Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Predatory Towing Justice--TEXAS STYLE!!!!

Flickr.com photo

Thanks to the media--and certainly no other reason--numerous auto owners who were towed during the Texas State Fair will get refunds. I blogged about it a few days ago, but there has been a positive development...

...discussed in this article, click here. In a nutshell: everybody is getting refunds and Lone Star Towing says it was all just a big, unfortunate mistake. Uh huh.

Mob Justice--Internet Style!

As short as this article was, it received a heated response in the online comments section. Here's my cherry-picking of the best comments.

Texasstarsun wrote: Dallas is known for scams like this. I lived a few miles from the Cottonbowl a few years ago.

Irving wrote: The towing company's "pigeon drop" backfired and it blew up in their face. They just didn't figure on it making front page news.

Shaun3342 wrote: (In regard to the towing company offering a $1,000 reward for arrest of the persons who set up the "parking scam") Start the investigation under your own roof. It's as comical as O.J. looking for "the real killers."

Hautedame wrote: This is not a new game for the towing companies. I had this happen once years ago in College Station while parked on the street in front of my own home. It was game day and some sorry towing company came through, put up their own flimsy little signs, and towed my car. We fought it but the police were no help. The hard reality was that the towing company held the car for ransom and we had to cough up cash to get it back.

Jane71 wrote: While I was living in Dallas, my care broke down on the side of the street two blocks from my house...so I walked home and called a towing company to take it to a garage. Lo and behold, the towing company I called out took my car to the city impound instead! The impound told me the towing company ignored my instructions because they could make $10 more taking it to the impound, as though it happens all the time!

I called the towing company to give them a piece of my mind. They said if they see a car parked on the side of the street, then they are within their legal right to take it to the impound, regardless of whether I called the towing company or not. For the towing company to make the extra $10, it cost me $200 in pound fees, plus another $50 to have the car towed from the pound to the garage.

Just The Fax wrote: I'm willing to bet my last dollar against a donut hole that Lone Star Towing has their fingers right in the middle of things. All the media pressure and accusations caused the wrecker company to act like they were innocent about the situation and will do the right thing by refunding the money.

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