Did my car get towed? How will I afford the fees?

[Gale]

I've been working my butt off all week and weekend, i have an exam tomorrow and had a 20 page lab i just turned in. its been the week from hell, and it doesn't look much better next week, and now, my car is missing. i was parked in the wrong parking lot, but i only thought i'd get a ticket. i dunno, it was stolen or towed and its going to cost me 120 dollars, and i can't even afford books. i have to get home tomorrow, i have no money, I'm about to cry. i have an exam tomorrow i desperately need to study for, but i have to figure out how to get my car back. guh, i can't stop from crying, this just sucks.

 

[zoobyshoe]

First thing is make sure if it was towed or stolen. Must be campus security you can call to find out.

 

[Gale]

it was towed, 110 to get it out. that's all the savings i have left. I'm glad i didn't buy a book now. I'm really going to fail that exam though heh. i should've studied more and not done so much of that lab i guess.

 

[Cyrus]

What kind of lab is 20 pages?

P.S. How did you get Towed? Did you park in a handicap lot, diagonally and partially on the side walk, backwards when it says front end in only and not having a compact?

 

[Gale]

called the parents "take care of it honey."

heh, that was all my savings. i don't even have a job. how am i going to move. god I'm an idiot. god this sucks.

 

[Gale]

it was 11 pages of data and 7 pages of text, so it was really only 18. but it was a 6 part lab on radioactivity. my lab partners was even longer.

 

[Cyrus]

11 pages of data? How long was that lab, three weeks? 7 pages of text? Did you have to rewrite the book in your own words. Thats one damn long ass lab report.

 

[zoobyshoe]

called the parents "take care of it honey."

heh, that was all my savings. i don't even have a job. how am i going to move. god I'm an idiot. god this sucks.

You got it back already?

What is this "move" you're talking about?

 

[Gale]

thanks for the concern about my dreary financial situation...
it was a 2 week lab. it was 6 parts, so every section of my report was nearly a page long. page long intro, page long procedure, etc. the 11 pages of data we're mostly graphs plots and tables of various sorts. i spent a long time working on that lab. in addition i had a written E&m assignment(4 pages), 3 online e&m assignments (page-2 pages each), a written honors assignment (2 pages), Modern physics assignment (2 pages) read 2 chapters for my cmpsci class, and the programming assignment, plus i have a big exam tomorrow. I'm very high strung right now, and now I'm facing the possibility of completely changing my plans for the future due to lack of funding. heh. why the hell does it cost so much anyway? i KNOW its not THAT hard to tow a car, the place is only even a mile away.

 

[Gale]

You got it back already?

What is this "move" you're talking about?

no, my friend is taking me to get in a little bit though. i can't afford to leave it there cause its 20 a day. and i only have 118 dollars total in ALL my savings. its 110 as is. I'm moving to arizona in May.

 

[Cyrus]

Are you switching schools?

 

[Gale]

that was the plan. its kinda hard to continue attending school in mass if I'm living across the country. i may not be able to afford it though.

 

[Cyrus]

Just be careful. If you have less than 60 credits to finish your degree, you might have to take extra classes so that you finish at least 60 credits in AZ, taking longer and costing more money.

 

[zoobyshoe]

i'm very high strung right now, and now I'm facing the possibility of completely changing my plans for the future due to lack of funding. heh. why the hell does it cost so much anyway? i KNOW its not THAT hard to tow a car, the place is only even a mile away.

Take deep, slow breaths and relax. Get your car back to avoid chalking up any more fines. Study for your exam tomorrow and put the worry about the future off till after you get that exam behind you.

 

[motai]

heh. why the hell does it cost so much anyway? i KNOW its not THAT hard to tow a car, the place is only even a mile away.

Car towing is a lucrative business. Basically strong-arming students to force them to pay. I know in my town the towing companies will only accept cash (rates roughly around yours at $120), at least for illegal parking anyway. I remember having my car towed when it broke down (was only $40 American) and had it sent to the shop for repairs, but I haven't encountered personally the huge rates that these companies charge for illegal parking.

