Daily Double of Towing Trouble

[Argabarga]

I think towing stories are so much fun to read because you don't have to take a customer's crap. You aren't selling these customers a service. They broke the rules and now they have to pay up. None of their normal methods of complaining to management or throwing a fit does a bit of good because your business goes on just fine whether they like you or not. The power of "customer's always right" is meaningless in this situation. So you get to stand strong on policy and say (for the most part) the things that everyone in customer services wishes they could sometimes say.

No doubt that's why some of them are sooooo angry all the time.

On the plus side, most people are so conditioned to "customer service" that the only mildly-pissed off ones usually go through the motions without a fuss and leave with no issues. Sign here, sign here, credit or debit? Okay, here's your receipt, have a nice day.

I had one lady the other day say "thank you", take two steps, stop, turn and say, in a non-sarcastic voice,

"You know, I don't know WHY I'm thanking you.......... oh well"

[Mr Hero]

I think towing stories are so much fun to read because you don't have to take a customer's crap. You aren't selling these customers a service. They broke the rules and now they have to pay up. None of their normal methods of complaining to management or throwing a fit does a bit of good because your business goes on just fine whether they like you or not. The power of "customer's always right" is meaningless in this situation. So you get to stand strong on policy and say (for the most part) the things that everyone in customer services wishes they could sometimes say.

This pretty much sums up why I enjoy Argabarga's posts. Revenge against the SC's that is legal and within this site's TOS.

[LillFilly]

I gotta admit, I'd be upset too if a place that turned a blind eye to certain rules suddenly gave a day's notice that rules would now be upheld....However, take it up with the apartment manager - you guys just tow who you're told to tow, either by individual car or by a certain criteria you're given by the lot owner. Don't kill the messenger.

That reminds me how at my old apartment the cars also had to be current. A car next to mine had a big YELLOW 8X10 sticker slapped on it, warning the owner that the car was not current and would have X number of days until being towed. A lady came-out of the apartment next to me; they'd been there a few months, and asked if I knew about the sticker. I explained, she was like "oh, guess we'll take care of it." No big deal right? Well, they never updated the car and one day I leave my apartment to see that car being hooked-up to a tow truck. The drivers ask if I know who owns it, so I pointed them to the apartment. The same woman I spoke to is now acting like she NEVER had any warning this was going to happen. Then angry husband/boyfriend storms-out and is practically chest butting the tow drivers, in the way so they can't hook-up. I even told him to let them do their jobs because they got a warning, I was there. The guy jumped in the car and drove it to another part of the lot, but the tow drivers saw it and just took it once he went back into the apartment! That pissed the guy off, and he started yelling how he was going to get his gun and shoot the tow guys, so I called the police who came and talked to him

Crazy! Glad I moved a few months later!

[the lawsmeister]

That pissed the guy off, and he started yelling how he was going to get his gun and shoot the tow guys,

I remember watching late night tv once and there was one of those shows where a camera crew follows tow drivers around as they do their rounds
One guy really stuck in my mind because he was threatening the tow driver and hinting that he had a gun. As it got more heated he starts lifting his shirt to flash the pistol in his waistband. He eventually pulls it out and aims at the tow truck as it sped away with his car (driver tricked him with the old "sure. I'll let you off, I just need to get in my truck to call HQ and let them know" routine)
It seemed really bizarre, the whole thing is obviously being recorded, they know who the guy is as they have the details of his car yet he flashes a gun and pretty much says he's going to kill the driver. Was he going to shoot the entire camera crew as well?
I can understand they might think they could get away with that when its just a lone driver but seriously how stupid can you be to do that when you know you're being recorded.

[Jester]

-"This is a f*cking racket! You mean to tell me I have to pay to get my car back from MY space?! And how am I supposed to get it back? It doesn't have plates so I can't drive it on the road, and even if I could, I'm on a SUSPENDED LICENSE!!! I CAN'T GET IT REGISTERED BECAUSE THE COPS TOOK MY PLATES AND MY LICENSE!

This guy's a douche. And I am not saying that for the obvious reason that he's behaving badly, but rather because he knew he had issues that had to be resolved, and he did not take steps to avoid getting his car towed. I don't mean the steps of getting his license and plates back, as such things take some time. I mean easy preventative measures he very well could have taken to avoid the tow while he was working towards getting the license and plates back.

I speak from experience, as I've DEALT with just such a thing. Here's the thing: most complexes require up to date everything because they don't want abandoned or wrecked vehicles because they are considered an eyesore. And a car that is illegal, even if it is not wrecked, will sit and usually not fare well if not cared for. So how did I resolved this issue when I had to deal with it? I removed the eyesore from view. I didn't move the car--legally I couldn't without towing it, and I had no other place to park it other than my lot or the public streets--and parking it on the public streets would have gotten it towed that much faster. So, since I didn't have the money at the time to deal with my license/registration/plate issues, I spent a few books on a CAR COVER, covered the car, and suddenly, instead of a plateless car that could be considered an eyesore, it was a car whose owner loved it so much that it had to be protected from the elements. This, and the fact that I made sure it was backed in (Arizona doesn't require front license plates), made it pretty much impossible for anyone but the snoopiest of snoops to realize the thing had no plates.

Sure, I could have technically still gotten towed, but I took care of this so fast that no one was the wiser. Why? Because I'm not an IDIOT that will just sit and wait for someone to come and legally tow my car while I am trying to raise the money to deal with my legal issues.

-There needs to be some signs or something!
-There are, there's one right at the entrance to that lot that says "permit parking only"
-Do you have any idea how many signs there are around this town?!

