Towing Issues: Release fo towed trailer, tow yard, processor error

Question
QUESTION: State of florida, trailer was towed and stored for 7 days, when i retrieved it they released the trailer to me voluntarily because their computer had said i already payed, due to the fact that i tried to get it in the morning, they swiped my CC, could not get trailer because they added more requirements, fulfilled requirements, now they are threatening to report trailer stolen, Is it not their error and incompetence and i should not have to pay? can they report it stolen,

ANSWER: lets see if I follow this.

Your trailer got towed, and you went to get it and they ran the credit card and got approved for the charges (Hope you have a receipt)

Then they added some additional requirements, maybe such as it had to have current tags or a vehicle that was legal to tow it had to be there or something like that.

Now when you got all that done you went to get it and they would not or could not prove it had been paid (receipt issue here again) and now they want to be paid again....


Or is it that there are additional charges for storage because it took over maybe an hour a day or several days before you were able to get it finally out of the tow yard...

Is that the question here ?


Well in respect to reporting it stolen, I doubt they can do that legally, but then it could be possible depending on the credit card issue.  If the card was found to be a charge back or declined after the trailer was removed then it might be legally able to be reported as stolen from their custody and control.
But evidence of any payment via receipt should solve that issue.

If they did not do the credit card correctly or had a processor error (that does happen from time to time) then there might be a issue there.

I would ask them as to what they are really asking for, especially if they gave you a receipt for payment.

Maybe, (slight chance) that there are some issues IN HOUSE with payments not making it to the receipt drawers... Never know


Hope this helps.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Not exactly, during the first encounter they swiped the card but did not charge it or get authorization, (I did not know this) on the second attempt to get the trailer they had it in there records that it was paid for. I assumed it was so there was no intent to defraud. The trailer was released to me and then i received a call saying it wasn't paid for and it would be reported stolen. Can it be reported stolen and should i have to pay since i did not contract them either written or oral for the services, shouldn't it be whomever did contract them to pay for the services rendered.

Answer
Well I am not sure why it was towed but most likely it was towed under orders of an law enforcement agency.

As to you contracting the tow company for the service, that is not a valid point under a police ordered tow or any other kind of "non consent tow"  

As the vehicle owner you are responsible by law for any and all towing and storage fees and as such they can request payment.
It still sounds like they made a mistake, but in interest of being correct and legal, I would talk to the company owner or manager about this issue and since you used your bank card I would check (and get a print out) of any charges in that time frame before you go to the tow company to resolve this issue.

Some swipes take a bit of time to get into the records and you would hate to be paying twice for the services.