pseudo

Tue, Oct 4, 2011 : 4:45 p.m.

Yup - its a scam. All you have to do is call the same tow company and ask for an estimate for a tow from one location to another that is the same disctance. Its an eye-opening experience. Your $150 tow comes down to $50 awful fast.

Hmm

Mon, Oct 3, 2011 : 5:46 p.m.

Join the club. I have a special bit of rage towards Brewers and their towing scam that will probably never go away. Sucks but it is what it is around here!

grimmk

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 5:02 p.m.

Looks like we all need to brush up on our Parking Wars!

Ron Granger

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 1:12 p.m.

"Please. I work in a business that uses towing and flatbeds on a regular basis." Please - what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Mick52

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 4:33 a.m.

Seems as though some info is missing here. First a car can only be towed for the specific reasons noted in the MI motor vehicle code. A police dept cannot tow or reasons other than stated in the law. If a car is parked illegally, it gets a ticket. Something else has to be present to justify a tow. Like parking in a "Tow Away Zone," or blocking a fire hydrant, or blocking a driveway, or creating a hazard, etc. Usually the possibility of being towed is always posted. I think the A2PD has no justification to charge fees if a car is towed other than the ticket for the violation. Or if they do, I would like to know what it is. It's there job to do paperwork. And towing cars is often very low labor intensive. If a parking enforcement officer finds a car parked in a way that allows the tow, that person writes the ticket and calls the tow truck. That is there job and they are paid to do that. No reason for extra fees there. The paperwork ends up at the police desk where someone is sitting there doing there job. A car owner comes in and does the paperwork with that person, who is paid to sit there and do that. Where is the extraneous expense? It only takes a few minutes to release a car and does not require any enormous physical labor. So I cannot understand the practice of assessing a $60 fee paid to the PD in addition to the ticket fine. Additional fees should not be assessed unless they can be justified and as far as I know, if AA never towed another car, all those positions would still exist and continue to be paid for.

Ron Granger

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 3 a.m.

At least you didn't try and drive your car away with the tow truck driver on the back, screaming! Whatever happened to that guy?

Ron Granger

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 2:59 a.m.

1. Most students pay outrageous tuition to learn to not park illegally. You got a deal. It's like this in any city. Park illegally, get a ticket. If in a tow zone, get towed. In many cities it is much more expensive. It is all part of growing up. 2. I don't see $300 here. $230 rounds down to $200, not $300. I had a friend in college who would always tell me where it was safe to park in A2 - "park there!" It seemed like he always got me towed! It happened at least twice, maybe three times. At that point, I would never park where he told me. Just think, you may learn this painful lesson much more quickly than I did: it is solely your responsibility to evaluate your parking spot for legality and tow status. It isn't a conspiracy. It isn't a scam. It's just the way life is when owning and parking a car.

Mike

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 2:24 a.m.

The solution to this problem is simple. Layoff more police. They are the genesis of the ticket. They cite, they call the towing operator, they retire with obscene benefits. You pay the cost. Want fewer tickets? Have fewer police. It's what they do.

Matt Cooper

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 1:51 a.m.

1. When the police tow and impound your vehicle, it ALWAYS costs more than a private tow. 2. The towing company is entitled to charge you for towing as well as storage of your vehicle 3. The ticket you got from the city police department does not absolve you of the cost of towing and storage.

Dwayne

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 1:11 a.m.

Well, Doug you have me to thank for the fact that you can now use credit cards. Their practice was in the past "Cash Only" on the weekends. I too was working the concessions and arrived early to see a ton of cars parked along the same street. Although we had to pay the money, I went to the City of AA and received several phone calls back, including the person who is responsible for giving that tow company the license to do what they do, and the Mayor's aide. Now they must accept all forms of payment, even if you bounce the check or reverse the cc later. It's on the towing company to get the money any way they can after that. Maybe it's a good idea to reverse or bounce the check, then maybe they'll feel the way we do.

joe.blow

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 12:14 a.m.

Just don't park illegally!

AfterDark

Sun, Oct 2, 2011 : 12:02 a.m.

Another point that hasn't been mentioned yet is that when a tow company takes a city police contract they are usually required to service the police vehicles, and often all city vehicles, at no charge to the city. It's another part of the increased cost for police towing vs. standard road service rates.

heresmine

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 11:47 p.m.

Remember one thing - the AAPD nor the towing company set the rates. These are done through negotiations with the city and then approved by the city council. When my son's car was towed, even though it was inoperable and had a note on it to that effect which further stated it was going to be towed by a company of our choice later that day, it cost the standard $170 to get it free. I then asked how much they would charge to tow it to a local garage and was told $60. The distance for each tow was almost identical. It is a lucrative scam.

C.C. Ingersoll

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 11:18 p.m.

I don't get the "You have to pay us $8 to use your credit card" -- I know merchants get charged 'swipe fees' etc and it's perfectly reasonable for them to put up signs saying "Minimum of 5/10$ purchase for credit card transactions" so they don't have to pay a dollar swipe fee when some dude wants to pay for a $0.89 candy bar with a CC. But can they legally (in Michigan) charge you 5% to use your CC instead of cash?

Deb Anderson

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 11:12 p.m.

