Towing Issues: Towed by mistake, orange county california, tow company

Question
Hello,

I live in an apartment complex in Orange County California. My car was recently towed out of the legal spot I parked it in. The parking spot was okay to park in as long as I had my permit visible in the car, which I did. The tow company said someone made a mistake and realized it once they had my car in the impound yard. They claimed it was dark that night and hard to see the permit. Well, I ended up missing my flight that morning while trying to figure out what happened to my car (I couldn't have made it to the airport w/out my car anyway). After I confronted them on the phone, the apartment company had the tow company bring my car back. There is some slight damage(Scratches) that I believe was done due to the tow. Additionally, I am out of my airfare for the missed flight as well as cancellation fees for the rest of the trip. Can I recoup my airfare/trip cancellation costs since the wrongful/negligent tow caused me to miss my flight?


Answer
Well now, its refreshing to see questions where the tow company admits the mistakes and brings it back...  What a change of pace..

Now as to the scratches, its hard to say without knowing what or where they are... Scratches can be caused during tows, but it also depends on a few things...
Check with the tow company and discuss it. They will most likely be very nice about the whole thing and can tell you what IF ANY chances that they did cause the scratches..

Now as to the fees you are asking about, while it seems like a good idea to ask for it, I do not think it will happen.  My thoughts are, you could of had them bring the car back and you could of taken a cab to the airport. That is what they might say... BUT you never know what they will do... Since this sounds like the tow company "patrols or cruises" the lot, you might have some bargaining power...

But i would not really hold my breath for it to happen...

Now that's just my thoughts, after all you can always try to get your money back and if they deny it, there is always the small claims court route to go... Strange things have happened in courts and rulings are always surprises...