I went to the Melbourne art festival today and parked in the same office building parking lot that i park in every year. I was only there about 25 minutes and as i walk back to the parking, i see a tow truck getting ready to leave with my car! The legal offices in the building are all closed on weekends, but this year some a-hole lawyer decided to get all the cars towed from the building's parking for spite. In typical extortion fashion of these guys, the tow truck driver said i was too late since the car was already "hooked up" and would only release my car if i paid him $200 in cash knowing all too well that most people don't carry that amount on them.

After pleading for about 5 minutes with this guy, he agreed to let me ride with him and drop me off at a "convenience" store about 1/2 miles from the impound lot while my car was in tow. Wouldn't you know that the atm in the store only had $60 left in it and released only that amount while charging me a "convenience fee" of $5.00!

So i trek the 1/2 miles walk to the impound lot and see a steady stream of cars leaving, each after having paid their cash fine for being towed from the same event. The guy had so many people waiting to collect their cars that he still hadn't been able to unhook my car.

I explained my predicament to him about the atm running out of money. After more pleading, he agreed to take me to a Wells Fargo atm for an "additional" $20 again with my car being towed behind us. As I'm walking back from the atm, i see him taking pictures of my car for his "trophy" collection.

Luckily (if any of this can be considered lucky), the guy was very careful with my car and his tow truck had a pair of dollies that lifted the front end so my car was never on its own tires the whole time it was being towed. This also raised the front end to avoid any damage to my carbon splitter. The tow truck only ever really made contact with my tires and nothing else. Lucky for him, because any damage would have meant a nice little lawsuit for him.

Of course when i was getting ready to leave, he gives me his business card, in case i ever break down and need another tow. No thanks!

Here's a picture of my car after he removed the dollies on the front tires but the rear were still in the air:

 

If you could only find out who blew the whistle, you could make sure he needed a tow at the end of his workday.

 

LOL. I don't operate that way. I'm a firm believer in karma. I treated the tow truck driver with ultimate respect even though i was upset on the inside. Makes me feel better in the end to know i wasn't the jerk.

 

Wow sorry to hear that Karl,

You handled that amazingly well. I hope that should the situation arise for me, I'm as gracious as you were.

I hope you did not let that one incident ruin an otherwise great day at the show, and another chance to drive your car.

 

+1 for decorum.

 

I like that modus operandi! hard sometimes to chew such situations though...

Practical question that crossed my mind: don't our car alarms go off when we have the optional tilt switches armed (automatically with the car locked) when these guys lift our cars up? I recently jacked-up my car without unlocking it after which I nearly got a heart attack!

 

^^^ It depends on if the car has the upgraded alarm option or the standard one.

P.S. I still think my car looks cool even whilst being towed. LOL

 

Karma is a wonderful concept. I had a brand new Porsche, only 5-days old and still with the paper plates. I was carefully parked on the street and when I returned I discovered some A--HOLE had keyed the whole drivers side of the car--rear fender, door, front fender. I went back to the hotel and picked a banana out of the fruit basket. I decided to help Karma along by getting fork and stabbing the banana several times in a place that would give the SOB testicular cancer. That settled me enough to enjoy the rest of my vacation.

 

Well said! I'm glad everything turned out to be OK.

 

Wow what a disaster! Glad your car didn't get damaged by the tow truck

 

I've been in a very similar situation, albeit not with the Aston (thankfully). I had parked in an empty restaurant lot next to an Audi dealer to check out some cars.

Come back to find my car was already hooked up, and had to pay a $150 fine to unhook it. Thank goodness he took a check and I happened to have my checkbook on me! Never a fun situation.

And btw, your car DOES look good even on a tow truck.

 

One a bunch of BS. It's a good thing you didn't go ballistic you could've had a stroke. And if you come back five minutes later in the car was already gone you might've thought it was stolen that would've been more upsetting!
Like others of said good thing you kept your cool if you can do it that's the best way to be.
Ron

 

Oh goodness, I don't know if I could have remained as calm as you were. And honestly, if I was the tow truck driver, I'm not sure I would have even touched your car, client be damned. There comes a point where the $200 he made off you wouldn't even cover the first half hour of his legal fees if he ****ed something up. Reminds me of the Top Gear where Richards Noble breaks down and the Italian tow truck driver walks away from it.

Honestly, I think in general, it has to be a stupid move for any tow company to touch an exotic car. Even if he only "damages" it one in ten times, it only has to cost him $2,000 when he does for it to not be worth towing in the long run. Though, something tells me not many tow truck drivers are that advanced at maths....

Glad you got out of it rather easily, but man oh man would I have had a heart attack seeing my car on some strange tow truck!

 

Wow... That would be a bad day!
I'm glad you kept your cool. I'm sure it helped the tower decide to be more careful with your car

And yes, the car even looks good on the hook ;-)

 

Must have been hard to keep your cool! I'm a big believer in karma as well! Glad to see the tow truck driver was careful with that beauty.