Sideline Towing insult, illegal tow, rude, no instructions San Francisco California

On saturday may 30th 2009 i went to the giants game with friends. My brother-in-law suggested i park alongside the road where there was some open parking and NO signs posted informing me of it being private parking. there were several other cars parked there without permits so i parked there as well. later that night when the game was over we returned to the site where my car should have been and noticed signs posted all aound and people in despair looking for their cars.

I couldnt find my car and quickly realized it had been towed. After speaking to some of the other people around me who also stated that there were no signs posted when they parked their cars i called the number on the newly posted signs and a very rude man answered the phone. He informed me that since the signs were there when he towed my car it didnt matter if they were there when i parked it! He then informed me that it would be a $450 charge to release my car.

I asked for the address and directions so i could come pick up my car and was told by the very rude man that he couldnt give me directions. How am i supposed to pick up my car if i dont know the location?? We drove in a friends car and stopped at gas stations and asked cab drivers and pedestrians directions and finnally found the tow yard. When we went inside there were 2 other unhappy groups of people in the office with the same complaint as me.

The man took my information and asked how i would be paying...angrily i stated "with my rent money"! His response was "rent money is better than regular money". After several more rude comments to myself and the other groups of people there the man sent me with another man to go around the corner to retreive my car. I asked him if this happened often and he said "yes" especially in that same area my car was towed.

I asked if he thought they purposely posted the signs late at night after people parked there and he again said "yes". he then stated that the propery owners most likely get money for each car towed!!! Please let me know if there is anything i can do to get my money back and if i have any rights or if this same thing has happened to you.

Shanna
san jose, California
U.S.A.