekend?
2) Was told if I am not goin to pay tonight.. to "get the %#^* off of" therie premises.
3) Felt intimiadated and threatened coming in to pay.
4) Asked for names of the people who were rude to me, and was told to call their business # and file a complaint. I looked at the number and guess who is the one that answers? Yep.. the rude gentleman himself.
5) Asked for all copies and papers.. they denied me everything except for the note pad that says I paid the full amount.
6) reciept states that my car is damaged, full of scratches and dents I guess someone is trying to save their @$$ here
7) my "notepad reciept" says there is no claim # due to "computer down" Take this fact + the fact "cash only" you get the picture.
8) Did not ask for proof of ownership of the vehicle... no where on the paper stated my name or signature... nor any otheir mafia employees.


I am looking for advice as to what I can do about this situation. I have never been treated like this ever before... and I serioulsy don't wish this on anyone. I guess they were not too happy when I came and paid $130 in dimes.. and 24cents in pennies either...

Call whatever department handles parking and towing usually the wreckers are contracted. I feel your pain I hate white trash junkyard idiots.

I found this.

The Campus Partners Public Service Committee on street sweeping met Sept. 3. Ray Browning of the city’s street maintenance office reported that sweeping was done as scheduled in July and August. Parked vehicles, however, were ticketed and not towed. The Columbus Police maintained that the city’s impound lot was full, so towed cars could not be accepted. Although more than 900 tickets were written both in July and August, the sweeping was judged to be unproductive because the sweepers had to move around so many cars. Barry Bauer, assistant administrator for operations with the city’s Transportation Division, said he would work within the city administration to emphasize the need to tow parked cars in September and October if the sweeping is to be effective. Cars were towed for the sweeping conducted Sept. 11 and 12. The next meeting of the committee will be Feb. 4, 2004, at 1:30 p.m. in room 200 of the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St.

Mayor's Action Center, 645-CITY (2489). Ohio Wildlife Center, 793-WILD (9453).
Parking Permits, 645-7790. Parking Violations, 645-6400. Police (emergency),
911. ...


What was the name of the company.

[Snibble]

PaulC.. true that it might be a waist of time, but at least I would feel better that I could do something about it in order for this crap not to happen again.

MedMech.. wow.. thanks for the info you found. Will look into this later this week. I got a busy week today at school. I realy appreciate the work you put into this to find this info.

BTW.. the name of this ghetto towing place is " C & M Towing, INC." (614) 291-2101 OR...since there are two names on the reciept and the dump doesn't have a sign stating the name of the towing place... it could also be " ACTION Inc." at (614)297-6701. I believe its the C & M Towing though.

I couldn;t get any names of the employees since they said "all you need is the recipet and you can leave".
I will do a little investigating on this place...I doubt I am the first to be treated this way.

[BenzOnline]

oh man sorry to hear!........how was the car?

Just more proof that my little "the government is the moffia" joke really isn't.

Sad, just plain sad. You can complain to the city I guess, but they're getting their cut of that unmarked revenue I'm sure.

[Snibble]

Originally posted by narwhal
Sorry you can't afford the penalty, but didn't you post at some point in the past about the disinfranchisement of your parking rights on or near campus? Some people make their living by investing in parking lots. What's the crime you claim was committed? How were you wronged? If the worst thing that happens to you while in college is that you get towed for illegally parking, you will be better off by learning the lesson of not assuming entitlement to take advantage of other people's property.

Man, if this is the worst you have been treated, you are a lucky man indeed

This has nothing to do with the campus nor the univeristy. This has to do with a private towing company that did several things that I consider bad. I am not arguinig the point of parking in an area where I didn't have aresidential pass. I am arguing the fact I was treated like $h!t... felt intimidated and yes even somewhat threatened when you got a tall heavy man standing there in front of you with a heavy flashlight giving the impression that he is ready to hit you upside the head with. I had the door slammed in the face twice, I was told to "shut up" when I asked a questions, and not even allowed to retrieve important school documents from my car. And when I came to pay the fee, I was not asked for a name, nor proof of ownership of the vehicle. Plus, when I am charged fees for "filing" or just charged in general and ask for copies of the documents, I am told to "get the hell off of their premisses" I do feel that is illegal and I have a right for copies of documents I paid for. I believe the BBB has something on "fair business" practice, where I as a "customer" to this ghetto dump should be treated fairly, given documents that I am entitled to and not have to endure nonsence bull$h!t about me driving a mercedes when leaving.

I guess in your eyes, you don't see anything wrong with that.. and I am just a kid thats pi$$ed for having to pay a towing fee.

[el presidente]

Man....you were only there one hour. $130 is a pretty steep fine....more than the $90 posted on the sign.

Check the fine print, though. It may read "$90 minimum fine".

If I were you, I would not return to that business (nothing but trouble/intimidation for you). If you still feel strongly, file a complaint with your local BBB.

Hope you aced the chemistry test!

[G-Benz]

I don't believe you would get very far with the complaint.

Towing companies and lots such as the one you experienced are prolific, and no amount of legal mish-mash is going to change their policies.

I experienced a similar incident as a student at the University of Illinois. My brother (also attending) borrowed my car and parked in a no-parking zone. My penalty was $55 (this was back in 79) and my car had four flat tires when I came to pick it up.

Cut your losses and move on. And oh yeah, watch where you park. Parking violations are big business on university campuses, even for bicycles!

