Man the Lifeboats, Cuz' We're GOING UNDER!!!!

[taxguykarl]

How is that towing place going to go out of business?

Only if a rival towing biz scores their contracts...other than that maybe an epidemic of legal parkers?

[manybellsdown]

Her argument is likely that Friendly Neighborhood Towing is charging her for a service which she did not explicitly contract: this is a perfectly valid argument if someone was to, say, repaint your house without your knowledge and then attempt to charge you; but I'm fairly absolutely certain that Arga's borough thought of that and exempted it by law. [TL,DR] Good thought, nice try, no dice.

I don't think that's actually theft of services, though. That'd be if you hired someone to paint your house and then moved away after they did it and never paid. But yeah, it's not like the sucktomer actually cares what it means, just that they're trying to sound scary.

Technically, isn't the owner of the lot your customer and not the couple? So, you have to worry about keeping him happy, not them. Right?

That's what I was thinking. "You're not my customer, ma'am. The guy who owns the lot is and he's quite happy with my service."

[Jay 2K Winger]

Jetfire beat me to what I wanted to say.

Seriously, businesses like towing, cops, etc only need you to STOP BEING STUPID to go out of business. Since it seems to be an genetic impossibility for some people to stop being stupid, your job is quite safe.

In other words, Stop Breakin' The Law, Asshole!

[Alpha Strike]

On another note, I can't even look at a damn tow truck in this town anymore without wondering to myself, "I wonder if that's Argabarga." :P

Now I have this image of him dramatically yanking the lever on his truck's crane and yelling "There can be only One!"

[EricKei]

Heh, the BBB is completely toothless anyway. I know they try hard to be intimidating and important, but...

QFT -- I was at a presentation by a BBB guy a few weeks ago, and he backed this up. Compliance with BBB complaints/listening to their advice is purely voluntary. The worst that they can do is withdraw your BBB membership/lower your rating.

[sirwired]

Yeah, I'll bet lot owners pick their towing companies by how much they kiss the a$$ of those whose cars they haul off... sure they do... or...

Since the lot owner's incentive is to make it as painful as possible for people to park illegally (or do they get a cut of the fees?) perhaps your company could make sarcasm and surliness towards customers picking up towed cars a selling point! (I'd totally sign up for that job!)

[raudf]

QFT -- I was at a presentation by a BBB guy a few weeks ago, and he backed this up. Compliance with BBB complaints/listening to their advice is purely voluntary. The worst that they can do is withdraw your BBB membership/lower your rating.

At MW repair, it was "7 on Your Side," that we got threatened with on a regular basis with BBB a close second. I laughed at the 7oYS threat, because we'd lost the anchor for the section's mower a couple of times at least. He got a replacement, sure, but only 'cause he was nice about it. SC's were usually being all yelling and cursing.

BBB threats were snickered at by everyone in the repair center. No one actually took the BBB seriously, because the branch of it in our area was notorious for siding with the custy, regardless of whose fault it was. You could defend your business, but it wouldn't change a darn thing. This meant the customer that stole from the store could complain about the "rude customer service," and get dinged for it.

Of course, a good 2/3rds of the repair center business would have vanished if people would have just stopped being stupid. I mean it's obvious that grilled cheese sandwiches do not belong in VCRS and CD player trays are not cup holders. (Yes we did have a couple of those.. on stereos.) So, if you wanna put places like that outta business, just stop being so rock-chewingly stupid.

[Peppergirl]

So, if you wanna put places like that outta business, just stop being so rock-chewingly stupid.

Permission to steal this for my sig line? With full credit, of course. Too funny.

[bubblelittlepally]

Better prepare your resume before she figures out how to write a review and you go out of business!

[raudf]

Go right on ahead, Peppergirl

[wolfie]

*Now hubby pipes up*

HUSBAND: If this is how you treat your customers you're going to be out of business soon!

That guy doesn't understand - Arga's customers are the places that retrieve their parking spaces by getting offending vehicles removed, and he treats them VERY well. The idiots who get towed are the MERCHANDISE.

[Argabarga]

That guy doesn't understand - Arga's customers are the places that retrieve their parking spaces by getting offending vehicles removed, and he treats them VERY well. The idiots who get towed are the MERCHANDISE.

Oh, that is perfect, I never thought about it that way. Next time one of my "customers" gives me grief, I think I'll tell them "Sorry, but I don't talk to the merchandise" "And when it starts talking to me, I have these nifty little pills to take that makes them all be quiet again!"

[EricKei]

Wolfie is exactly right ^_^ Besides, you must be making your customers VERY happy, as they keep calling you to remove the trash from their lots again and again and again...

[Ben_Who]

I had that conversation with my roommate after he'd talked his car down off the back of the tow truck for the 73rd snow day in a row. If it's true that the police are just being all power-mad and shaking their tiny fists and flexing their little muscles when they enforce the parking rules, then wouldn't the best way to beat them be at their own game? By that logic, when I went a couple of years without parking tickets, I deprived them not only of the opportunity for macho posturing, but the income the city derived from those tickets. That sounds like a victory to me.

Unless the point of parking enforcement is actually parking enforcement. But then he couldnt feel victimized, and where's the justice in that?

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

The fundamental (emphasis on "mental") problem here is that these people seem to think that *they* are the business's customers and that if they're unhappy, they can threaten to take their business somewhere else and thus harm the company.

They're blissfully unaware that it is the governmental agencies, businesses, housing developments, apartment complexes, etc that are the customer here.

They're just the problem that those places call the towing company to resolve.

Now if the person was calling for a tow because their car had died on the side of the road and the two truck operator was rude (although of all the times I've called for a tow, I've never had one that was mean in any way), that's another matter.

Fine. You want to hurt the towing companies? Get all of your friends together and band together on the Social Media sites and start a movement where EVERYONE learns to read and abide by the no parking signs. Everyone park legally and that'll larn 'em.