My son had parked his car at a place where he had written permission to park. Somehow, there was confusion, and it got towed. The office at that business doesn't know who called, and was surprised it happened. The owner of the Schmer's won't say who it was. That aside, what happened afterward is just wrong. They didn't even do a search for the owner to notify us it had been towed for 8 days. Four days after that, they got around to sending a certified letter, because that's the slowest way to let you know. I signed for the letter on the first delivery attempt. It was the first knowledge we had that it had been towed, 16 days after they did it. Enclosed was an invoice for $480. I called them, and was told it was actually now $720, and increasing by $30 per day. That was on a Thursday, and my son was out of state until Monday, so we picked it up Tuesday, which was our first chance to do anything about it, with a final bill of $870. In an age of databases and instant communication, it shouldn't take 16 days to find out your car has been towed. They should not be able to wait 8 days to bother finding out who it even belongs to. Time is of the essence here for the "customer," and they should be notified ASAP, by the end of that business day, and certainly by the next. Not by snail mail more than two weeks after the fact. It's not the 1970's anymore.
My older son about 10 years ago was playing at the Alley Cat with his band. They all parked behind the Alley Cat, and unloaded their gear. They came out after the show, and every one of their cars was gone. They eventually found a little sign behind a bush, barely visible during the day, and pretty much invisible at night. Each one of these high school kids had a bill from Schmer's for $350 to get their cars back. None of them had jobs. I've known lots of people who have had experiences with them at the lot for Cold Stone and Pizza Casbah, hooking up cars that are a minute or two past time, sometimes with the protesting driver there, and Schmer's telling them they have to pay anyway. The parking lot next to Perkins is gone now, but that place was a total cash cow for these folks.
What they are doing is technically legal, but totally unethical. I have written to the Better Business Bureau (where they have a 1 star out of five rating), gave them a review on Yelp (where they have a 2.5 out of 5 rating), and have also written to the PUC, where these companies have written their own dream regulations. I have also shared my story with the Governor, my state rep and senator, the county commissioners, the mayor, and my city council rep. I already heard back from Representative Ginal, she said in the 2022 legislative session they were going to be working on these predatory business practices by towing companies. These practices disproportionally affect the poor, who have no way to pay the outlandish fees, and end up losing their cars, and thereby their ability to go to work, care for their families, and exist in society. It's a horrible setback for them, and the towing company just sells their vehicles and makes a tidy profit at their expense. I understand the need for there to be a penalty for parking scofflaws who willfully violate parking ordinances, but these practices are predatory and unfair, especially to those who are barely making it.
If you have stories about this business, please share them with BBB, PUC, and your state and local reps, they'll be working on this issue in the upcoming legislative term. And of course you are welcome to share them here as well. Over the years I've heard many of them, and they haven't been good. Let's run shady and predatory businesses out of this town. read more