[TTaM]

I had an awful experience last year with a college town tow company. My friends and I were visiting some guys at the University of Illinois in Champaign and we decided to go back to a mutual friend's apartment. They have assigned parking spots, and I parked in one that belonged to our friend. Well, a girl that lives in their building has a grudge with these guys, so she called the tow company and had my car towed. We were getting ready to leave, and I, the DD, go downstairs to warm up the car. Needless to say, it had been towed. I was positively livid. I had a friend drive me to the tow yard, where we find the car just sitting in the alley behind. Well, I took it. Needless to say, I woke up the next morning with 2 calls on my answering machine. One from my mother, curious as to why she got a phone call from the police regarding my whereabouts, and the second from the Champaign police dept. I paid up the $85, and sworn never to drive to U of I again.

PS, the girl that called in my car, she no longer has hubcaps

[blackmercedes]

An old friend of mine from high school has been a tow truck driver for nearly 20 years. Just a couple years ago we were talking about the industry and the reputation it's been building. He says there are two types of drivers/companies:

1. The honest hard-working type that eak out a living with one truck, sometimes going on to own several trucks or their own company. They provide an honest reasonable service and work very hard for their money. He was fortunate to pick up a contract with AMA (AAA) and has been operating under their banner for some years. He enjoys working for them as they have reasonably high standards and pay promptly.

2. The crooks. They have outrageous charges, often fight for no-parking enforcement contracts so that they can "hook&haul" and beat people to death with impound charges. They often damage the car out of spite and plain meaness. (is that a word?)

We belong to AAA and needed a tow truck about five winters back. Helen put the Mazda into the ditch and we needed to have her pulled out. The AAA driver came quickly (great since it was cold) and did an excellent job of getting the car out without so much as a scratch. It wasn't my friend (different part of town) but I was very impressed with the driver's professionalism and overall service. Too bad tow-away-zone operators are not like that (generally).

[Zeus]

I had a very similar experience several years ago with my previous Benz. I was also in university at the time. Same basic scenario as you. I was bullied and treated like crap. These kind of guys suss you out in a second - they can sniff your insecurity and lack of experience like a hound dog. They see a young, inexperienced kid coming in to get their car and from that second on, the ball's in their court and it stays there. No way could they treat me like that now. No doubt about it, it's a power game to them. They're not just "business men conducting business" - I got the same rude attitude, lack of cooperation and lack of respect - the things a true "business" would offer to a first-time "customer". These kind of guys have the law to back them and they abuse it, IMO. Of course, there are good companies and kudos to them, but this business tends to attract the nasty kind as well.

Anyway, if it makes you feel better, I did get back at the miserable ba$tards. Can't say how or what, but they had it coming. It was childish and stupid of me, but hey, that's what they get for messing with a young, inexperienced, emotionally unstable young adult with nothing to lose.

snibble, You have just had a very good lesson in government enforcement of a law. You were brought into the legal system(ok, perhaps just the fringe of it) and should have learned a good lesson. In case you missed the point, OBEY THE LAW OR YOU WILL HAVE TO REPEAT THE PROCESS AND IT MAY BE WORSE NEXT TIME. Sorry about the loud screaming voice but sometimes it's hard to get through to you kids.
I am a father of 4 with 2 of them through university and the other two still doing the stupid stuff that you just described. What part of NO PARKING did you not understand? Yep, you're right, no sympathy from over here, only regret that you are finding fault with the hard a** system system instead of accepting it as a hard reality.

[bjcsc]

Narwhal and bmunse hit the nail on the head. I always find it interesting that people get so upset when their car gets towed from a tow away zone, as if whether or not they planned on parking for 1 hour or overnight is relevant. As if the giant letters: "You will be towed" apply to everyone but them. Hell, you even knew the rate. When you parked your car, you made a choice and the $130 was the consequence of that choice. As far as the bull tactics you experienced when you were there, you have to realize that some people get really violent with tow companies. If it were my business, you would have seen a firearm as well. I would have documented every scratch and dent as well as I'll be damned if somebody's going to stick me with their own neglect as damage. As far as the rate, towing is expensive. How many people did you see working there? They all have to earn a living, too. If you think $130 towing is expensive, never buy a boat. You rack up more than that before they even get to you. One of the guys that works for me had a friend who ran out of fuel 2 miles offshore and it cost him $1100 to get towed back in. That's a tow bill. Thanks SeaTow!

You probably don't like hearing all of this, but some people (like me) depend on tow companies to keep the spaces we lease open so that we can park in them. I have no compassion for those who get towed. They can't cry victim when they get smacked for breaking the rules, and they have to learn this at some point in their life because the rest of us will (and do) get tired of carrying them (in the form of new taxes, higher premiums, fees, etc.) What they are doing is technically different than what you did, but similar enough. If the people I lease from can't make money on parking, or if my space is taken, I have nowhere to park. Neither is acceptable, and I'll move somewhere else that keeps my space clean. One time I parked behind someone who was in my space and left a nice note on their car to call me when they got there so I could let them out and park in my space - there was nowhere else to park. Instead, they did a 40 point turn, went around my Grand Wagoneer, and then knifed the sidewalls of all 4 of my 1 week old firestone tires. You want to talk about pissed?! All because then (4 years ago) I felt bad about towing them.

I agree that you learned a cheap lesson and I think if you try to look at this from the other points of view (tow company, property owner, people with rights to the spaces) you'll agree. If not, then you better not try your hand at speeding, because you will find a similar result.