Illegally towed??
 

Hello,
I will try to keep this as short as possible. I woke up one morning and walked out to my car where I always park it (on a residential street) and noticed it had been towed a block away because they had done some paving (there were no signs or notices stating that they were going to be paving and will be towed) . I noticed about a one inch scratch on my lower front right bumper that looks like some sort of metal rubbed against it (it's not abrasive like a concrete scrape would be). I have been in contact with both the towing and paving companies and they are saying they did not do the damage as my vehicle was towed by lifting the rear (my car is a RWD 350Z). I have a meeting with a rep from both companies on Monday at the site my car was towed. My problem is that they have no documentation of towing my car, so it is basically their word against mine. I also have a picture of my car 4 weeks prior that shows no scratch on my bumper.

My questions are as follows:

1) Was my car illegally towed? Shouldn't there have been signs or notices posted?

2) My owners manual says that my car should only be towed with a dolly under the rear wheels, shouldn't they be towing based on each vehicles specs? They don't even have any documentation saying how they towed my car, they are only going off how the driver said he towed it.

ANY input would be greatly appreciated. I want some evidence to back up my claim, because at this point it is only their word against mine.

THANK YOU

Five words:

Sue them. End of story.

Nothing anyone else can tell you will make them pay you for damages. Worst case scenario, they say no, say no and say no and you sue them and they pay for damages. Upside? You may decide to suck it up and not sue them. You aren't a customer, and aren't going to be a customer and cannot affect the decision making abilities OF customers.

There is no benefit to them paying you off.

And on the subject of towing, its been covered far and wide that tow truck drivers are assholes. And no, they aren't going to go around and tow every different make of car differently based on manufacturers specs. You are lucky if they obey front vs. rear wheel drive.

Justice League out.

they DGAF ... they once towed my AWD car without dollies in a very similar situation as yours (was parked infront of my house and moved a block away) ... luckily there was no damage but I was pretty pissed off ... nothing you can do. I complained but they told me there was clear signage put up the night/day before saying I couldn't park there (I wasn't home to see the signage/move my car).

Like grid said, just be happy they were nice enough to tow you from the rear and not the front. All you can really do is sue, they are some crooked mofos. It's crazy how fast they get there when we need a car towed from our lot at work, fucking vultures

I understand that there is no benefit to them paying for my damages, however both companies are clearly in the wrong. First, my car should never have been towed. If a sign had been posted on the grass next to where I park, I obviously would not have parked there and this whole situation would have been avoided. I was legally parked, and they decided to move my property without telling me. Second, there is NO documentation from the tow company about how my car was even towed, shouldn't there be documentation about each tow they make for these exact reasons??

Yes, and...are you ready???

Sue them. End of story.

Sorry, I'm not being a..wait, well, I am actually being a dick, but I'm not trying to be. ;)

You feel you were wronged. Great. It may even be legitimate.

You can do one of two things. You can come on the internet and get a bunch of people to say yeah, you were wronged. Or, you can go and get "righted".

Again, you have 2 options. You can go to the people involved and ask to be paid out. I think they are going to say no, because unlike regular retail, there is no benefit to a quick check writing to shut you up. You can do NO harm by ranting on the internet. You can maybe get a little media going on your side, but the damage involved just isn't sexy enough to warrant the attention. A big dent would go a long way.

Or you can take it to court. I think its $121 to file, and you can add that to the file if you win. You drop the papers off at their office and both sides duke it out in small claims.

I would ask them nicely first, and tell them your intention is to sue in small claims if they say no. They may think you aren't serious(all the ones I have done think not-tenants, slightly different), then go back with the papers. At that point, they may be more inclined to pay out, but probably won't include the $121 filing fee.

...or you can suck it up.

...or you can be happy with a bunch of people saying you were screwed on the internet

...or you can go and exact vengeance in court

...or throw a brick through their window

Lots of options :)

So do they have an authority to move someone else's property without permission from the owner?

^^ Yes they can tow someone else's property, but the point was that he didn't have any wrong doing. He was legally parked. Where I live when they sweep the street they put up signs stating when there is no parking and if you park there when they sweep, will relocate your vehicle.
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That's dumb, let's say you start your own paving business, you go to your client's house, then you notice that there's neighbor's car that's on the way...so you decide to tow the neighbor's car around without permission.

this happened to me once. came outside and my truck is gone??? find it a block away. no signage the day before or evening before but suddenly there are signs the day of... i ask what happened and they actually admitted to breaking into my car and releasing the ebrake and letting it coast down the block. (it was a 5-speed). i was kind of pissed but since it was a beater truck and i had no valuables in there i let it slide.

shit like this is so shady though. gl op.

My car was towed to an impound lot.... There were signs saying no parking from 8am-5am because of road work. I was out to my car by 7:55am. Buster's told me there was no fee as it was a "courtesy tow" WTF is a courtesy tow? should I have said thanks?

Anyways, even if there were no signs, you may need to contact the city because if it was work being done FOR the city or BY the city and ON city property, you may not have a case regarding it being moved. Should there have been signs, probably. But you will need to contact the city for clarification because it wasn't on your property (ie. your driveway). Sidewalk on, is city property.

As for the damage, good luck proving it wasn't there before they towed it.. you won't be able to.

Can only comment on City of Vancouver but they will often put up signs in advance prior to doing work unless it was a last minute emergency and they needed to get in right away. Now signs may have been up but some dick stole it or moved it. When they show up for work and a vehicle is there they call Busters for a courtesy tow which means moving your car to the closest street and of course no ticket. If it was the City doing work then contact them and ask to speak with Risk management then make a claim through them.
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