#2 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Skyforum - Denver (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
POSTED: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
BILL! Lets get real here.
I own an impound company in Denver Co. I get to deal with individuals like yourself all day long that believe just because there is a flat spot somewhere, you have the right to trespass and park your car, truck or in this case, your weekend excursion vehicle complete with trailer and all terrain vehicles anywhere you wish.
Running an impound company is an expensive affair. First order of business is actually hooking up and towing a pickup truck and trailer that is locked and probably parked across 4 or 5 parking spots that were designed for cars. These spaces I am sure were put there in support of the business where they reside. By parking your land yacht across all of them, you have hindered that business's ability to make money. That is what parking lots are for, for customers "reasonable" use while visiting the specific business. (Hint, don't park at the Burger King to go to the Chipotles!) I bet you parked across these spots, probably blocked the exit, then walked around a fence to go next door to the restaurant. I'll also bet that the owner of the property asked you not to park there and you told him to fusquatch off. How close am I? (I am SO close, you're probably wondering about me right now eh?) I have dealt with so many guys like you and the story is always the same. (In my tenure as a tow company owner, I would say I have had the privilege of towing some 30,000 impounds during my career)
I deal with this every day. In most cases, the ones that scream the loudest are usually the biggest offenders. Private property is just that and every one of those property owners has the right to mitigate their property as they see fit. If someone came along and parked their behemoth of an anti-green vehicle in your driveway and chewed up your asphalt or dropped an oil spot or killed the grass from driving over it, I bet you would be the FIRST person to call Liberty Towing to remove that car from your presence. Why would you do that? Because you'd have first hand knowledge that they don't take crap from violators like yourself and they would come out and get the job done.
As far as the rates go, sounds to me like they are right in line for what is called a 'Non Consent Tow" (That's a tow thats performed without the vehicle owners permission). He had to come out, hook your truck, check your trailer, make sure all your vehicles were secure and take them all, damage free, back to his facility. Then he has to pay for a yard that is secure and well lit and pay someone to protect your weekend excursion investment until you come to redeem your vehicle and pay the associated fees required to perform all those steps. If I am not mistaken, property in New Jersey is some of the most expensive on the planet!
Insurance for the average tow truck is outrageously expensive for this kind of work. I have 4 trucks (all light duty) and I spend in EXCESS of $25,000 a year to protect myself from nitwits like you. Then there's workers comp at nearly $20 per hundred payed in payroll, office and land expense and lets not even go to how much fuel costs for a truck that gets maybe 7 MPG.
In the end, this could have all been avoided by you just simply respecting other peoples property rights and reading the signs that I am sure are right in front of your face. Pay the bill, admit your error in judgment and move on. We don't want to hear it. Oh and BTW i before e, except after c and spelling your own name wrong really makes us wonder about your cognitive abilities to start with.
#4 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Towtruckbob - Broomfield (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, August 21, 2008
POSTED: Thursday, August 21, 2008
Well, I read the complaint and the comments.
I am a tow truck operator.
So, you felt it's perfectly acceptable to STEAL from a business, by using a parking space, or several, bought and paid for, improved, lighted, taxes paid on, that a business had spent relatively large sums of money on, that are intended to provide safe, convienent parking for THE PEOPLE WHO WISH TO PATRONIZE AND SPEND MONEY AT the owners place of business.
HMMM, suppose you had a yard sale at your home, and I parked my pickup truck, with a trailer, in front of YOUR home, blocking view and easy access to anyone who might otherwise have stopped and bought items from you. Would you say OK, go ahead and park, it's a public street, no problems? Or, more likely, you would yell and threaten to "have my truck towed away" because it's your RIGHT as an american citizen to engage in free enterprise and create income?
Next, the tow charge. What do you do for a living? Can I walk into your place of employment and get a discount because I feel you overcharge? Would you put profit, or even enough to cover the cost of producing your good or service, secondary to giving me a better price, so I don't feel like I was ripped off? Do you have any idea of the costs of operating a tow company, truck cost, fuel, tires and maintainence, workmans comp, taxes, payroll, property cost, insurance, advertising, and an attorney on retainer to defend against frivolous lawsuits and harrassment by an unknowing and uncaring public?
If you, your wife, your child, were broken down on a busy highway, are you willing to wait until the tow company can get around to responding, or do you feel that there should always be a $75,000 wrecker just sitting and waiting for your call?
And last, I expect you are a legal United States citizen, who attended a public school, paid for by taxes that were collected, in part, from tow drivers and towing companies. Is it too much to ask that, even if angry because you were caught and singled out, had your families vacation ruined due to your OWN poor choices, that you have enough respect for everyone to spell your words and use something approaching proper english?
With your attitude of hatred and disrespect to all that don't recognize your obvious entitlement to special treatment, I would only add that someday, I hope you decide to patronize my place of employment, as my view is that I will never feel desperate enough to consider providing any product of service to you.
And, in a free market, capitalistic society, I have the right to decide if I want to serve you, or to listen to you complain, and leave you on the side of the highway. After all, MY wrecker is running, you're the one that broke down.
#5 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Morris524 - Knoxville (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, November 22, 2008
POSTED: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Yes, towing is a necessary service, but they also lay traps which are contrived to be intentionally inconspicuous and cost upwards of half a grand. They are notorious, proven by courts, for giving kick-backs to those who let them tow on their property. This is a painfully de-regulated industry that operates at a low enough cost to those that they tow so that lawyers rarely get involved. I am a stalwart conservative and advocate of capitalism, but having a citizen-owned institution steal my automobile and proceed to hold it for ransom is am egrigous blow to my rights. They demand cash, are hesitant on receipts, and offer no third-party service. They have your car and if you do not pay they will not give your car back.
They are also anti-capitalism. If the concept is that competition drives costs down, making an acceptable market-average, towing companies would be at a much less cost. We do not choose who we pay to get our cars out of impounds. We are not criminals. We have rights. If we had the right to pay whomever we wished to get our cars out of impound, then the cost would be much lower, and whichever company was able to deliver at the lowest cost would get the most profit. That is capitalism.
That is not how towing-companies work. If a towing company cannot survive without ludicrous prices than it is an over-saturated market. The exchange of services for money is incomprehensible. These people are not busy; they just do not have enough business. If it were a consumer-based enterprise, many companies would fail because they are not necessary.
I, personally, have been towed four times. Three of those times were my fault and I payed a (somewhat) understandable fee. I was once towed by an apartment-complex which intentionally made part of their property to appear as a street so that they could tow. There were no signs or yellow chalk. I was booted at the cost of 125 dollars for exactly forty-five minutes. They then removed the boot and towed me for another 125 dollars. I had my car out of impound in less than nine hours at the absurd cost of two-hundred and fifty dollars.
That is a rip-off.