Today is my 29th wedding anniversary.
My husband and I have been living on one person's unemployment income for the past several months.
Yesterday, April 23rd, was the first absolutely gorgeous day here in Portland, Or.
Due to my limited source of funds, I thought it would be nice to buy my husband a fishing license as an anniversary gift; something he enjoys tremendously, and also as a mini congrats on the new job he just finished his first week of.
We drove out to Marine Drive to a spot where my husband and my son had fished for well over 15 years... But hadn't been able to get to for the past few months.
I also brought along my little dachshund to keep me company while they fished.
We pulled into the dirt lot, next to the stone wall that separates Marine Dr from the river, pulled out their fishing gear (our son had come along, also) and they proceeded to head for their favorite spot.
In the meantime, my dachshund decided he did not want to be left out of the adventure; so I put on his leash, locked up the car and began to follow them to the river. I figured I'd take him for a little "potty" break, then return to the car, go for a drive, pick up some things from the grocery store and return later to pick them up from their afternoon of fishing.
When I returned to the dirt lot (all of 20 minutes later), my car was nowhere in sight.
My first reaction was that someone had stolen it.
I walked down towards the driveway entrance to this dirt lot, while frantically calling 911, then my husband's cell, hysterical that our only vehicle had been stolen.
On the stone wall, my son noticed a small sign, approx. 12"x 18" "Retriever Towing" with a phone number.
He dialed the number on his cell, as I was trying to explain to the dispatcher on the 911 call that my car had just been stolen. His nod to me let me know that our car, indeed, had been towed.
First off, let me clarify that this particular spot is in the middle of nowhere, no businesses within miles, very industrial area. We have been coming to this particular spot, as I mentioned, for well over 15 years and never had an incident like this before, as had friends of ours, who had introduced my husband to this fishing spot.
The answering service operator told my son that the car had not even made it to the impound lot yet and that we would have to call back in 15 minutes.
When the car finally arrived at the impound lot, I called the operator back; she gave me the information about where to pick it up; I asked her for a total it was going to cost.
She stated she was waiting for the fax to come through, then put me on hold. When she came back on the line, she gave me a total of $242.00.
We then proceeded to call a friend for a ride.in the meantime, I checked my debit card balance, finding that I only had $180.00. My son said he would loan me the balance of $62.00 until my next unemployment check came later in the week.
Our ride arrived, we drove to the impound lot at 15th & Quimby.
Upon arrival, we found there to be 2 other people waiting there to pick up their towed vehicles.
All of their stories were quite similiar to ours...
We were told that an employee would meet us there in about 15 minutes. It was now about 3:45 P.M.
By 4:08 P.M., they still had not arrived. At least two of us waiting made a call to the dispatcher, and were told he was delayed on another call and would be enroute shortly.
4:31, still no sign of anyone. Called again, told he was on his way and should be here any minute.
I think it was after 5 P.M., when a towtruck driver and his trainee finally showed up.By this time, one person had had to leave to go back to work... Yet another had shown up in the meantime to take her place. (of the people who were waiting to pick up vehicles)
My son had an appt at 6 P.M. And decided that I should let the others go ahead of me, while he ran to an ATM to get the $60. Cash for me, as he only had a debit card, also.
When he returned, I asked if my son could get his belongings out of my car so that he could leave and not be late for his appt. I was told that he could not.
When my turn finally came, everyone else was gone except for myself, my husband and our dachshund, (who, incidently, had just had surgery on Thurs and was supposed to be "taking it easy", according to instructions from the vet).
By this time, I was very upset... Almost to the point of hysteria, as I had had time to realize the enormity of what this was going to cost me in my life right now. They let me into the office, which looks more like a bank teller than anything else; (looking back now, I don't wonder that these cowards feel the need to be protected by a glass wall); I had my card and my cash out on the counter, waiting for him to collect. It took him a bit to get to the bottom line; now he is telling me that my total is $322.00!!! Mind you, I have let my only ride leave, as well as have already borrowed what I was told I needed to "retrieve" my vehicle. I tell him that can't be right, they told me on the phone is was $242.00. After several back and forth calls between the dispatcher, (who, incidently, admitted to having told me a price of $242.00) the tow driver who was there at the lot, and myself; I am told that if I do not have that much money, I am going to be asked to leave.
WOW!!!
Needless to say, I was not very nice upon my departure, I was near a breakdown and my husband and I walked with our recuperating from surgery dachshund over two miles to get to a bus that would get us home. Luckily for us, the driver of the bus we got on was nice enough to look the other way as we held our little dog on our laps.
I cannot tell you what this has done to my weekend, week, and possibly to my month!!! These people have no heart whatsoever and are the scum of the earth. I think I have said enough.
Now I have to go figure out where to find another $80. So I can possibly retrieve my car on Monday, at which time I will of course owe for two more days of storage... And it goes on and on and on...
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