QuestionThis is in regards to the city of Talladega, Alabama. For the sake of space, I am just going to copy and paste the Better Business Bureau complaint that I filed in May which went unanswered by the company and so the BBB closed the case. Here it is:
I own a 1995 Ford Probe and it broke down in December of 2006. I had it at the dealership in Talladega until March 2006. I didn't have the money to fix the broken water pump, so I couldn't get it all the way home (which is 70 miles away from where it broke down). I got it about half a mile away before it starting running hot again, so I parked it in the parking lot of Family Medicine of Talladega. A few stores and one restaurant share the parking lot, but my car was directly in front of the doctor's office. My boyfriend's dad is the doctor there and I got written permission from him to keep it in that lot until I could afford to have it towed home (again a good 70 miles away). My boyfriend drove by there one day in late March and noticed my car was gone, so I started calling around towing places in town to see if anyone had my car. I called four wrecker services on multiple days due to people being out of the office and not being able to help me. I called Hindman's at least three times to ask if they had my car, because the other wrecker in town said they did not have it. Hindman's would not provide me with any information. They could not even tell me if they had my car after I described it to them and told them my tag prefix. After two weeks of calling and not hearing back from them about if they had my car for sure or not, I called back in April. I was informed that someone had been there inquiring about my car and telling the people there that they were the owner of it, so the search began again. After a few days more of still not being able to find it, I called back on April 12th, 2007. Finally, I was told that this car was indeed mine and that I owed them a $75 towing fee and $10/day for storage. At that point my bill was around $400. I asked the lady who answered if there was any way we could work out this situation and possibly break my bill down into payments. She said I'd have to take that up with the city. So, not knowing what to do, I went to the police station where I was told that I owed them a $50 impound fee and that they could not help me on my bill because Hindman's is privately owned. I had permission to park my car at the parking lot, but the police station said that even though it was a private lot, if someone called and complained, they had the jurisdiction to have it towed. I thanked them politely, still not knowing what to do since I had permission to have my car parked there. At this point, I was thoroughly confused to say the least. Still not having any answers, I decided to drive to Hindman's. When I got there, around 10:30 AM it was way out in the country and was just a trailer in a junk yard of scraps. I went inside and the same lady who answers phones seemed surprised to see me. I told her I was there again because the city had told me that I needed to work out payment with them. She said her brother, Ricky, is the owner of Hindman's, and that I needed to discuss that with him, but he was out of town and would not be back until 5:30 PM. I resigned my search for then. Later that evening around 6:00, I called back and was told that Ricky was not there. I then called again at 7:00 PM and left a message with a young man, describing that it was an urgent matter. This has been about 10 weeks ago, and I still have no answers and have not received a call back. I get the runaround from Hindman's and the runaround from the law. I don't know what to do, and I need my car back, but the woman who runs Hindman's obviously isn't very competent, as it took about three weeks to find out my car was there, and now it has taken 10 more weeks (I wrote this in May, so it's been more like 20 weeks now) and I still haven't got a callback.
Answerwow interesting problem..
Sounds like you got the big run around... Now a few things I would like to mention here, is that the police usually know where the vehicle is, as most all impounds are called in so that they do not write stolen vehicle reports on them... This sounds like it was missed... The fact that all the tow companies could not tell you who had the vehicle after several calls and many days, tends to make me really question this impound...
As to the office personnel not knowing if they had the vehicles, that is just plain sloppy paperwork..
I would go again and call the towing company and see if you can get the owner (Ricky) on the phone again.. Leaving messages is way past time here, it sounds like legal time now...
Now in most areas, the police do not enforce parking rules (abandoned vehicles) on private property until they become code violations... Property owners are the ones who ultimately have the authority to have trespassing vehicles removed at the owners expense. This whole issue sounds a bit funny and way to much out of control with "pass the buck" issues to me .
BUT be aware that the towing companies are also required to send the legal owners and lein holders letters stating the vehicle was impounded. But this usually takes about 30 days to do so... You are the legal owner and its in your name??? Correct ?
Now I have another issue here, and that is the reporting to the better business bureau... I am not sure if you know exactly what they do, as they are a MEMBERSHIP organization and they really have no teeth for enforcement or correction of problems.
Sure they write letters and try to get it resolved, but they do not really have much impact other than having a list that says yeah they have problems or no problems with the company...
If I was you, and could afford the talk, I would check with an attorney to see what they suggest...
Even a simple demand letter or phone call from the lawyer might be enough to solve this issue..
I agree the time line here (if correct) is way out of hand and it sounds to me that it is bordering on stupid and maybe illegal...
Keep great notes on all of this and copies of any and all letters you get as this sounds like either a small claims court issue or a regular court case.
