Towing Issues: excessive towing charges, california highway patrol, storage fees

Question
Hello,

My car was recently towed from a supermarket lot in San Francisco, CA  . I believe that I was charged excessive towing charges by a towing company(over $400). There is a provision in the San Francisco Traffic Code that says:

SEC. 172.04. TOWING AND STORAGE FEES. Fees for towing and storage pursuant to Vehicle Code Section 22658 shall be based on the fees currently in effect in the Agreement between the City and County of San Francisco and the contractor currently performing the tows of vehicles, except abandoned vehicles, in accordance with Article 9 of this Traffic Code. Towing and storage fees shall not exceed the amounts set forth in said Agreement. Should no agreement be in effect, the towing and storage charges shall not exceed the amounts in the last effective Agreement.

There is such Agreement between the City of SF and a towing company, and their fees are less than what I was charged. So far so good. BUT, California Motor Vehicle Code has a contradiction:

(i) (1) (A) A charge for towing or storage, or both, of a vehicle under this section is excessive if the charge exceeds the greater of the following:

(i) That which would have been charged for that towing or storage, or both, made at the request of a law enforcement agency under an agreement between a towing company and the law enforcement agency that exercises primary jurisdiction in the city in which is located the private property from which the vehicle was, or was attempted to be, removed, or if the private property is not located within a city, then the law enforcement agency that exercises primary jurisdiction in the county in which the private property is located.

(ii) That which would have been charged for that towing or storage, or both, under the rate approved for that towing operator by the California Highway Patrol for the jurisdiction in which the private property is located and from which the vehicle was, or was attempted to be, removed.

The contradiction is in item (ii). My question is: if the towing happened in SF, which code supersedes? Should the towing company abide by the SF Traffic Code or can they ignore it and instead abide only by the CVC?

Thank you!!

--Max.

Answer
Max,

I don't believe those codes apply in this situation. If the city had it towed then it would apply, but it sounds like your car was impounded from private property, which would be a different set of codes, I believe.

Donald

p.s. the only thing I hate about the city is the parking situation