Easy Way, Hard Way, Guess Which is a Wiser Choice?

[Andara Bledin]

I used to write up love notes to my boyfriend on the ends of my stenography paper (too short and you couldn't use it for class or lab).

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[Chromatix]

Quite often, instead of writing in shorthand they will use a stenographer machine, which is really a special type of keyboard for *typing* shorthand.

[PepperElf]

so... did he pay?

[Argabarga]

Oh he paid all right.... I had the joy of filing the "paid for" receipt today into the computer system.

[Marmalady]

How much did he have to pay altogether? I know it was $115 for the tow - how much in storage fees?

[Dave1982]

$35/day if memory serves.

[wolfie]

What happens in a case like this:

Sneaky Pete's sneakier cousin knows he's going to be parking in an area subject to towing. He's partially stripped the wires leading to the ignition switch (as would be done by someone hotwiring a car - assume it's an older model before steering column locks), and he takes out the stereo (make it look like it's been stolen). If car is still there when he gets back, put back stereo.

If car isn't there, call in to report it stolen from $place_other_than_where_he_parked_it. Police records will show it has been towed, but NOT from the location it was reported stolen from, and physical evidence is consistent with the car having been stolen, with the thief having abandoned it at the location it was towed from.

Is there some provision for a stolen car getting a "pass" after being abandoned in a towaway zone by the thief, and if so are there some restrictions (i.e. must have been reported stolen BEFORE the tow truck driver reports towing it) to prevent this kind of abuse of the "pass"? After all, if the theft report comes before the tow report, there's a high probability (increasing with the difference in the time stamps - after all, who would report their car stolen a few days before they park it illegally?) that the "abandoned by thief" scenario is what actually happened. If the tow report comes first (unless there's some pretty convincing backup, i.e. airline tickets showing that the person was away from home for a couple weeks, and only noticed their car was missing from their driveway when they got home), there's a high probability that someone is trying to play the "I didn't park it there" card.

[Argabarga]

No free rides, as far as we're concerned the owner is still responsible for the car; even if it has been stolen and regardless of where it was towed/recovered from, he still owes $115 before we let it go, it's up to his insurance to reimburse him if they feel like it.

And the cops will just tell him the same thing, stolen or not, if he has a dispute with the charges he'll have to take us to court as it's considered a civil matter.

As long as the car was towed within the legal boundaries of the local towing ordinance, there's no way to avoid that fee and since we provided the manpower/equipment/storage space to bring in and impound that car, we're certainly not waiving it.

[RootedPhoenix]

That would be a not-fun part of having your car stolen. (Assuming that such a scenario happened, of course.)

But I do see why you do it.

[PepperElf]

although i'm betting most likely it gets reported stolen because it was towed. and that in the case of sneaky pete he probably reported it stolen, then found out where it was held and then went to snatch it back because he felt it shouldn't have been towed in the first place

[Argus]

No free rides, as far as we're concerned the owner is still responsible for the car; even if it has been stolen and regardless of where it was towed/recovered from, he still owes $115 before we let it go, it's up to his insurance to reimburse him if they feel like it.

And the cops will just tell him the same thing, stolen or not, if he has a dispute with the charges he'll have to take us to court as it's considered a civil matter.

In the case of a genuine theft, what are the chances that the insurance would cover that charge? Also, if the thief were caught and convicted, would restitution be a likely part of the sentence?

[TawnyMyst]

When my truck was stolen, it was found and towed to an impound lot later that day. When I went to get it, I was told I was responsible for the tow fee and the impound fee until it could be towed to a garage ( steering column was ruined, it was impossible to start with the damage done). It was going to be a few days until they could tow it out, we'd just had a massive winter storm, probably why the four wheel drive vehicle was stolen in the first place. My insurance company paid the fees for as long as the truck was there and the towing bill. On the other hand, I was not allowed to reclaim anything in it or even look in it to see what was left until it was removed from the impound lot.

[Andara Bledin]

No free rides, as far as we're concerned the owner is still responsible for the car; even if it has been stolen and regardless of where it was towed/recovered from, he still owes $115 before we let it go, it's up to his insurance to reimburse him if they feel like it.

And the cops will just tell him the same thing, stolen or not, if he has a dispute with the charges he'll have to take us to court as it's considered a civil matter.

This.

My dad's car was stolen and after they swapped the wheels for stock, they dumped the car a few blocks away. He reported it immediately, but the cops managed to ticket it for 4 weeks straight on street sweeping day before finally having it towed. At no time at all did the cops check it on their registry. They left that for the towing agency, and instead of my dad getting his car back (minus the stupidly expensive wheels and tires), he got to be without his car for just over a month and then got to pay the tow and storage because the tow yard didn't bother to inform him they had it for nearly a week after.

Welcome to Santa Ana, I guess.

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