It's not only game day. I received a parking ticket once and exactly three weeks later I walked to my car in the UMHS staff parking lot and it was gone. In a panic, I ran to security to report my Mustang stolen. The gal asked if I had any recent tickets and I realized what had happened but come on, three weeks? Security there was as upset as I was. Apparently Triangle Towing makes it routine to cruise all parking structures and streets to look for cars to tow, somehow they know who has parking tickets pending so they are in constant "kahootz" with the AAPD. The UMHS parking lot is owned by the city, not the hospital or campus. The towing company not only broke into my car, they also broke my electronic lock system also in order to put my car in neutral in order to tow my car. After paying the ticket, the towing cost and the impoundment fee -- I was out almost $400.00 and it was December 14th, Merry Christmas! Rules learned -- pay the darn parking ticket ASAP. And never, EVER trust the Triangle Towing Company for anything, they make loan shark thugs seem like Pat Boone. But what bothers me the most is the marriage between the AAPD and the TTC. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention an important point about when my car was stolen. It was 2:00 a.m. and neither party couldn't have cared less that a woman in her thirties was walking around by herself in the cold and in the middle of the night with a rapist/murderer still at large in the early 90's and the guy at Triangle even snickered at my predicament that I had to walk almost seven miles to get to my car because the busses were not running and a taxi was impossible to find. The cops at the main station refused to help. So they are not only ruthless, they are cruel too. I knew I was in the wrong too and have never been more humiliated in my life.

Reason

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 11:09 p.m.

I totally have had this experience and had the same reaction. TWO, not one but TWO fees to the police department and then a total scam by the tow truck place if you want your car back. $170??? For towing my car 1/2 mile? When I was at the tow place I noticed they had apartment company addresses listed on their wall with "standing" tow orders--so someone doesn't even have to call in an illegal parker--they can just troll around until they see someone and tow for the $170.

EyeHeartA2

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 10:58 p.m.

There is a lot of injustice in the world. This is simply horrible. I blame Snyder.....and Bush.

AfterDark

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 10:57 p.m.

Towing for police authorities is a bid contract. Rates are specified by the tow company as part of the bid process and are considered when awarding the contract. Police tow rates are substantially different from standard road service rates because the tow companies have more hazardous exposure at accident scenes, among other things. Aside from the cost of the tow trucks and their maintenance, fuel, and insurance costs, tow truck drivers are among the higher cost occupations for workers comp coverage. If you bother to check around I'm sure you'll find Ann Arbor's police towing and storage rates are not out of line (and might even be on the low side). (I used to work for an entity in another county that contracted with three different city police departments.)

Carolyn

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 9:20 p.m.

I don't get the part where you pay $60 to the police and then have to pay another $55 for the ticket. Why do you get fined twice? The part about the towing fee I get, although it is absolutely disgusting.

tim

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 8:50 p.m.

I meet a guy that was wearing a MSU sweater, kiddingly I asked him why he was wearing the wrong colors. He told me that he use to be a Michigan fan, and then told me a similar story about being towed and impounded during a UM football game.

Bogie

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 7:26 p.m.

Well Doug, I have one for you. This event also took place on Potter. A friend of mine, who was babysitting for another friend parked on Potter. It happened to be the day of the blue gold game. My friend, not being a football fan, felt at ease parking in front of the house, where she was sitting. The ticket maid came by, issued a ticket, and tried to tow the car. Luckily, one of her family members sat in the car, until she was able to move it. She was still ticketed, and made to pay it. How about posting something, when there is a game day. Do people now, have to look at michigan's football schedule to see how to park. Pretty bush league to me.

just a voice

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 5:47 p.m.

I'm sure they don't want you to pay credit card because they declare all their cash income from football Saturdays.

Urban Sombrero

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 4:39 p.m.

I just had to have my car towed today (mechanical problems). When I called the company, to set it up, they took my info and I had to wait for them to call me back, when they had a driver ready to go get it. Apparently, being a game day, they were "swamped" with calls from the police. Their phone was ringing off the hook, in the background, as I was giving them my info and talking to the dispatcher. Another game day, another 4000 cars towed, I guess!

weberg

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 3:59 p.m.

These tow companies operate with the most unethical and sleeziest business practices, unfortunately this story above happens every hour in AA.

ChrisW

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 3:52 p.m.

Welcome to the longest running scam in Ann Arbor.

Red Floyd

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 3:28 p.m.

What you describe, Doug, is not unique to football saturdays. In fact, it's not even anything new. This is exactly what has been going on for years! Back when I was a student at UofM, in the late 90's/early 2000's, I had my car towed once or twice. The AAPD actually came and took my car from my driveway once because I owed money for some other ticket. And I had friends go through the same situation when their cars were towed. It's infuriating, I know! The $170 you paid at the tow yard has nothing to do with the AAPD. That is the tow yard's profit for towing/storing your car. The AAPD doesn't tell you anything about it, because once you pay their fees, they don't care what happens after that. I called the tow company in question once, and asked what it would cost to be towed 2 miles. When YOU have your car towed, it costs far less, because of market forces. You have a choice to call another tow company. But when your car is towed without your knowledge, you have no choice, and they can charge what they want. Perhaps you didn't see the "no parking" sign because it wasn't there when you parked. During certain large events, such as a football saturday, Ann Arbor places "no parking" signs along streets they want to be "no parking" zones. The problem comes for folks such as yourself. You park in a perfectly legal parking zone, and walk away. Later, temporary "no parking" signs are placed along the street. After a short time, when your car still remains parked where you left it, it is ticketed for being parked in a "no parking" zone. Shortly thereafter, if your car still remains in the "no parking" zone, it is towed. The fact that you arrived at 6:30am means you most likely parked before these temporary signs were in place. That's my guess anyway.

walker101

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 3:14 p.m.

Unfortunately it is a scam and not much you can do about it, they have you by the short hairs. Just another A2 benefit living here.

Mr. Ed

Sat, Oct 1, 2011 : 2:31 p.m.

Do you have any idea what a tow truck cost.