Is it just me, or does anyone else see the perfect opportunity here to lighten the mood by breaking into song...

"Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?"

-Eh, I'd say about 3/4ths of a mile
-WELL THIS OLD COWBOY CAN'T WALK THAT FAR! YOU NEED TO PROVIDE ME SOME WAY TO GET DOWN THERE!

Perhaps you've heard of these fancy new things they have called "taxis."

[XCashier]

Some companies give their people aliases for this purpose. For example, Arga Barga might end up with an alias of "Adam Brown" that he can give out. His co-workers can use "Adam Brown" to find relevant records for any followup, but dangerous customers can't do anything useful with it.

Only problem with that is, they'll look up "Adam Brown" in the phone book, and give some innocent stranger who happens to have that name utter hell. It's better not to give any last name at all.

[Argus]

Only problem with that is, they'll look up "Adam Brown" in the phone book, and give some innocent stranger who happens to have that name utter hell.

Or several innocent strangers. Or the company doing that might somehow gain access to a phone book and pick a name that doesn't appear there.

(All I have is the information I repeated earlier; I don't know what the exact procedure used by that company is.)

[PepperElf]

I don't see why SCs think they can demand an employee's full name and actually get it. Not only is it none of their business what your last name is, it's also incredibly dangerous (and stupid) to give your full name to an angry stranger. What's to stop them from looking up your address online and paying you a visit?

exactly.

which is why companies don't require you give it out usually.

[TopEndDave]

exactly.

which is why companies don't require you give it out usually.

I gave out my last name to a customer once a few years ago. He had an issue with another sales person selling the wrong product. I was fixing up the issue and he wanted my last name so he could find me in the store (there were a few Daves in the store at the time.) I had his name from the invoice details and it seemed familiar. After I told him my name he stated that he used to know a person by the name were he grew up as a kid in Melbourne (other end of the country from Darwin). It all clicked into place and I rattled off the street and suburb name. We had lived on the same street within 10 house of each other until my family moved at the start of 1980.

[Alpha Strike]

Some companies give their people aliases for this purpose. For example, Arga Barga might end up with an alias of "Adam Brown" that he can give out. His co-workers can use "Adam Brown" to find relevant records for any followup, but dangerous customers can't do anything useful with it.

Many years ago I was doing customer service in a small phone center that handled calls about college athletics and scholarships. Because it had the potential to get nasty quickly, we were encouraged to come up with fake last names to give out upon request.

Easy enough - I picked the last name "Mitchell" because it was common and as a shared joke with a buddy who also had that last name, and started giving it out when asked. When I did, I would sometimes be greeted with chuckles, "Is that really your name?" responses, or strange questions about shampoo and I could never figure out why. That is until I asked a female co-worker why the name "Paul Mitchell" was so funny...

[I also found out that having stupid co-workers can negate the usefulness of a fake last name. Back when I was in this department, most folks were a lot less aware of safety and security issues at work then we are now. So when an angry customer, who was traveling through our area, stopped to "talk" to me, the receptionist for our building happily gave him my full name and even tried to have me paged to come up and talk with him. Fortunately I was off at lunch and the department supervisor caught wind of what was happening, but still a scary prospect .... ]

[earl colby pottinger]

Diffirent

You will notice that I always use my own full name.

In the past I too had a number of sucky angry customers threaten me.

My response was simple, "I have your threat against me recorded/witnessed, if you show up anywhere near my family I will take you down, call the police and supply them a copy of your threats. Who do you think they will toss in jail?"

Yes, I am aware that such an approach could end up with us both tossed in jail, but to me it would be local to my friends and work. I will live it out fine. After 25 years not a single person who has said they will show up at my front door or place of work ever did.

People who make threats like that tend not to do well once the police become involved.

[Sakka]

I tend to give out my full name when asked, only because I have a very common name, such that I am often asked if that is my real name.
Last time I dealt with a mad customer who said he was going to show up at my door with a baseball bat for me, I asked him if he knew which community I lived in (he did not), if he knew my last name (he didn't), where he was going to get my address from (cue the look of confusion). Me, being the kind soul I was at the time, helpfully pulled out a phonebook and picking a random community started listing some of the Smith's (Not really, just 'Oh, here's relative with the gun collection. Here's relative in the police force. Here's relative back from two tours of duty and suffering PTSD. Here's relative with an anger management problem and over three decades of martial arts training, etc') By the end of it, customer was looking very unsure of himself.

Of course, being a good sucktomer, he had to ask what was keeping him from showing up at work with the baseball bat?
Me: Nothing at all. ... Besides the fact that I'm in my 20s, first martial arts lesson was at 5(true). It may not look like it, but I am armed (bluff). I can kick hard enough to move a parked car and break cement blocks with my hands, for fun (another bluff, but at the time I could lift over 500lbs on a weight machine with just my legs with little effort. Upper body strength, not so much ). I have absolutely no incentive or inclination to limit the amount of damage I'd inflict in self defense. I eat enough spicy food that my spit is a low grade pepper spray. And, most importantly, I am forwarned that you wish me harm.
Also, right where we're standing has full audio and video recording, and I will make sure the police have a copy on file.

I was amazed the door stayed on its hinges with how fast the sc hit it fleeing from the store.




Another time, a customer was at the front counter ranting about telemarketing calls and how fake the names they give are. 'I mean, seriously, who names their kid (sakka's first and last name)?' The front end manager starts laughing as I hold up my hand and point out that that was my name.
Customer looked like a fish for a few seconds, before asking me several times if that really was my name.