Compared to all other cities around, the towing companies have a very good position economically (almost to the point of a stranglehold), they will never have to run out of sources of income, they have allies in city managerial positions who want to increase the towing rates every year automatically. In the past few months the city commission granted an $8 increase in maximum towing rates (to keep up with gas prices), and they have a -very- vicious roam tow policy, such to the extent where I've heard people's cars getting towed at their own apartments while they are at home. Oh, that and they have a $20 storage fee per night if the car is still in their posession.

I'm not advocating illegal parking, but this has gotten a little extreme.

 

[Gale]

its free to park after 5, they towed me sometime after 3:30, that's really lame. an hour and a half and it was perfectly legal. why did they tow me?? plus they gave me a ticket. tow and a ticket. i of course have no money left to pay for a ticket.

 

[Cyrus]

'why did they tow me??'

Because you were parked illegally. Next time you should avoid doing something on purpose that you know will cost you a lot of money.

 

[zoobyshoe]

its free to park after 5, they towed me sometime after 3:30, that's really lame. an hour and a half and it was perfectly legal. why did they tow me?? plus they gave me a ticket. tow and a ticket. i of course have no money left to pay for a ticket.

You got at least a couple weeks to figure out how to get that paid off.

 

[Moonbear]

Sorry to hear that Gale. I guess at least now you know to be more careful where you park, but that sure seems to be an expensive lesson. Is it a really popular lot or something? Most universities I've been at don't bother towing. At one, they would tow from just a few lots that were gated, faculty-only lots, and they did that to ensure the faculty had parking spaces when they got there to teach their classes. But, it was pretty hard to sneak into one of those lots anyway, and everyone knew they were aggressive about towing there, so just knowing that was usually enough of a deterrent. Everywhere else, it's pretty much just been tickets. At one university, I was convinced the majority of their funding came from parking tickets the way the meter maids would sit out just waiting for the instant a parking meter would run out (someone I knew got back to their car just in time to see the meter maid writing a ticket when he still had a few minutes left on the meter!), or the way they seemed to show up out of thin air to give a ticket when you just parked for 5 minutes to run into a building and drop something off or pick someone up. The tickets have always been somewhere in the range of $5-$25. The oddest one was one metered lot at the University of Michigan. It was the only place on the med campus you could park if you didn't have a permit, so those of us who lived close enough to walk most days just used that lot once in a while when we had too much to carry to walk or when we knew we'd be working late so didn't want to walk very late, etc. You could pay for all-day parking on the meter, but the cost of the ticket was actually less than the meter! So, yeah, a lot of people got tickets there.

Anyway, take Zooby's advice. Take a few deep breaths, calm down, get your car, then worry about your exams, and after all that, figure out what you're going to do about finances. It sounds like it's time to pick up some easy part-time job that won't be too much distraction from getting your studies done but will help you save enough to pay your ticket and get moved.

 

[Gale]

i'm not paying off the ticket, and its riddiculous that i'd have to pay 300 dollars for a parking permit. why the hell are school expenses so riddiculous. its actually more than 300 for the year, its like 300 a semester, its absolutely insane. it shouldn't be illegal. its stupid. and frankly if you're going to be a jerk, don't post here, do it somewhere else, I'm already crying my eyes out, k? i don't feel like getting upset cause you're mean to me.

 

[Gale]

i really don't have time for a job. my work load is insane. I'm struggling as it is already, and i can't go out on weekends any more. I've been stressed out to exhaustion, i cry nearly every night, whether i have a reason or not. its just too much, and i really can't handle a job. i know i'll get through it and all, but its just really rough going, and when this stuff happens on top of it... I've just been having the worst luck. its the freaking dining commons parking lot, ad i was towed at 3:30! no one is there at 3:30, the place is empty. our school doesn't generally tow either. I've parked in a lot of the lots and gotten tickets, i don't use the good ones cause the tickets are too expensive, but like, i don't usually even have my car here. it sucks. it sucks real bad. and i was going to fail that exam anyway, I'm too depressed to worry about it. everything sucks.

 

[Cyrus]

Im sorry Gale, I am not trying to be mean. :hugs: Please go study for your exam.

 

[Moonbear]

Gale, you're going to have to pay that ticket eventually, and you'll want to do it before it also starts accumulating additional fees (yeah, that happens too). Universities have students in thumbscrews when it comes to parking tickets. If you don't pay them, they won't release transcripts or issue a diploma until they're all paid off. My undergrad college traditionally had a long line of seniors showing up the week before commencement to pay off their fines so they could get their diplomas. If you're transferring universities, you're going to need to get your transcripts. But, you'll still have a little time to find a way to scrape together that money before the fines will start increasing.

