Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Car Update!!

Okay, so we got our sweet beloved chariot back!! And she is glad to be home!! It turns out that she wasn't stolen, but instead towed by the police. Yes the same police that we called to file a missing car report, that came to our house and we gave a clear description. Hmmm.....you would think that when we reported our car stolen, they would then check their records and then see that it was towed at their request!!! ARGHHHH!!! So they didn't call us back for a few days until they realized it and then all they said was, "your car is at Pat's tow center." No mention of why it was towed or that it was actually the police that had it towed. Yeah, so meanwhile it was racking up daily fees at the towing place. SUPER, thanks police dept. So we still had no idea why it was towed in the first place. So we called the police back to ask, they said to call Pat's, we called Pat's (who is extremely RUDE by the way) they said to ask the police, we called the police, they said to call Pat's....do you see the pattern forming here? So finally the less than pleasant "customer service" person at Pat's said it would be on the ticket. (Which would be on the car which he was obviously to lazy to go and look at.) So we went to pick it up, and $210.00 later we had the Chariot back home.
However, there was no ticket on the car. So we still didn't know why the car had been towed, and if we're going to have to pay $210 to get it out, I certainly think we deserve to know why it was towed!
The mystery continued.
So I called the parking ticket office, because I thought they could tell me, and also if there was a ticket we needed to pay on top of the tow I didn't want to get a late fee, and I wanted to fight it! So I call, talk to the 1st lady and she has no record of our car being towed or a ticket. She sends me to the next lady who does the abandoned cars, she has no record of the tow, or a ticket. So she said to call the towing company and see who authorized the tow. So I call back Pat's. The police authorized the tow. So I call the police. I talk to a lady in traffic, she sends me to the lady in accidents/towing. After I argue with her that the name of the street that our car got towed on does exist, I should know, it's the street next to ours. Finally she finds it, says there was no ticket, it just got towed. Why??
OUR CAR WAS (ALLEGEDLY) PARKED MORE THAN 12 INCHES FROM THE CURB!!!!!

What? Seriously?? You towed our car from a residential street for that??? I was shocked. What a totally lame and bogus reason! I wanted to reach through the phone and I don't know, do something!
So I said okay and we hung up. At least there was no ticket to pay too. But then I thought, "can we fight it?" So I called the last lady back and asked if we could fight it and she said that I could take to the officer who did it. So she gave me his name and I called him, he wasn't there, but I talked to another police officer and he said he would check on it. But he called back a few minutes later and in a nut shell said that someone probably called and complained that our car was parked in front of their house, but then the car was supposedly more than 12 in from the curb and since we have Utah plates he couldn't get a hold of us to move it, so we got towed. I said, don't you have to give a warning or a ticket first or something? He said no, they try to get a hold of you, but if they can't then they tow. I mean how lame, what are the odds that you are going to be home at the one instance that the police call you? But of course he didn't even try to contact us because we had Utah plates. How annoying!! I asked about them not having it on record and he said that wasn't there departments fault (of course), and I said, "so in the mean time when we filed a report, and it took you days to get back to us for something YOU did, we have to pay the towing place." He again said that that was the records dept, fault, not theirs, so of course no one is taking the blame, and we just have to eat the money for those days we could have gotten it out, but thought it was stolen.
Then Officer then told me I should be glad because it is an unregistered car and that is illegal to park on the street. But Officer George didn't get us for that. Thanks Officer George. But to be careful in the future because at anytime it can be towed since it isn't registered. Great. At this point I was crying out of frustration. And I am trying to keep it in and I asked what you are suppose to do when you don't have off street parking at the apartment you rent and you need to fix your can and order parts, but they aren't there yet. He said we would need to park it on private property, I asked where we would do that. He didn't know. I asked what were people suppose to do, he said "I don't know what to tell you." Well thank you officer!
I know it's not his fault, it's just frustrating because we have no where else to park it. And if it was him in our situation, he would certainly feel differently.
So 20 phone calls, one emotional call with a police officer later, and a wallet significantly lighter, I had reached the annoying end.
Here's what I think really happened, and Zack agrees: Someone called and said the car had been parked there awhile and when the Officer got there he couldn't really find anything wrong, so he made up a bogus charge to have it towed to make the people happy. Because someone in our ward told us they like to give tickets to out of state plates because they usually won't fight them. And we had gotten a ticket for the same thing at the 1st place we lived but the car wasn't towed and the ticket was only for $15. Big Difference!! $15 or $210! And since we got the 1st ticket I have always been careful to park close to the curb. And I specifically remember checking that I was close enough when I had parked the car there. So I know the CRIME WAS FALSE!!
This was a long rant, but I needed to get it out of my system, sorry.
Did I mention I highly dislike this town??? Well I do.

5 comments:

chloe said...

I think you need to talk to a small claims court/lawyer. That is absolutely asinine.

Sarah said...

Well, #1. I'm glad your car wasn't stolen. I have thought about you guys everyday since that 1st post. (and have been very angry at a thief!)

#2. Yes- cops totally find "lame" reasons (sorry Lee- it's true) to give someone a ticket. Like a broken tail light if they think the guy is drunk, etc.

I don't know what you could do, what a mess! I'm SO sorry! Can I beg again for you to move back? You don't have to stay long! We can all go to Mississippi in a few months...! :)

Captain Lee "Tiberius" Wade said...

(Hmm. I can't believe my wife for that inaccurate analogy.) Shannon, I think you can have a legitimate fight on your hands, and you can win. You could win at least, from my opinion and experience, the money from the time frame of when you filed the report TO when you picked up the car from towing. That would get you some money back. Your theory is probably correct about the out of state tag issue, but the 12 inch parking argument would be useless to fight. Whatever the daily fees are from when you filed the report to when you picked it up should be paid by them. How do I know this? Well, this same stuff has happened at my workplace, and my Chief was happy to take care of the charges. You just have to fight it with their Chief and City Manager just have documentation of everything before you go to their office. (On a side note to my wife, the only persons who got a ticket for a broken taillight were the ones who were found to have a Blood Alcohol limit greater than .08 (DUI). I don't think that's lame, do you?)

Sarah said...

ok,ok,ok- don't mind us- we always do this banter with eachother. :)

At least Lee knows what he's talking about! Good luck!

Zack said...

Great advice...thanks Captain "Tiberius"! The Yanks have messed with the South one too many times. It's the new "War of Northern Aggression" and this time it's directed at the Becksteads."

Also...please keep up the Wade banter. We miss it so!