When towing goes wrong

[An Haddock]

I'm sure I'll be told how my friend is in the wrong in this story, but with the amount of bullshit he had to deal with, plus the circumstances, I still say he shouldn't have been towed.


Background: we own a small store in a "restaurant town" in South Jersey. We're talking basically 1 - 2 restaurants on every block, at least along the main 6 blocks or so of the center of town. Parking has always been at a premium. Friday and Saturday nights, you might have to park a couple of blocks back off the main drag because there's so many people having dinner in town.

My biz partner has a day job and can only come in evenings and weekends to help out. So around 7pm on a Friday night, he comes in after work to give me a hand.


Across the street is a Wawa - for those outside the Delaware Valley, it's a chain of convenience stores. Like 7-11 but with marginally better food. The Wawa shares around a 24+ space parking lot with a Rite Aid and a Cleaners, although by 8pm (when our store closes) the Rite Aid and the Cleaners were both closed.

Well, it seems quite a few restaurant patrons were using the parking lot. According to my biz partner it wasn't like they were using all the spots, either... there were still spots in front of the Wawa. The drivers were using mostly spots in front of the Rite Aid or on the other side of the parking lot next to the cleaners.

Apparently the Wawa manager got a bug up his ass because he called to have around 10 cars towed, including my partner's. And since the towing place conveniently adds on an extra day worth of "storage fees" after midnight, my partner was going to be stuck paying for 2 days worth of car storage instead of one, even though the towing place was already closed for the night. He had no chance to go get his car that evening so they doubled what he owed.

Saturday morning I drive him over to get his car. Not only is the place a shithole, they're completely unorganized. No decent signage indicating where to go to pay, the couple of employees we initially talked to had no idea how he should pay to get his car back. He finally called the place while standing outside and got the manager who told him where the proper entrance was.


Already steamed about the added costs, my partner went up this rickety ass wooden staircase to the office to pay. He strongly considered taking a fall off the thing and suing them over an unsafe workplace, but decided against it as he didn't want to actually get a serious injury and miss work. I wish he had said something to me... I would have taken a header of the stairs and taken one for the team. Missed opportunity. Oh well.


Pay the fine, get the car back, go to work. Yadda yadda.


We later find out that several of the people who got towed complained to the mayor. The mayor was quite pissed. Yes, the parking lot was marked. Yes, they shouldn't have been there if they weren't Wawa patrons. But like I said... the other businesses were closed for the day and we're a restaurant town. To paraphrase Jaws: "We need restaurant dollars. People'll be happy to go elsewhere. You yell 'parking ticket' - people go 'huh? what?'... you yell 'tow truck' - we got ourselves a panic on the Fourth of July."

Rumor has it the Wawa manager was reprimanded for making the call. There's also the question of if he or she had the authority to make the call since Wawa doesn't own the building. I've heard it's a local politician who owns it.



Well, since that incident I don't believe ANYONE has been towed from the Wawa.


Were they right, were they wrong, I don't care. It wasn't my car so it doesn't affect me. But it's a weird little story that might amuse. Or infuriate. Take it as you like.

[Antares]

Since you asked...and without know more...I would ask if there is signage up stating that the lot was for business x and y. If not, then I'd say that was pretty crappy.

If there is, then I'd say yeah, they had the right to do so. Were they right? If the Wawa manager wanted them towed, then yes, I would say they were right. Did it suck? Yes, I imagine it did.

If you use the 'they're not using the spots,' argument, then no one would be towed from Arga's favorite closed burger joint.

[An Haddock]

Since you asked...and without know more...I would ask if there is signage up stating that the lot was for business x and y. If not, then I'd say that was pretty crappy.

If there is, then I'd say yeah, they had the right to do so. Were they right? If the Wawa manager wanted them towed, then yes, I would say they were right. Did it suck? Yes, I imagine it did.

If you use the 'they're not using the spots,' argument, then no one would be towed from Arga's favorite closed burger joint.

Yeah, there's signs posted. In New Jersey you have to post them to legally tow people. I know a lot of people were disappointed recently when a local bank finally added the correct towing signs after years of not doing so. That was one of our go-to parking areas until recently.

Although I still wonder if the Wawa manager had the authority to call the towing company since they don't own the building. And again, the majority of people towed were restaurant patrons. No one's going to come to town to eat if they're going to risk being towed. I'm reasonably sure the mayor either told off Wawa or told off the building owner since it hasn't happened again since.


Not to say I can't sympathize with Wawa - in one of my favorite stories on here "Tip Towed" - a McDonalds had something like 20 cars in their parking lot and there were NO customers in the restaurant. They all belonged to people who had parked there to go to a party a few blocks away. The McDonalds manager had them towed and I was one of the people who completely supported that decision.

The difference between the two stories - the people parked at Wawa (the majority) may not have been convenience store patrons but they were restaurant patrons. It wasn't like they just parked their cars there and went to hang out at a friends house. We're a restaurant town, so I think some allowances need to be made taking that into consideration.

[Antares]

I guess it would depend on the terms of their lease from the building owner. My guess, and it is only a guess, is they probably do.


I am not endorsing the actions of the Wawa manager. Only saying that I think they had the right. Did the manager receive complaints about not being able to find parking?

While the manager may have suspected the owners of the cars were at a restaurant, did they *know* that? Probably, but with respect, I don't see a difference. The owners of the cars weren't patrons of Wawa. What they were doing is irrelevant.

Now, I think it would be a great idea if restaurant management had a chat with Wawa management and worked something out.

I know I'd have hated to have been towed. And yeah, I get that it might sour the experience if not for that particular eating establishment, for the entire town.

He probably had the right to do it, but was it right?

[Sapphire Silk]

If Wawa shares the lot with other businesses, they may not have had the right.

If they didn't share the lot, it doesn't matter if Wawa owns the building or leases it; the spaces are theirs.

I think any spaces in front of closed businesses should be free game unless specifically and correctly marked. But parking in a C store lot . . . . you take your chances. How busy they are isn't the point.

I do think a tow company should not be allowed to charge storage fees this way; it should be based on a 24 hour period from the time it is towed. If you get towed at 11pm, you should not get dicked and charged for 2 days fees. But that will probably required a regulatory change at the state level.

[bainsidhe]

Had I been one of the cars towed, of course I'd be upset. Had I been the manager of Wawa, I would've been upset that non-customers were taking up stalls and would've gladly towed people. It's all about self-interest.

Personally, I would've politely told the mayor to go screw himself. Sure having people come into town and spend money boosts revenue and tax dollars. Yay for the restaurants benefiting from that income. How does that help Wawa where people are parking illegally? Who cleans up after the illegal parkers who litter in their lot (and based on my own personal experience, illegal parkers DO litter everywhere). Do they benefit financially from "donating" parking spots to other businesses? And if Wawa runs out of parking for their own customers, will the mayor be just as upset if Wawa loses that revenue?

Like I said, I'd have been really upset had it been my car towed. But I would certainly think twice about parking responsibly in the future.

[mhkohne]

If it's Wawa's lot, I think they are probably in the right here- though it might be nice ofbthem to oveerlook the parking issue, I can't blamemthem.

The towing company on the other hand - if it was really impossible for anyone to get their car before being hit with the second day(aa opposes to your partner just not being able tonget there), then that's not OK.