 

[Moonbear]

i really don't have time for a job. my work load is insane. I'm struggling as it is already, and i can't go out on weekends any more. I've been stressed out to exhaustion, i cry nearly every night, whether i have a reason or not. its just too much, and i really can't handle a job. i know i'll get through it and all, but its just really rough going, and when this stuff happens on top of it... I've just been having the worst luck. its the freaking dining commons parking lot, ad i was towed at 3:30! no one is there at 3:30, the place is empty. our school doesn't generally tow either. I've parked in a lot of the lots and gotten tickets, i don't use the good ones cause the tickets are too expensive, but like, i don't usually even have my car here. it sucks. it sucks real bad. and i was going to fail that exam anyway, I'm too depressed to worry about it. everything sucks.

Are you eligible for any kind of work-study? Those are ideal jobs for your situation, because they're usually just something really easy and you're allowed to study when you're not busy. For example, you might be in charge of re-filing borrowed materials in a language or music lab (i.e., student check out a tape to listen to for an hour and then bring it back). Most of the time, you just sit around with nothing to do, and just have to stop once in a while to give out a tape or put it back away. It sounds like you should be eligible for something like that. Talk to your financial aid office next week when you have calmed back down enough to deal with it.

It also sounds like you may have bitten off more than you can chew this semester. Is it too late to withdraw from classes? You might want to just drop one and take it again when you transfer (maybe find out if any of the ones you're taking now won't transfer, and drop that one, or drop the one you're struggling the most with). It's sometimes worth sacrificing one class for the sake of pulling yourself together to do well in the remaining ones.

Anyway, don't worry about any of that tonight. Just get your car, try try try to get some sleep, and worry about the rest tomorrow. Good luck. I'm hoping you'll find some way to make it work out.

 

[chroot]

Maybe my story will cheer you up, Gale, because it can always be worse.

I was pulled over and given a ticket in 2002 for an expired registration. (Note: I have -never once- received a registration renewal notice from the DMV, like everyone else.) It was only a $10 ticket if I showed evidence of my registration within 30 days.

I got the registration fixed within a week, and mailed in a photocopy of the registration -- everything I thought I was supposed to do. As it turns out, something (god knows what?) happened, and the ticket was never dismissed. There it sat, in limbo, for almost four years.

As it turns out, the California DMV won't let you renew your registration if you have speeding tickets, or if you have parking tickets. They make you pay those off first. However, they don't check registration tickets, and will merrily renew your registration over and over again without a word.

So, I registered the car three times over the next three years, never once thinking anything was wrong. No one ever sent me a notice. No one ever told me I had the ticket. However, in the darkness of some midnight in 2003, the DMV's computer silently checked a flag on my license. That's right, they suspended my driver's license. I went to the DMV three more times over the next three years, happily showed them my (suspended) license, and they happily renewed my registration.

I didn't know my license had been suspended until I got pulled over on the way to work for -- of all things -- a burned-out brake light. Oh, the officer (and his two buddies who showed up for extra fun) was more than happy to inform me that my license had been suspended for three years and they were towing my car and making me walk two miles home.

They only let you have a "tow hearing" to get your car back one day a week... Tuesdays at 2 pm. They also charge you a $117 "administrative fee" for looking at your license and saying "okay, you can have it back." Meanwhile, the tow shop is charging you $50 a day to store your car.

Here's what this ended up costing me:

$1,057 for clearing the registration ticket. I was told by a judge that evidence over a year old wouldn't be accepted, and I had no other choice but to pay.

$280 for towing and storage fees.

$117 for the "administrative" tow hearing fee.

$440 for the suspended license conviction.

That's right, almost $2,000. Gone. One day I think everything is fine, the next, the cops are towing my car and demanding $2,000 from me. I ended up being late on almost all my bills that month, and it took me another two months to completely recover from that situation.

