Dirty Rotten Bastards

Up until yesterday, I didn't mind tow truck companies. They served a vital purpose, which was to transport my bike from point A to point B when it decided to stop running. My various bikes have all gotten lazy at some point in their lives, and I have had to ship them of for fixin'. Now I must admit that my interaction with these various tow companies has always been mediated by AAA, to whom I am a member not only of their basic plan, but their Motorcycle/RV packaged as well.

My appreciation of tow truck companies ended yesterday. On Tuesday I went over to a friends house (sorry, condo) in the Del Prado community of Laguna Niguel. There is plenty of guest parking and I have as of yet been without a parking spot. On Tuesday, there was not a guest spot to be found. I knew better than to park on the street as there are signs posted everywhere that tell you streets are fire lanes and no one is allowed to be parking there. So I parked in my friend's driveway. Now it's not a very big driveway, picture a sidewalk running in front of a two-car garage, and that is about the size of her driveway. Me having a little car, I decided to park sideways in her little driveway, and what do you know, I fit! Or so I thought. When I came down around 11:PM to leave for home, my car was not to be found. DAMN!!

I told my friend what had happened and we called the patrol company.
Patrol Masters: "Yup, we towed your car, it was in violation of our fire lane parking rules, you are not allowed to park on the street."
Me: "Yes, I know you can't park on the street, I read all the signs that are posted to that effect. That is why I parked in her driveway"
PM: "You were blocking a garage and were parked in a fire lane."
Me: "When you park in a driveway, you usually block entrance to a garage if there is one. I did not park in the fire lane, I was in her driveway. There are no signs anywhere that say you can't park in driveways."

So they would not budge from their argument and gave me the # for the tow company. While this conversation was going on my friend was driving me out of the community in hopes of tracking down the tow truck and seeing if they could just drop my car before it got to the yard. So I call Beach Cities Towing and explained what happened and asked for their location. They told me Dana Point and I asked what this was going to cost me. $310!!! I nearly cried. The guy on the phone must have heard the panic in my voice because he said "I'm not supposed to tell people this, but if you get your car out tomorrow instead of tonight, it'll be $80 less. Because it is after yard hours right now, there is a $80 gate fee. If you come in between 9-5 tomorrow, there is no after hour gate fee." I then asked what their policy was if they illegally towed my car and he told me the patrol company would have to call them and retract their claim for towing me and they would release my car for no charge. (Thinking back on that, it sounds like he was selling me some BS.)

So with that hope in mind, I call back the patrol company and tried once again to convince them I hadn't violated anything. Meanwhile friend is still driving me around Dana Point looking for the tow yard. That place is impossible to find!

So the next person I reached at Patrol Masters was much more sympathetic than the first and said she would need to relay this to her supervisor and someone would call me back. At this point we wind the tow yard and review the rules for getting my car out. We decide to come back during our lunch the next day to get my car as that will save me $80. Friend drives me home and I get in around 12:30.

So, the next day.

No call back from Patrol Masters. I called them and the next person I got was much less caring. She told me flat out I was in the wrong and that the owners should inform their guests of all the parking rules, that it doesn't matter if some rules are not posted. According to the photos my tires were not fully in the driveway they were partially in the gutter and the gutter is the street and that means I was parked on the street and parking on the street is against the rules as they are a fire lane. At that point I decided to give up with them and go to the property's Management Company. I emailed their CEO and told her my predicament, and she forwarded my email to the associations manager.

So Friend and I head out at 1:PM to Dana Point to get my car. Dana Point from Newport Beach is about 25 miles. We get there about 1:30 and I run in to handle all the paperwork and get my car. I am told by the office person my car isn't there, it's in Lake Forest! Their Lake Forest yard is less than a mile from my home! I am PISSED! Friend and I decide to grab some lunch and afterward as we make our way back up to Lake Forest I call to make sure my car is indeed there. I get a confirmation that's there, but the woman that answered told me everyone had gone to lunch and they would be back at 3:PM. I asked if no one would be there, that I was 15 minutes away. Nope, I could wait 45 minutes and then get my car.

Did I mention I was pissed? Well, that was noting compared to this! Friend and I decide we had made a gallant effort. We would head back to work and I would leave early and go get my car, like I could have done all along had I known it was in Lake Forest! Thinking back, I think they misdirected us to give the towtruck time to get away. Dirty rotten bastards.

So I got my car ok, barely. I had moved my savings around and could put $180 on one card and the remainder on a second. The woman at the tow place told me she could only run one card. I have never heard that before in my life and knew she was just lazy and didn't want to run two cards. I also felt I couldn't say anything as there were hand written signs everywhere that said you had to have your paperwork completed, fees paid, and car driven off the lot by 5:PM or extra gate fees would apply. It was 4:45 and there were a couple of people in line behind me. If I had said something I could have caused them to have to pay extra, or I could have been sent to the back and made to pay the additional $80. Thankfully I had a cushion on one Debit card (I love ING Direct!!) and I was good. I had to leave my car parked in a nearby parking lot while I road my bike home and walked back to get my car.

I received a reply to my email to the Del Prado property and was told I could submit my bill with an explanation to their next Board Meeting in October to see if I can be granted a reimbursement.

So you want to see how I was parked to cause all this?


I think had I pulled in my mirror I would have fit completely.