[FatTortoise]

Ugg.. My car got impounded!


This is the story..

Me, and 2 of my friends, went to downtown San Antonio.. We ate at Dennys, and then walked down town from there...Well, we were gone for about an hour, and when I came back.. MY CAR WAS GONE!

I went inside and asked them what happened.. And they said that you can only park there when you are in the resturant.. So they towed my car...

I called the towing place.. And I got directions to go there.. Then there was the issue of getting to the impound lot.. We were going to take a taxi, which was going to be $20.. but instead, my friend called one of his friends to give us a ride..

2 hours later

We are still tring to tell the guy where we are.. Becuase he is really bad at directions..
So finally we went in his car to the impound lot..
I went in, talked to the lady, and she said that I needed some kind of proof that this car belongs to me.. I showed her my insurance card. And she says "The state of Texas does not reconize a insurance card to show you own a vehicle" Uggg.. So I looked around on my car and found something that said my moms name on it, and had the cars VIN..
Then she tells me how much it will be..

$141.18
My God!!

So I had to borrow money from my friend..

But what sucks.. Is that since I am the one driving.. I have to pay for it all.. They never offered me to help get my car out. They never offered to help pay for gas.. AND one of my friends took $10 from me! WTF!?

Maybe I should find new friends..
My car got impounded at about 10 PM.. I got a ride there, and got my car out at 2 AM!!

 

[bull geek]

How is 4 hours of impoundment and the cost of towing 150 bucks? seems a little steep. How far away was the impoundment place?

Anyways glad you got your car back. happened to my dad once just in the same instince, cept he ate at the restaurant and then walked across to the cinema and they towed it while he was watching the flic.

 

[FatTortoise]

The place was about 14 miles away from where I was..

These are the prices..

Hook Up- $105
Storage- $15
Impounment Fee- $20
Tax - $1.18
Total- $141.18

 

[fvt]

ahh that sucks dude.

You can always argue the charges but personally i wouldn't go for the headache. i would just pay them the money and move on.

Where in San Antonio did this happen? It is near the Riverwalk area? i know cops there are annoying.

 

[TheNeoTony]

Ackk! That really really hurts. My parents pay my gas, but for the most part my friends never really give me money for anything. I think I enjoy driving though!
I always keep my ebrake on, so towing my car is a huge pain in the arss. I don't think Ive ever been under the threat of being towed, but just in case.

 

[kermitec]

Yeah, they really screw you over with the towing scams. Some of these places actually get a kickback from the towing companies!

They do have to have a sign stating parking is for customers only. If they didn't have the sign they shouldn't have towed you. Greedy [email protected] Your friends suck, taking 10 bucks from you WTF? When I get together with my buddies we always chip in for stuff! One guy takes care of parking or gas so you pick up the other guys burger or whatever.

 

[mikehawk]

Hey fat tortoise, with friends like that, who needs enemies? How did they take $10 from you?

And NeoTony, trust me, the e-brake won't even slow a tow truck down. If anything, it'll probably just wear out your e-brake.

 

[FatTortoise]

Even with the parking brake on, they will get ya.. Well, in SA.. I watched them tow someone elses car away.. They pick all 4 wheels up off the ground..

That whole $10 thing is a confusing story

It was about 3 blocks from the River Walk <_<

 

[TheNeoTony]

Originally posted by mikehawk@Feb 15 2004, 08:33 PM
And NeoTony, trust me, the e-brake won't even slow a tow truck down. If anything, it'll probably just wear out your e-brake.

I thought that the ebrake stops the set of wheels completely! Now I know that I have no protection. Tell me though. Suppose you are parked right on both sides, and your parked head in. How do they get you out without destroying your transmission (assuming that you are in park).

 

[FatTortoise]

This is how I was parked..

I was head in, and there were cars all around me.. I have no idea how they got it out..

 

[mikehawk]

They just pick up whatever tires they can get to and drag it out, tires screeching and all.

I've even seen them pull out a car that was parallel parked. They jacked it up and put these things under the wheels so they could just pull it out sideways.

So trust me, if they want your car, they're going to get it.

