I don't care! It's MY F'ING PARKING SPACE!!

[RealUnimportant]

I don't have chains; they'd scratch my upholstery... I do have a pair of these though:
Army Surplus 9-ton towing strop; they fold up very neatly into my emergency kit!

[Pagan]

Clicky (Dailymotion vid). Go to about 4:12.

I love the guy at about 5:04 in the tow truck!

[kpzra]

We have straps and "88" chains used to tow tanks.

[Marmalady]

I used to get a lift into work with a guy (let's call him R) who lived in a terraced house. The garages were in a block, one assigned to each house, also an assigned parking space.
One morning I arrived and saw his neighbours car parked in R's space. In the car sat R's neighbour, with what you might call a thoughtful expression on his face. The reason he hadn't yet driven away was because R had parked his car right in front of him, totally blocking him in.
As far as I know, R's neighbour never tried that again.

[protege]

As far as I know, R's neighbour never tried that again.

Reminds me of what my brother did once. When I was still living at home, getting him to move his car...was usually a pain in the ass. He'd bitch and moan about it, and would occasionally refuse to hand over the keys. But, one morning...all of that changed. I was late for work, and pissed. I told him that he had to move the car, or hand over the damn keys, and he told me to go fuck myself. That changed, when I told him that he either moved the car, or I'd put a brick through the window, jam a screwdriver in the ignition, and I'd move it myself

[csquared]

But we left it in PARK/FIRST so it wouldn't move!

(So sorry about your tranny/engine)

This comes to mind.

[Difdi]

We contacted the estate agents, who passed on our email to the management company. They said in reply that they cannot do anything if it's just our complaint; they can only act if they have a letter from our landlords.

Do you need to ask your landlords permission to call the police if someone breaks into your apartment? It seems to me you shouldn't need their permission to have a vehicle towed from your assigned parking place either.

[crazylegs]

you may have to get the number of the tow company the apartment is contracted with. other tow trucks might not be allowed to come onto the property - except to tow your own car.


i was going to suggest the police but then i remembered... they're not allowed to tow from private property unless the car is illegally parked (or in an illegal condition).

If I've read it right then the OP is in the UK - the police wouldn't attend it at all as the vehicle is on private property. Re the tow - there's some legal issues with that & some legislation being promised at the moment - clamping & possibly towing from private property may shortly become illigal

What I used to do was print a note on my computer and then tape it to the windscreen in the drivers "field of view" with brown parcel tape.

People soon get sick of trying to get the residue off before they can drive away.

Could be considered criminal damage in the UK - I wouldn't advocate that at all.

What I would suggest to the OP is the threat of small claims court legal action, you pay money for the rent of your car parking space and as such you've suffered a financial loss because of their actions - record everything that you see before you go to court, but be sure of who is driving (as they're the person who has caused you the loss - you can't sue the R/O as they may not have been driving).

[SongsOfDragons]

If I've read it right then the OP is in the UK - the police wouldn't attend it at all as the vehicle is on private property. Re the tow - there's some legal issues with that & some legislation being promised at the moment - clamping & possibly towing from private property may shortly become illigal

Cowboy Clampers, they're called. I haven't come across them and I'm not sure if anyone I know has, but they aren't very nice and apparently will clamp you and charge you an arm and a leg for any reason. But as I haven't experienced them, I'm only reporting vague hearsay and venturing no real opinion as that's for the great Mirnyy Sinkhole called Fratching which sucks in even the strongest helicopter.

I don't know much about towing though, I don't know if we have British Argabargas. (Now that's an odd image O.o) The only tow trucks I see are breakdown trucks.

Thankfully we haven't had any more nonsense from this twat, so hopefully we won't need to threaten rent stuff. Our rent isn't broken down into this and that either, it's all one sum, but we know from other renters and owners that they pay some sort of subsidary for their space.

[EricKei]

I basically dragged his motorcycle a couple of spots over. I used to ride myself so I didn't want to damage the guy's ride, even a piece of crap like he had. But his tires did leave some nice black drag marks on the ground.

While none of us would ever endorse such a thing, of course, I have to wonder if a nearby no-parking zone was available to drag his ride into...? >_> Thus making it even easier to get him towed ("But officer! I parked it in a legal spot! It wasn't there when I left it!"... "Uh huh...")

[Jay 2K Winger]

While none of us would ever endorse such a thing, of course, I have to wonder if a nearby no-parking zone was available to drag his ride into...? >_> Thus making it even easier to get him towed ("But officer! I parked it in a legal spot! It wasn't there when I left it!"... "Uh huh...")

Given that An Haddock says it left some black drag marks, there would be evidence to corroborate the biker's story.

[dalesys]

Given that An Haddock says it left some black drag marks, there would be evidence to corroborate the biker's story.

Officer: Prove those aren't from when you skidded in here.

[PepperElf]

If I've read it right then the OP is in the UK - the police wouldn't attend it at all as the vehicle is on private property. Re the tow - there's some legal issues with that & some legislation being promised at the moment - clamping & possibly towing from private property may shortly become illigal

and i also remembered that the police in the US cannot tow from private property either - unless it's a legal issue.

[MiloMorai]

Luckily the police don't tow, they call a tow company that that comes to do it.

[An Haddock]

While none of us would ever endorse such a thing, of course, I have to wonder if a nearby no-parking zone was available to drag his ride into...? >_> Thus making it even easier to get him towed ("But officer! I parked it in a legal spot! It wasn't there when I left it!"... "Uh huh...")

That's the thing... it was an underground parking garage. You needed a special dongle to open the automatic doors to get in. The bike's rider was probably let in by someone who lived in the complex, or just followed another vehicle after they opened the door.

Basically, if you you don't have the tag thingy hanging from your rearview mirror, the entire underground parking complex is one giant no-parking zone.

Now, if the guy had a car parked in my spot, I would have immediately gone up to the maintenance office and had them call a tow truck.