Towing a car

[Umit]

What is the name of your state? New Hampshire

Here is my story. Any help will be appreciated...

When I came from a short weekend trip on Monday, my employee told me that my car was stolen from parking lot of Clock Towers (Condominium Complex). As soon as he told me that I knew it was towed by Clock Tower Management. I asked him why he parked there and he said he was visiting his friend.

I went to Clock Tower office to learn where the car is. They said even this is their property and even they hired the company, they have nothing to do with towing. They mentioned about their signs and warnings. They seemed they were tired about parking violations and just gave the job someone without feeling any responsibility and not thinking of any consequences. They gave me a company business card. I called the company to get the car. Person on the line confirmed that the car is at their parking lot. And they need to be paid $325.00 to get back the car. I was very surprised for the amount they charge and wanted to talk with the owner. I drove to their place which is more than 7 miles away from the place it was parked. It made me think why my car was towed that far? I spent my all off day with hoping to meet with owner and to pay a reasonable price for the service they gave. Unfortunately, owner was not even close to understand and being fair. He was sure that they have a right even to have the car and no one can stop them!

I said this is not fair. I am here to pay a reasonable amount of your service to get my car back. But you are charging me $175.00 for towing and $50.00 per day as a parking fee, which is more than a daily rate in Manhattan, New York.

He said my car was parked illegal and there is only one way to get my car back is paying the amount they were asking for. I told him that was not parked illegal. And even if there was something illegal, why they did not apply to police or court. It is not their job to decide, judge and punish people with their own perspective.

Bottom line is my car was towed 7 miles away to an other town without my permission. I was charged $175.00 for towing, $21.00 mileage and $250.00 for storage. And they refuse to give my car back if I do not pay the cash amount they want. I was insulted and discriminated by employers of the towing company.

I was not informed about the towing. I did not get any warning. Nobody gave me an option to move my car in certain time. And I did not hire this towing company.
If I would park to an illegal place, police would definitely give a ticket less than this company. And City of Nashua would charge $10.00 for expired or illegal parking. Also, City charges $35.00 for parking fee for a month. Why should I pay that much money to a company I did not hire? Why these people think they can do more than City or police can? And why nobody can’t stop them?

Since towing company commandeered my car with my personal belongings, I had difficulties to run my business. I closed my business to get cash and to get my car from an other town. Unfortunately, this is very bad behavior for neighborhood in downtown and it will effect negatively our business when people hear more stories about parking problems in downtown. I highly recommend to Clock Tower Management to find a better and friendly way to solve their parking problems and definitely not to use this very rude towing company. They do not want to make money, they just want to take advantage of situations and rip people off.

I will definitely take a legal action after I talked to my attorney and will definitely inform our society about the way I was treated.What is the name of your state?

[FlyingRon]

Go pay and redeem your car. The costs aren't getting any less sitting here arguing about it.

You can try a civil action (small claims) to recoup the towing storage fees if they were improperly obtained. I'm not going to look into the rules that may cover private property towing, some jurisdictions put limits on things.

However, nothing you say seems to indicate anything improper here.

Your car was parked on private property without permission.
Most likely there were signs warning about the possibility of being towed.

There is no requirement to give any other warning. There is no requirement to get your permission.

Towing companies are not in the business of providing parking services. It's not a very cost effective form of valet parking. They've heard every sort of excuse and are generally dealt with in a rather rude fashion. Don't expect them to be gentle to you. You are not their customer, the complex owner was. Most only take cash.

Next time be careful who you loan your car to.

[racer72]

Do you argue with the owners of stores that you visit when buying groceries and clothing? Of course not. Why do you think you can negotiate the cost of having your vehicle towed and stored? They are a business like any other and have set prices. Pay if you want your car back.