 

[rsgnome]

That really sucks Tortoise. I once had my car impounded. I went to Salt lake(which is about 80 miles from home) to go clubbing. I parked in this parking lot infront of a trailer manufactuering plant(which was all fenced in and there was parking within the fence). I go to the club, and about an hour and a half later, I get this masive headache and I tell my friend I was gonna go out tothe car. I get out their and those bastard towers had already taken my car and where waiting around to take some more cars. We had a blizzard that night too... so I walked 3 miles to use a phone at a hotel to call my dad and then 3 miles back to get my friend. Fortunatly we got a ride back to the hotel from this really hot chick.

Anyways, I think along side the development of the anti-birdsh|t mod, we need an anti-towing company mod to complement it. Park where ever you want for however long you want and not worry about getting towed... hides license plates to prevent tickets too.

 

[impatient95]

Geeesee what asses. Denny's of course has a FINE reputation for being a community business (not). Ya know you think they could tag it and give a 24 hour notice or something.

Man, I hate denny's. Just seems anytime their name is mentioned, it is not about how they won the nobel peace prize.

I once had my car in impound in indy and it cost $45 to get it out, perhaps I am lucky.
See, my car had been ripped off some time ago and someone reported it after being parked too long in their place (understandable). I had $150 hiding in the center console under some cassettes. As i drove away, i stopped and told the impound people about it and they all had this dumb look on their face. My dad goes, "i think you just broke their hearts in telling them that, they are probably mad they didn't dig thru the thing..."

EDIT - cost 45, not 5 dollars to unimpound...

 

[qwertz9586]

Originally posted by mikehawk@Feb 15 2004, 08:50 PM
They just pick up whatever tires they can get to and drag it out, tires screeching and all.

Say bye-bye to the tranny.

 

[Damon]

Originally posted by Kermitec@Feb 15 2004, 09:13 PM
Yeah, they really screw you over with the towing scams. Some of these places actually get a kickback from the towing companies!

They do have to have a sign stating parking is for customers only. If they didn't have the sign they shouldn't have towed you. Greedy [email protected] Your friends suck, taking 10 bucks from you WTF? When I get together with my buddies we always chip in for stuff! One guy takes care of parking or gas so you pick up the other guys burger or whatever.

ahahahhaha, you think thats corrupt, get this.................

Umass-Amherst parking services department is headed by a woman who is married to the owner of the local TOWING COMPANY, who in turn does ALL of the towing for violations on the Umass Campus (which sees about 28000 students pass through on a daily basis).

So you can imagine theres some sketchy shiznit going on there, for sure.

-Damon

 

[DayOff]

I had my F-150 towed one time for parking where I wasn't supposed to. I backed into a spot. Behind the truck was a 4 foot wide sidewalk and then a grassy lawn. Nothing was parked in front of me. They yanked the truck backwards up over a curb and through grass to get it.

If they want it, they'll get it. Of course I also gave them the bill to replace my tires(which were almost bald when it was towed) because they created a bald spot.

 

[spridget]

That sounds like the Denny's behind the River Walk Mall. They are punks. I've watched them have cars towed out of there. We used to go downtown alot when I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston.


My car got towed on my birthday. We had just finished dinner. I had been drinking so my girlfriend was driving. We went to downtown Austin near 6th Street for some more drinks. When we came back 3 of us had been towed. Apparently there was a "tow away zone" sign on the building that had been removed and thrown on the ground. And all three of us had to pay $150 each to get our cars out that night. So I know your headache my friend.

 

[sabledale]

That really sucks. What kind of a crappy buisness would do that. I work at a McDonalds and someone once left there car for 7 days before they thought about towing it. They just tracked down the owner on day 7 and said if it was not gone by tomorrow morning it would be towed and impownded.

 

[91MercSable3.8L]

I know how your feeling. my Nissan was towed from the turn on lane of the interstate (wasn't even near the ramp) to a place not even 1/2 a mile down from where the car was and they charged me $247 and broke all the clamps and screw holes for the front driverside of the Bumper cover. it was sitting there for no more than 5 hrs with a Flat tiny spare on that side. I got it back, put a new tire on, and they said I was S.O.L about the damages.

 

[stever]

i know someone who got her car towed for double parking. they totally ruined the body kit, cracked the front and back bumpers, then the tow company went and poured sugar down the tank. that was a hell of a stuation, and the car hasnt been the same since (after the repairs of course)