It can always be worse. :(

- Warren

 

[Gale]

warren- that sucks, i don't feel better at all. what the heck is wrong with people?
these systems are so lame. i don't understand how things are so expensive. like really, WHAT are you paying for? my car was towed one mile, and i was parked in a near empty lot. and that's pretty insane that they wouldn't except your old evidence for an old offense. that's messed up. if they can charge you with something that happened four years prior, you should be perfectly allowed to fight it with something more recent.

i have the worst luck with that stuff. I've only been pulled over once, and the ******* cop ticketed me, and i KNOW it was because i had 3 teenage boys in my car (my little brother and two friends.) i was speeding down a hill, it was just an accident, and i stopped in plenty of time at the stop sign a few feet away. no slamming on the brakes or anything, i just didn't realize the speed limit had dropped. the cop was such a jerk, and started lecturing me about the big waste of time i was and how he was dealing with molestations and harassments and more important stuff than stupid speeding kids...

and then over the weekend, i was house sitting for my family and watching my dogs cause they went on vacation. i had to miss class on tues (we had monday off) and so i emailed my professors my work so i wouldn't be marked late, and offered to turn in hard copied weds morning, and i got a real angry letter from my professor saying how unacceptable it was and how big of a problem it'd be if everyone did it, and how i should be more responsible, and i was like... wow. i didn't realize it'd be a huge big deal to print it, or even just wait a day.

and I'm so way in over my head this semester, but that's how i tend to deal with my schooling, i don't think I've been under my head in a long time. this semester is particularly bad because I'm preparing to transfer, its such a mess. but I'm taking care of it, I'm really struggling in one class, but if i get through it i'll be ok. i hope.. i dunno..

and no, no work study, no aid, i can barely get loans because my father makes so much. i mean, my life has never been easy, but i dunno, this is really rough, and stupid stuff keeps happening... i dunno... i just dunno... i have 6 bucks left for expenses this semester... heh.

 

[Cyrus]

Don't take this the wrong way Gale, but stop complaining about your life all the time. I know a girl who is in Dentistry school and pays for it all out of her own pocket by working and going to medical school at the same time full course load. Not only that if her grades fall below a certain GPA, they can kick her out or make her start over from the beginning. I hope you start looking at life more seriously and start making threads about how you are doing well in life. Start taking responsibility for your actions, what you did was wrong, you knew it at the time, and now you want sympathy for it. That's not the way life works. You are an adult now.

*I don't want to be mean, I really like you Gale, but I don't like all these negative posts you always have* ugs:

(Go study for your test tomorrow!)

 

[Math Is Hard]

I'm sorry about your day, Gale. That sucks. A few years ago I had to go to court to clear a ticket. There were several people ahead of me so I got to watch them plead their cases. One guy was unemployed so he said he couldn't pay his ticket. They told him he could do community service instead. Is it possible that you would be allowed to do something like that?

 

[zoobyshoe]

I'm sorry about your day, Gale. That sucks. A few years ago I had to go to court to clear a ticket. There were several people ahead of me so I got to watch them plead their cases. One guy was unemployed so he said he couldn't pay his ticket. They told him he could do community service instead. Is it possible that you would be allowed to do something like that?

The other thing that occurred to me was babysitting. Especially little kids who have to go to bed early. You can babysit and study at the same time.

 

[Moonbear]

The other thing that occurred to me was babysitting. Especially little kids who have to go to bed early. You can babysit and study at the same time.

That seems like a great suggestion. Gale, you seem to really like kids, and aside from that being a job where you could study while they play and make quick cash for just a few hours work, and only take the jobs when you have time for them, how could it not cheer you up to see a bunch of smiling kids' faces?

 

[loseyourname]

Gale, I had the same problem with not being able to get financial aid because my parents made too much money, and refused to help me pay after I dropped out of my first school (I found a suicide note from my girlfriend right before she changed her mind and one of my friends died during the semester - what did they expect?). So I just waited until I was older, went to a community college for two years, and transferred when I was 24 and officially independent. I'll be graduating next semester.

Warren - almost exactly the same thing happened to me, only I was deceived even worse. A cop pulled me over about three years ago for expired registration and a tail light that was out. I had a DMV appointment sheet with me showing that I was getting my registration renewed in two days, so he told he would just ticket me for the light. I got it fixed, took it to the Sherriff's office to prove correction and paid the $10 court fee and had the ticket taken care. Last year, after renewing my registration twice more and selling my car, I go to renew my license and find out it's been suspended for failing to pay a registration ticket from exactly that same month and year. Then two months later my parent's call me telling me they received a collection notice addressed to me saying that I owed $700 for an overdue registration ticket. I can't get my license renewed and my credit is pretty much shot until I pay this.

