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

[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.