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"Predatory" towing frustrates and angers shoppers |
When I mentioned to my neighbor Tom Gabriel that I was writing about predatory towing, he immediately recited his sad story.
Tom recently had to make a very quick stop near Einstein's Bagels and Starbucks in Silver Spring. The space was not legal, but in fewer than five minutes, a G&G tow truck had his car almost out of the lot.
Tom ran and caught up with the truck. The driver showed him a picture of him parking, told him how much it would cost to retrieve the car from the tow lot, and said that if he could get a lesser amount of cash within a few minutes, he'd drop the car. Tom ran to the nearest ATM machine and paid the driver, who dropped his car. As he was leaving, Tom watched the driver waiting for his next victim.
"If that's not predatory towing," Tom remarked, "I don't know what is."
Now, it seems, everyone has a story! In nearby Arlington County, for example, over 280 towing complaints have been received in just the last two years. In Montgomery County, in some years there have been as many as 10,000 trespass tows.
It all goes back to 1995, when the feds passed the Interstate Commerce Termination Act (ICCTA), which eliminated the regulatory body that provided federal oversight of the tow truck industry. The next year, localities were only allowed to regulate prices ( not industry practices) of non-consensual tows.
So naturally, corruption has set in. In 2001, the Washington, D.C. inspector general proved that private towing companies "conspired with police to confiscate vehicles, hide them from their owners, and charge exorbitant fees." In 2002, after a four-year investigation into corruption of D.C.'s towing businesses, the FBI made 60 arrests, secured 29 convictions, and recovered $2 million worth of stolen cars and parts.
This brings us to the case of Takoma Park resident (and heroine!) Anne Glusker. On November 2, Anne, fresh back from Ohio where she volunteered for the Kerry campaign, decided to drown her troubles with her friend, our own Takoma Park ace chiropractor, JoAnne Zinn, by shopping and having lunch at Whole Foods Market and Café in Silver Spring. She soon left the store and began searching for her car in the rain, because she was in a rush to pick up her son at kindergarten. After 10 minutes, she said, "I think I'm losing my mind!" Her car was gone. Anne went to the Whole Foods customer service desk and they called the aforementioned G&G Towing, who confirmed that yes, the car had been towed but hadn't reached the Rockville holding lot, and no, they would not turn around and bring it back. Although she had
documentation that she was in the parking lot under the two-hour limit, her pleas were to no avail.
It took most of a day, a kind friend, $123, and a drive to Rockville to retrieve her vehicle. But then, Anne, a professional journalist, did not let the matter drop. She contacted Whole Foods public relations representative Sarah Kenney, who was sympathetic; and Robb Parker, retail property manager for the lot's owner, Peterson Management (who wouldn't return any of my three calls). Anne also contacted any relevant elected political representatives, as well as any potentially interested newspapers (including the Voice, which is how I got involved). She also threatened to take the matter to small claims court.
What Anne had going for her was extensive documentation of her activities that morning. She can prove that she was nowhere near Whole Foods, but rather at the Silver Spring YMCA (your membership card gets swiped and your arrival time is logged in!) at the time (11:00 a.m.) the towing company insists her tires were chalked. Before leaving the Y, she paid for swimming lessons for her son; the receipt registered 12:18 p.m. She arrived at the Whole Foods lot at 12:30 p.m., met her friend for lunch, then did her grocery shopping (the receipt registers 2:15 p.m.), which is still under the two hour limit. The other thing going for Anne is her activist conviction that would not allow an injustice to go unchallenged.
The happy ending for her is that G&G Towing finally agreed to a credit of the $123 fee.
When I spoke with the folks at G&G Towing, they said it was impossible that anyone could get towed after parking for less than two hours in a lot they police--and, in fact, they said they add a one hour grace period after chalking tires. Nevertheless, given Anne's documentation, the "impossible" happened.
Avoid getting towed
Here’s some food for thought to avoid getting into this kind of mess.
1. If you do park in a free lot with a two-hour limit, try and get witnesses and documentation of the time you parked, to be sure that if you are towed prematurely, you can protest with credibility.
2. If you park illegally, even for a minute, be prepared to be towed. If you’re hooked up and the operator offers to let you go for a cash fee, get a receipt and be prepared to protest it. If you return to your car and the tower has attached your car and lifted it at least six inches but before it leaves the property, the tow company must release the car if you pay a “release fee,” (which should not be more than $47.50 or no more than the rate for towing the car to the nearest storage area). The driver should be willing to take a check or credit card. If the tow truck “blocks in” a car before attaching it, by law you can call the police, who can order the driver to stop attaching the car (Chapter 30C of the County Code). The County police and the County Division of Consumer Affairs have had many complaints about predatory towing at the Whole Foods lot, and might be willing to intervene.
3. Shop at locally-owned stores like the Takoma Park and Silver Spring Co-ops, where predatory towing is less likely.
4. The official who sets towing fees in Montgomery County is County Executive Doug Duncan. Civic and community groups should start exerting pressure on him to control predatory towing. Presently, there are no effective advocates for consumers. Lon Anderson, Director of Public and Government Relations for AAA Mid-Atlantic stated, “‘non-consent’ towing is legalized highway robbery. By now every family in the D.C. area has been victimized by these vultures once or twice!”
5. Since this is a growing problem, Congressional representatives Chris Van Hollen, Al Wynn, and others should be encouraged to support the national legislation proposed by Congressman Jim Moran of northern Virginia, called the “State and Local Predatory Towing Enforcement Act.” (None of them did last year!) The towing industry has a well-financed lobby, and unless we let our elected officials know we don’t want to get ripped off, it will keep happening.
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