This incident occurred on August 6th at around 10:30 A.M. My family and I parked our car in a plaza lot on Court Street that morning. We had some business to attend at Newark and were in a bit of a rush. There were towing signs available around the area, but there were also other signs that mentioned different matters regarding warnings from the police. So on my way out, I saw a sign but unfortunately, it wasn't the towing one. I admit that it was my mistake that I didn't pay much attention to them.
After 20 minutes, I came back and to my dismay, couldn't find my car. I first thought that my car had been jacked (the neighborhood was a little shady) so my family and I wandered around for a minute, not sure of what to do, until a suspicious man came up to us and blatantly told us that our car had been towed literally five minutes ago. He pointed to a sign that was behind us and it was the towing sign that I failed to see. It said something along the lines of, "Park here, and only go to the plaza, Going elsewhere will result in getting your car towed", it described the towing place and contact details, and right below, mentioned the fee.
He ultimately offered us a ride to the towing area (Gilliam Towing Service) for $25, which we never even asked for, and he knew all the exact details (of our car, when our car was towed), and he also told us that he take many other people when their car gets towed. The man told us right off the bat, that he does not work for the towing business, the towing place is far, and that taking people there was how he made his money...
So eventually, our family accepted the offer and rode in the man's car. There were no other options, as there were no taxis and such. The thing was, it was far away (around 10-15 minutes) and he knew a much faster way to the place. One point during the ride, he got a call from someone and said things such as, "I picked up some customers, I'm on my way...", etc.
We were very close to the towing place, but not quite there, and we saw a truck dragging our car right behind us.in short, we had gotten to the place first, and requested that they don't put our car in their lot. It was our car, we were going to pay the fee right then and there, so there was no need to put it inside their lot.
I went inside with my husband and kids and told them NOT to put it in the lot, but I guess it wasn't made clear enough, because later when we came out, our car wasn't out yet. Eventually, the fee came out to $191.30 (including tax), and they demanded that we pay it all in cash. I don't know about you, but I certainly do not carry that much cash around. The man told us to go off to an ATM, or call someone for the money then. Seriously?
So I paid it all in cash, and left feeling cheated. I went home and googled the towing business to see if anyone else had a similar experience. I found a one year old article, and it was about suing the same towing business! Apparently, the owner had been charged of paying people to monitor the lot to make money off of people like me, which are known as spotters, and using inadequate signage. I firmly believe this towing business still uses spotters, (the man who just approached us and offered to take us there), and just know that this practice is illegal!
It's unfortunate that I had to go through this, but I'd like to warn other people about this. It took place on a parking lot on Court Street, which has a Dunkin Donuts, a Chinese restaurant, and a pizza place. If you aren't from Newark or if you're new to the place, don't park your car in some strange lot like so.in my case, there were no parking spaces along the street and decided to park it there, but it cost me quite a bit in the end.
0 comments