"Customers Only" says the sign, here's one way to misinterpret it

[Argabarga]

Oh how many times I've had someone argue with me that they couldn't possibly be inconveniencing anyone because there are 40 empty spaces in a lot they parked in without permission, so what's the big deal?

The big deal is, PRIVATE PROPERTY

[Andara Bledin]

Yeah.

Most people don't understand the difference between private property, public property, and public access.

^-.-^

[Broomjockey]

ANyway, it's private property, if they say they don't want you there, you can't be there.

That part I understand.

[LillFilly]

So other people use that argument too ehe? I get the overnight parkers who argue that because they shopped at the mall earlier that day, they get to stay in the lot. Um no.

[jackfaire]

ended up just hoping and praying the next day that my car was still in the parking lot and not towed.

I would think most bars would be cool about that given the alternative

[smileyeagle1021]

This reminds me of a place in the 9th and 9th district that really isn't a good neighbor. Yes, they are fully within their rights, but they refuse to allow people to park there after hours.
Did I mention that this is despite the fact that neighbor businesses have offered to pay them to allow use of the lot?
Did I also mention that said neighboring businesses aren't even open until after they close?
Did I also mention that said neighboring businesses were willing to take on any liability after hours?
(granted I'm not sure how much of that is accurate, that is a lot of hearsay from people who live in that area).
Their response has always been, private property, we wish to keep it that way. All the businesses in that district EXCEPT that one all have cooperative agreements between them... that said, while they might be jerks, they are following the law to the letter. As is the tow operator in the OP

[BethB]

-

Well, hope he enjoys tangling with the company's Martian Death Ray Lawyer (tm), it ought to be fun and expensive for him.

Did anyone else picture Marvin the Martian here or just me? But it would be interesting to see how this pans out

[Jay 2K Winger]

Did anyone else picture Marvin the Martian here or just me? But it would be interesting to see how this pans out

"You're parking in the wrong lot and that makes me VERRRRRY angry."

[Food Lady]

Did anyone else picture Marvin the Martian here or just me? But it would be interesting to see how this pans out

I totally did. Marvin with a briefcase?

[Chromatix]

"That makes me angry. And when Dr. Evil gets angry, Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset. And when Mr. Bigglesworth gets upset... people DIE!!!"

[Jester]

I think a lot of it was people ended up making last minute plans to go to one of the many bars in that part of town, and they didn't want to drive but had nowhere to leave their car and couldn't leave it in the bar parking lot all night.

I don't get that. Most bars that I've been to that are worth a damn will not only allow customers to leave their ride their overnight, they will oftentimes encourage it, and even offer to call (and sometimes pay for) a cab ride home for the patron. Their only request being that the customer come back the next day retrieve said wheels as soon as is reasonable.

Bars that say you can't leave your car there overnight are fucking idiots, and are encouraging drunken driving. Sure, they have the right to do whatever they want if the own the lot....but that doesn't mean they're not irresponsible jackholes for doing it.

Around here, there's a common misconception that a shopping center parking lot is PUBLIC property and therefore they're entitled to do whatever they want.

I learned the difference painfully in college when I ignored the signs repeatedly in a local shopping center lot and parked there to go to class. Until one day I came back to said lot to find my trusty steed was nowhere to be found. It was the only time in my life I ever remember saying, "I hope my car was towed!" Because the alternative, of course, meant I wasn't getting my car back!

I totally did. Marvin with a briefcase?

In a three-piece suit.

[pile of monkeys]

I don't get that. Most bars that I've been to that are worth a damn will not only allow customers to leave their ride their overnight, they will oftentimes encourage it, and even offer to call (and sometimes pay for) a cab ride home for the patron. Their only request being that the customer come back the next day retrieve said wheels as soon as is reasonable.

Bars that say you can't leave your car there overnight are fucking idiots, and are encouraging drunken driving. Sure, they have the right to do whatever they want if the own the lot....but that doesn't mean they're not irresponsible jackholes for doing it.

The problem we have locally is not with bars that don't allow overnight parking, but with bar-adjacent businesses whose lots get used as overflow bar parking. The bar lot fills up early, but people are still going there, so they start parking in the drugstore lot next door, then in the strip mall lot a little further down, then the closed gas station across the street, and the owners of these non-bar businesses come in to open up in the morning to find the lot mostly full of seemingly abandoned cars, vomit and condoms littering the ground, and the threat of liability if one of those drunken assholes trips on the curb, falls down, and hits their head on bar-adjacent business's pavement. So I can see the owners of lots not allowing parking after business hours. The actual bar itself though? Yeah, it's good business practice to encourage people to leave their cars if they can't drive. Bars have liabilities of their own to worry about, too.