Post by thread:[OT]: Tow Truck stories revenge ?

I had a trailer located in the parking lot of a church. I had gotten permission to park it there. Due to some confusion, a new church employee called a towing company. The towing company owner was on vacation for 3 days and when he came back, he wanted towing charges plus 3 days storage. Oh yes, by the way, he doubled the towing and storage charges because there was a car loaded on the trailer. I have thought many times that the late night application of expanding foam in the exhaust pipe of his trucks ( they are parked on the street ) would be fun. cc

On Wed, Apr 30, 2008 at 11:06:30AM -0600, Cedric Chang wrote: > I had a trailer located in the parking lot of a church. I had gotten > permission to park it there. Due to some confusion, a new church > employee called a towing company. The towing company owner was on > vacation for 3 days and when he came back, he wanted towing charges > plus 3 days storage. Oh yes, by the way, he doubled the towing and > storage charges because there was a car loaded on the trailer. > > I have thought many times that the late night application of > expanding foam in the exhaust pipe of his trucks ( they are parked on > the street ) would be fun. While in college, I knew a guy that broke into the towing company's yard and liberated his car. :) I think of him as an every-man hero, but of course his actions didn't turn out well for him... Around the same time a student shot a crossbow dart at a tow truck, which was more stupid and had worse consequences. Here's what you can do that might be more effective and even more satisfying (and isn't a crime): spread the word, gossip, what a bad businessman this person is. Drive business away from him. Everyone likes "underdog" gossip! ;) Matt

Personally, I would think that employee should be on the hook for at least some if not all of the charges - he/she shouldn't have called the towing company without previously checking the status of the vehicle on the property - they appear to have overstepped their bounds and should be made to make good on their mistake. Although, yes, I think that towing company is being about as unfair as they can be by attempting a double charge, you can probably fight the double charge as technically it's not taking more space then it would with just the trailer alone. I'd definitly stay away from anything damaging property tho, otherwise you might end up owing a lot more that would actually be yours to owe... JMHO -Tony Cedric Chang <spam_OUTccTakeThisOuTnope9.com> wrote: I had a trailer located in the parking lot of a church. I had gotten permission to park it there. Due to some confusion, a new church employee called a towing company. The towing company owner was on vacation for 3 days and when he came back, he wanted towing charges plus 3 days storage. Oh yes, by the way, he doubled the towing and storage charges because there was a car loaded on the trailer.

If it's a lot of money just get a lawyer involved, the tow truck company is unlikely to want to deal with lawyers (get someone 'bigger' on your side) - Martin Cedric Chang wrote: {Quote hidden}> I had a trailer located in the parking lot of a church. I had gotten > permission to park it there. Due to some confusion, a new church > employee called a towing company. The towing company owner was on > vacation for 3 days and when he came back, he wanted towing charges > plus 3 days storage. Oh yes, by the way, he doubled the towing and > storage charges because there was a car loaded on the trailer. > > I have thought many times that the late night application of > expanding foam in the exhaust pipe of his trucks ( they are parked on > the street ) would be fun. > > cc

"Martin" <.....martinKILLspam@spam@nnytech.net> wrote in message news:4818C7D7.1090004KILLspamnnytech.net... > If it's a lot of money just get a lawyer involved, the tow truck company > is unlikely to want to deal with lawyers (get someone 'bigger' on your > side) Or just pay the bill and then sue the guy in small claims court. I'd think that a judge in small claims court would be pretty reasonable about giving you back the money for the car storage, since it was *on top* of the trailer. Usually the fee for doing this isn't very much and you don't have to pay a lawyer. Jeff -- A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. -- Einstein

> Or just pay the bill and then sue the guy in small claims court Even informing him that's what you intend to do might be enough to show him you're serious about not paying and make him back down I've heard a wicked one about revenge on a taxi driver ISTR it was dished out, very coldly, by a male friend of a female grossly aggrieved by something a taxi driver had done He saw the driver in a line of taxis somewhere. Starting at the back of the line, he went to each and asked "Are you the guy that does hand jobs ?". As you'd expect, each driver indignantly declined When he got to the target, in full view of the line of cabs behind, he leaned over, said "City St please" and got in I suspect that towies may demonstrate their indignation. With a chain or a jemmy perhaps, before you get to truck #2

