Watch out with the truck towing
Hi everyone, today I was thinking to write tips about traveling alone for this summer vacations, but for some weird reasons I cannot shake the idea of talk about the awful experience I had yesterday.
Place: restaurant “Pancho Villa,” located at Nicollet Av.
Time: 8:00pm
Last night a friend and I went to eat at such restaurant. After couple hours of conversation and good food, we decided to go to our respective homes. When we were heading to the parking lot we noticed that our cars were not there.
“Oh, oh…big surprise, our cars were tow.” The big question was if our cars were in the restaurant parking lot, why our cars were towed?
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| Picture from: http://miramartowing.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/tow.362164715_std.jpg |
Of course the next best thing was to investigate where the cars were taken and why. Finally we found out that our cars were taken by the “Cedar Towing and Auction Inc.” They had our cars and believe me that the experience of retrieving our cars was not funny.
The fee was of $250 for each car. For our bad luck the ATM there was out of service and we had to find another ATM, because the payment is only in cash. Who the f… has $250 dollars cash in one night?
Somehow we pay the unscrupulous charges and we got our cars back, but no one from “Cedar Towing and Auction Inc.” could help us to clarify the illegal towing of our cars, and of course no one to hear our complains.
The Aftermaths
Even if my case was legal or illegal towing, I wonder if we are under the some kind of twisted towing companies who can tow any car in arbitrary mode.
However, what about those who had their car towed out of a parking lot when they "just went around the corner" for a cup of coffee or a newspaper. When the individual returns to their car, it is either gone or in the process of being towed.
There are always two sides of the story, the tow truck companies that only limit their arguments saying that “they are only doing their job,” and the car owners who “sometimes ignore or do not see the signs, and go, most of the time pissed off, to retrieve their cars.”
That kind of questions/situations made me investigates about Minnesota Laws for Motor Vehicle Towing and the Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Of course I found information but nothing that can really help.
Probably the best way to avoid abuses is to be informed.
The Minnesota traffic law is ambiguous and do not give any clue or guarantee about what to do if you were victim of an illegal towing. However here are couple websites that can help you if you are under the same circumstances.
Towing:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?topic=948966Towing Authorized:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=169.041&year=2010
Right to reclaim your vehicle after being towed:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=168B.07&year=2010If you do not retrieve your car: disposition by impound lot.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?year=2010&id=168B.08
Off the Hook: How the City Lost Control of the Tow-Truck Industry
In summary, after such awful expereince I just can say that if you vehicle is towed, check why and what the local and state codes are. Remember that each state has their rules about this topic and Minnesota is not the exception.
It has been your car towed? You had a similar experience?
Tell us about it..!!
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