Now, I have enough money, and at least I wasn't pulled over like you were, but this still really pisses me off. I don't really see what I can do other than pay, but I know I'm getting screwed wholesale. I don't even understand how the officer could possibly have gotten away with this. The ticket I got was taken care of and it wasn't even for registration. How did a registration ticket I was never even given get into their system?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

That's really crappy Gale. I'm sorry.
I've been towed twice and both times it really sucked. Both times I was even trying to be sure not to park somewhere where I might get towed too. The first time was in Oregon. I left my car for five to ten minutes in a lot where there weren't any signs at all saying I needed a permit or anything. When I got back and found my car missing I freaked out and thought it had been stolen. I called the police to report it stolen and they told me that it was towed and where to find it. The tow company told me that if I picked it up right then it would cost me over two hundred dollars because they charged a fee to open the gates after regular business hours. It turned out to be cheaper to take a cab home and pick it up the next day.
The second time was here in CA. I actually avoided parking in a college parking lot figuring that I would get towed or ticketed and opted for an empty hardware store parking lot. After my car was told my friends told me that I should have parked in the school lot because they never tow or ticket cars there. Fortunately that time I had my girlfriend with me and she was able to take me to get my car. I did though still have to wake my parents up in the middle of the night to ask them for a loan because I was nearly broke.
Now I'm absolutely paranoid about parking my car anywhere unless I know that it will be ok. Fortunately they have recently changed the laws around here so that someone has to call to have your car towed and someone needs to be there to sign for it. Roving tow trucks are more or less illegal here now. I've heard they can't even tow you without a sign off even if you're parked illegally.

 

[BobG]

Car towing is a lucrative business. Basically strong-arming students to force them to pay. I know in my town the towing companies will only accept cash (rates roughly around yours at $120), at least for illegal parking anyway. I remember having my car towed when it broke down (was only $40 American) and had it sent to the shop for repairs, but I haven't encountered personally the huge rates that these companies charge for illegal parking.

Compared to all other cities around, the towing companies have a very good position economically (almost to the point of a stranglehold), they will never have to run out of sources of income, they have allies in city managerial positions who want to increase the towing rates every year automatically. In the past few months the city commission granted an $8 increase in maximum towing rates (to keep up with gas prices), and they have a -very- vicious roam tow policy, such to the extent where I've heard people's cars getting towed at their own apartments while they are at home. Oh, that and they have a $20 storage fee per night if the car is still in their posession.

I'm not advocating illegal parking, but this has gotten a little extreme.

The difference in towing rates for illegal parking and mechanical problems is outrageous. It's a scam. If you called a towing company to tow your own car, they know you'd hang up if they gave you a fee like $120 (unless you're on the interstate in the middle of night, in which case they'd probably quote you $240). They also know what would happen if you pay an outrageous fee by check - you'll stop payment and they'll have to mention that fee in court to get their money. The same prices apply if an insurance company or AAA is paying for the towing. It's easier to raise insurance rates or membership rates than to fight individual cases of price gouging. Things like this do affect you even if you follow all the rules - it's just that instead of complaining how high towing costs increase your insurance or membership fees, you're relieved that you had something in place to save you from such an enormous fee.

The same thing happens with bank fees. I think banks charge around $30 for overdrawn checks even though it only costs them around 5$ or 6$ in administrative costs (approximately - I read the article a long time ago). Who looks at overdraft fees when deciding where to bank?

You could almost certainly come up with other examples (credit card companies have a lot of extra 'penalty' fees that they can charge). Prices just skyrocket when the 'customer' doesn't find out the price until after the service has been rendered.

 

[franznietzsche]

11 pages of data? How long was that lab, three weeks? 7 pages of text? Did you have to rewrite the book in your own words. Thats one damn long ass lab report.

Sounds like a normal upper division lab. Pchem, Qlab, etc.

That really sucks. I hate towing companies, they really should be jailed for extortion.