Cedric Chang wrote: > I had a trailer located in the parking lot of a church. I had gotten > permission to park it there. Due to some confusion, a new church > employee called a towing company. The towing company owner was on > vacation for 3 days and when he came back, he wanted towing charges > plus 3 days storage. Oh yes, by the way, he doubled the towing and > storage charges because there was a car loaded on the trailer. I'm not one for revenge, it never seems to accomplish anything (except causing more trouble). Intellectual and moral high road FTW. Best plan? Talk to a lawyer. Discuss the legality of his actions, possibly take it to court. If that's too expensive, small claims court might be an option. If you're feeling vindictive, pay the fine then sue the jackass that called the truck. Less vindictive? Go after the tow company. Charging double because there's a car on the trailer would (in this country) almost certainly be struck down any judge with an ounce of sense. What's even more fun is the Unfair Contract Terms Act. If a court decides that a contract term is unfair, that term can be nullified (or the whole contract in some cases - IANAL and memory fails me at the moment). Subtle enforcement of the concept of a contract being a two-sided agreement, not a method for bullying. Paying the fine on a credit card then charging it back would be another option, but I suspect your bank may be less than pleased. The catch is by paying it you're sort-of agreeing that the price is fair, but the price only goes up with time. Basically the guy has you by the short and curlies... IMHO the whole car-towing trade should be outright abolished. Yes you can clamp the car at the side of the road, and there should be a maximum fine set in law, but removing the vehicle should be considered theft (TWOC - Taken Without Owner's Consent). In effect, the whole thing is legalised extortion. I seem to recall there was something on ITV's "Tonight" show about this exact thing... and BBC's "Watchdog" show have certainly covered it on occasion too. -- Phil. | (\_/) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny .....piclistKILLspam.....philpem.me.uk | (='.'=) into your signature to help him gain http://www.philpem.me.uk/ | (")_(") world domination.

> While in college, I knew a guy that broke into the towing > company's yard and > liberated his car. :) I think of him as an every-man hero, > but of course his > actions didn't turn out well for him... I did scale a tow truck yard's fence once, before I went to the office, so I could check my car before confronting them. The car had been illegally towed - it was validly parked in my own company's car park. No dogs on duty that day, fortunately. > Here's what you can do that might be more effective and > even more > satisfying (and isn't a crime): spread the word, gossip, > what a bad > businessman this person is. Drive business away from him. > Everyone likes > "underdog" gossip! ;) Everyone knows that tow truck companies act like everyone who works there are scum. (Funny how false impressions can be created). Bad press at the public level doesn't hurt them much. And may get them some business. I had in mind those who may care about people effectively employing strong arm tactics in their city. Russell

> >I visited the tow truck company, as noted. The pleasant >>manager on duty said that their actions had been >>successfully defended in court on numerous occasions. > > Did you ask them for case numbers? It may well be that non > of the cases > concern this particular site. He didn't actually care. He was essentially saying "So sue us - many people have and they have all failed". If it had been MY car involved then I think the small claims court would be an excellent way to go. As it was a friend of my son's that complicates such an approach. I think trial by Mayor, MP and TV are the more useful routes. Trial by internet is less useful as everyone knows about tow truck companies already :-). Russell

"Apptech" <EraseMEapptechspam_OUTTakeThisOuTparadise.net.nz> wrote in message news:013501c8ab1d$6b318d70$e701a8c0@y2k... >> If it's a lot of money just get a lawyer involved, the tow >> truck company >> is unlikely to want to deal with lawyers (get someone >> 'bigger' on your side) > > I visited the tow truck company, as noted. The pleasant > manager on duty said that their actions had been > successfully defended in court on numerous occasions. Of course they're going to say that. They want you to believe that they're right and you're wrong and you should just pay them and quietly go away. Of course, I don't know the laws in NZ, so they may be right. Are there any law help lines at the local university there? Here in the US, universities with law programs sometimes offer legal help for free, or a small fee. Jeff -- A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. -- Einstein

I dunno if you can get out of the towing charges. You need to...hopefully did....show record that you attempted to get in touch with him over those 3 days he was gone, meaning that he should have had someone in charge while gone to release the trailer. Otherwise, he could tow and "store" alot of cars, go away for 2 weeks and then charge everyone for those weeks and make alot of money..unfairly. Granted, the employee should not have called for a tow, so maybe they will split that charge. Its the storage fee that you could fight in small claims, but you also need to read the tow companies contract with the church as well, and what rights they (towing company) have and assume. So if it was me, I'd see if the church would split the tow charges...go and pay that to the guy and say...your unfair, and either you drop those charges or I take you to court...see what he says. It will cost you between $50 and $100 to file suite, but if you win, he pays that back to you. Might also check with the BBB to see if he has been doing this in the past, as it might be another bit if evidence on your side showing he is being unfair in his practices. Good luck...and forget the revenge. That will just land you in worse trouble. Tony Harris <kg4wfxspam_OUTyahoo.com> wrote: Personally, I would think that employee should be on the hook for at least some if not all of the charges - he/she shouldn't have called the towing company without previously checking the status of the vehicle on the property - they appear to have overstepped their bounds and should be made to make good on their mistake. Although, yes, I think that towing company is being about as unfair as they can be by attempting a double charge, you can probably fight the double charge as technically it's not taking more space then it would with just the trailer alone. I'd definitly stay away from anything damaging property tho, otherwise you might end up owing a lot more that would actually be yours to owe... JMHO -Tony Cedric Chang wrote: I had a trailer located in the parking lot of a church. I had gotten permission to park it there. Due to some confusion, a new church employee called a towing company. The towing company owner was on vacation for 3 days and when he came back, he wanted towing charges plus 3 days storage. Oh yes, by the way, he doubled the towing and storage charges because there was a car loaded on the trailer.