Bad Friday Or How to Lose $266 to the Man

The Date:  Feb 12, 2010

The Setup: The Doc and I had to go into a part of the cities that we don't usually go to for a birthday celebration of a friend in a pretty fancy restaurant and found a pay parking lot across the street from the restaurant.

The Issue:  Even after paying the parking lot fee, my car was still towed.  I had to pay $258 in cash, because they don't accept credit cards.  That's right, folks.  The Deuce was towed and I'm not sure how I could have followed the rules any better. 

The Facts:  Around 7:20-7:25pm, The Doc and I parked at a pay parking lot across the street from the restaurant where we were supposed to meet our friends for a dinner reservation.  The parking lot was by no means a technical wonder.  There was no one on the lot to take the $8 fee, so I parked my car and asked the Doc to stay in the car so we don't get called on any violations while I walked to the entryway and looked for instructions on how to pay the fee.  There was a red lockbox with a sign that basically said, take an envelope, right your license plate on the envelope, place your money in the envelope, then put the envelope into the red lockbox.  So I took an envelope (well, I actually took two because the first one was ripped) from a hook right above the lockbox.  I walked back to my car because I wanted to make sure I got my license plate right.  Yeah, I should know it by heart since I've had that plate for almost 5 years now, but I'm the type of guy who takes a couple steps away from my front door and then walk a couple steps back just to double-check that I had locked the door.  It doesn't hurt to double-check these things just to get a sense of reassurance that I've done what I've thought I've done.  Anyway, I wrote my license plate on the envelope (helped that I had a pen in my coat so that I could write it down while I stood behind my car).  The Doc got out of the car after locking the doors and asked if I needed any cash (she only had $20 bills).  Luckily, I had the exact $8 because I had broken a $20 bill after a lunch at the Olive Garden the weekend before.  I placed the $8 into the envelope and then after wondering how the envelope got sealed (turned out there was a sticker type paste on the flap), we placed the envelope into the lockbox.  This whole sequence took about 5 minutes before we crossed the street to the restaurant.

We were the first ones of a party of 14 to arrive because my friends are usually late to these things (the b-day girl didn't even arrive until 20-25 minutes after the reservation was scheduled).  Thankfully a couple of my friends came around 7:35pm (didn't check my watch when they arrived, but they mentioned they were being fashionably late by arriving a couple minutes late).  We held a conversation and laughed and enjoyed everyone's company.  Once everyone arrived, we ordered our foods and ate.  The entire dinner took around 2 hours and we had a great time.  Little did the Doc and I know, our car was being towed around 8:25pm (according to the tow company receipt, well, it said 20:25 and I'm assuming that means 8:25pm).

The Doc and I didn't realize my car was towed until around 11:45pm when we returned after our friends dispersed after enjoying entertainment after the dinner.  Thankfully, the first group of friends that arrived had parked at a meter on the street next to the lot I had parked.  That's when a great night was ruined.

The attendant of the lot was there (WHERE WAS HE WHEN WE ORIGINALLY PARKED????).  He claimed he did not find the envelope I had placed in the lockbox until after the car was towed and that I had probably put it in there after the car was towed... Oh, that pissed me off!  He found the money after he called for my car to be towed!  But I kept a cool head.  The Doc kept a cool head.  I actually had to hold one of my friends back, figureatively speaking, before he was about to verbally bitch-slap the attendant.  I called the phone number of the lot (left a voice mail), while the Doc got the attendant's name and wrote down the information on the lot.  We tried to make our case and use logic to prove that we did not pay the fee after the fact, but the attendant did the whole, "You'll have to take your complaints to lot owner".  We realized he was just weaseling himself out of the situation and was going to be nothing but a headache to deal with.

Thank you, to my friends, for being there for us.  They carpooled the Doc and I to an ATM and then took us to the tow company impound lot where we retreived my car.

The next day, the lot owner replied to my voice mail, but basically took his attendant's side.  No surprise there.  I pled our case and he said he'd check on the story.  An hour later, I got a call from someone else (claimed to be an investigator) and stated that he's taking the word of the attendant that my money was not in the lockbox before the towing.  Ugh!  All I have are witnesses that could prove that I did not put my money in the box after the car was towed, so how did my money magically appear in the box?

The Aftermath:  $266 is not chump change for me.  Because of that hit to my wallet, I had to cancel on the expensive Valentine's Day dinner plans I had planned for the Doc.  Usually, I'd have enough in savings to absorb such a blow, but I had made a big item purchase earlier that day that weakened it and couldn't sustain the hit.  That sucked.  The rest of the weekend was pretty much ruined.  My mood was down and didn't recover to normal levels until the 14th where the Doc and I could do a cheaper Valentine's (watched a movie in a theater and enjoyed a homemade dinner).

Lesson Learned:  I'm never going to park at a pay parking lot without receiving a timestamped receipt.  This whole ordeal turned into a he-said-he-said and I lost to the employee.  I should have known it seemed shady and incredibly behind on the times, but I put my faith in the lot and was disappointed.  Would I describe that I still feel violated?  Sure, but in no way am I equating what happened to me with rape or the loss of a loved one, no.  It did feel like someone stole my car and forced me to pay $258 to get it back.

Steps We're Taking:  The Doc and I submitted a complaint online to the local Better Business Bureau.  BBB?  Yeah, I didn't think such a thing existed, but the Doc found it.  They could mediate the complaint we have since I couldn't think of how I could have followed the lot's posted instructions any better without getting towed.  We've pretty much given up on getting the money back even though the truth is on our side.  I'm not familiar with the BBB and I'm not sure of the extent of their abilities.  The Doc's sister said we should call the local news and try to make a big hullabaloo about the whole thing.  That's just not in me.

I'm cutting back on my spending to recuperate the money we lost that night and I have sworn to never park at any of those lots ever again, only ramps with electronic reciepts for me!  The Doc, on Valentine's Day morning, gave me a gift of cash to pay for half of the tow fee.  She's a great girlfriend and the whole experience would have been absolutely horrifying if she wasn't there to hold my hand.  Thank you, Doc.

I've kept all names and businesses out of this blog in case of legal issues, but believe me, I was biting my lips to not tell you all to avoid this parking lot's business.

Wow, this blogging thing is pretty theraputic.