On August 8, my daughter's car was LEGALLY parked in the lot at her apartment building on Neil Ave. Off of the Ohio State campus. This parking spot is paid for by her and a placard is provided which is hung from the mirror to indicate that the car belongs in that lot. Sometime during the night, "Sham"rock Towing came in and towed (stole is probably a better word) her car to their lot on Hamlett Ave.
When she found out what happened and contacted Shamrock, they told her that the placard was not visible to them according to their standards, even though it has hung from the exact same location for nearly a year that she has been parking in the lot. An employee told her if she came down to the tow lot and produced the placard, the car would be released. She did that but was told she would still have to pay the $150.00 tow fee to get the car back. And of course every day the car stays in their lot, they tack on more money to the bill.
I contacted Buckeye Real Estate which is who we pay for the parking spot, but they were no help whatsoever and, in fact, sided with Shamrock Towing, saying basically "... We have no control over Shamrock's towing policies...", even though they employ them to patrol their lots and tow ILLEGALLY parked cars. My daughter is a renter in good standing with Buckeye for a year and they should have intervened on her behalf but essentially chose to "stick their heads in the sand" and side with their buddies at Shamrock.
This is essentially legalized thievery and extortion. I am employed as a law enforcement officer and i have seen this type of predatory and dishonest practice from so-called "towing companies" all over the country, but this is the most blatant example i have ever seen or heard of. Once they have your car in their custody, you have no recourse but to pay the exorbitant fees and try to recover the cost in court, which is what i intend to do, along with forwarding this story to every media outlet, government official and consumer protection agency i can possibly think of. This company should have their business licenses revoked.
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