Car Towed from Visitors Car spot - What can I do?

Lragms on 27/12/2015 - 03:31
Last edited 27/12/2015 - 12:32

Hi all!!
A friend of mine has just had his car towed from a visitor car parking space at the building I live. There are signs all over the visitors car parking stating that all visitors must park for only 8 hours and saying that all visitors must display in a paper a phone number and the time they parked in. It is also stated that failing to do that would result in having the car towed.

My friend parked his car in one of the visitors spots but didn't have a paper/pen in his car; he also forgot to ask me for that when he came to my apartment . After 35 minutes approximately his car got towed and he had to pay $660 to get the car back. There were several available visitors car spaces in the building at that time, so it wasn't causing problems to anybody.

I know he hasn't complied with the rules stated in the signs of the building, but he was visiting me - a resident of the building. And he just forgot a piece of paper!!!

Is there anything he could do in this case to try to get his money back? Is the body corporate/towing company completely legal at towing his car just because of the lack of a piece of information in the dashboard?

Ps.: I live in QLD

Automotive

Comments

  • eve on 27/12/2015 - 06:17
    +1

    Where I live, the body corporate doesnt profit from towing. The charge is completely the fee issued by the towing company. Check with the body corporate.

  • Windows7forever on 27/12/2015 - 06:18
    +5

    Sounds like the strata/building manager and towing company are in cahoots with each other!

    It is private property and they can enforce their own rules, but that is extremely overzealous of them.
    Case in point, I once 'accidentally' parked in a private car park(outside a unit block) and received a polite warning to never park there again or else risk getting towed away. Needless to say I took heed of that note and never parked there illegally twice.

    Maybe your friend doesn't speak English or read/write? So they just tow every car they see parked there instantly without warning to the driver who may be from overseas, illiterate, etc.
    Maybe it was an emergency and someone was dying in the unit? "Oops, sorry your friend died but I had to tow your car away because you were parked illegally ;)"

    I think you get the point. I really don't know what to do in this situation apart from summoning the rage of the gods.

  • stevednj48 on 27/12/2015 - 09:03
    +4

    i don't think anything can be done.
    Rules are rules he didn't comply with them so therefore he is in the wrong.

    • reu on 28/12/2015 - 16:32

      So they can charge what they want in your world? What if the fee was twice that, or triple? Nope, I'd fight that. Seems the cost is more than what is reasonable to me.

  • CyberMurning on 27/12/2015 - 09:13
    +4

    What can they do? Quickly pay the fine get the car back ready to grab new bargain listed on ozb!

  • oscargamer on 27/12/2015 - 09:15
    +3

    you might want to get legal advice

    i THINK the tow company can only charge a fee that is reasonable and relates directly to the expense of towing. they cannot charge a punitive amount.

    • MelBourne on 05/01/2016 - 15:13

      It seems like they've picked the sweet point though… If it was over $1000 you might want to follow up civil action through VCAT or whatever the civil court system is in your state, and it might be worth your while.

      If it was less than $500 you would simply be wasting time and money by following this up with legal action.

      At $660 they make a really tidy profit out of this little mistake, but its still nearly at such a low amount that putting hours of time and perhaps paying for legal services to take this to court is not worth it… and 98% of people would probably pay the amount to get their car back and move on.

      I would find it SOOO awkward to work at a towing company like that… bunch of pr*cks.

  • Marcsie on 27/12/2015 - 09:25
    -1

    Your friend just needs to learn this valuable lesson and move on :)

    • Euphemistic on 27/12/2015 - 17:53

      $660 is a lot of money to learn a lesson like you aren't allowed to park in a visitor space if you are a visitor.

  • airzone on 27/12/2015 - 10:24
    +2

    Check to see if it's legal to have the car towed.. Last I looked into this (for both a workplace where visitor spots were being pilfered and a unit block where visitor spots were taken by commuters) it was illegal to tow a car that you didn't have the owners permission for, and a sign on the wall wasn't going to cut the mustard… Unless it was council towing from a public street.. I understand that it varies from state to state though and if illegal your friend can take punitive action.

    Edit: I should clarify that this is in NSW

  • resisting the urge on 27/12/2015 - 11:56
    +2

    "but he was visiting me - a resident of the building. And he just forgot a piece of paper!!!"

    You are a resident there like any other resident, and the rules are there for the residents.

    If you disagree with the Body Corporate's approach you can always make a submission to the next meeting, suggest better things to do than require people to fiddle about with paper et al.

    No doubt they had many issues to consider when they decided on the paper and pen approach. One would have been expensive access controls and timed parking, etc. I can see why trying to suggest your fellow residents pay for more advanced solutions, instead of going to all the trouble of remembering pesky pieces of paper, is less appealing than asking what ozBargainers would do.

    The problem with these things is always the logistics and having to have rules everyone can be held accountable to without fear or favour. It might not be cheap but I would consider paying the fee for my friend and apologising for not lending them a pen at the time. It's a horrible thing to have happen to one's wheels…

    EDIT: Going legal will only make you more of an enemy than making a mountain out of a molehill, may get you nowhere and worse, cost you and the residents dearly.

  • iratepirate on 27/12/2015 - 12:47
    +1

    Check your body corp agreement. I don't think they can put a time limit on a visitor parking.

    https://www.lookupstrata.com.au/strata-car-parking-can-body-…

  • captobvious on 27/12/2015 - 13:41

    Chain your car to a pole next time

  • [Deactivated] on 27/12/2015 - 14:05
    +2

    I know he hasn't complied with the rules stated in the signs of the building

    That pretty much sums it up, I'm afraid.

  • Euphemistic on 27/12/2015 - 17:51
    +2

    Rules are stupid. If they are towing cars after 35min, or even a couple of hours there is some sort of rort going on. How can anyone justify towing a car at that sort of cost for 35 min parking. Surely waiting a reasonable period of time (like 8hrs) before towing is all that is needed. If I was visiting I probably wouldn't have a pen or paper either and would also not like having my phone number on display in my car for all to see.

    Don't know what you can do about it, but it is not fair to tow that soon, especially if there are other spaces available.

    • Windows7forever on 31/12/2015 - 07:08

      I agree. 35min park and then tow away is completely and absurdly unreasonable. Anyone would think he like stopped his car in the middle of the harbour bridge during peak hour and abandoned it!

      • resisting the urge on 06/01/2016 - 08:46

        No it was towed after 8 hours 35 mins, not 35mins, because at no point did they put a piece of paper in view. Not very smart and totally reasonable if having trouble with illegal parkers.

        • Euphemistic on 07/01/2016 - 21:13

          No, it was towed after 35min. If it was gone within 35 min they must have called the tow truck within about 15min. Disgraceful, low act to do to a visitor, especially when the parking is up to 8hr but with a stupid bit of paper in the window.

          Should have reports the car stolen

        • resisting the urge on 11/01/2016 - 14:28

          @Euphemistic: My bad, well in that case its pretty sharp towing. Reporting the car stolen would only waste police resources, the first thing they verify is the parking restrictions (if they attend) and if they don't it won't help you anyhow, the car will sit in a pound until it is claimed. If it is not claimed, they may be able to sell it for scrap within a time-frame of their choosing assuming that falls within the law, which they would have worked out a procedure for a long time before this.

          That's pretty stiff if it was a friend visiting. Best to make sure you get a note on each visitor's car pronto from now on. I can see this as being a big issue given airbnb-style sub-letting and strata arguments in many buildings at present. It is perhaps one of the only ways some residents can impact the others who are turning their buildings into sort-stay apartments for teenagers and out of towners, etc.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/12/2015 - 15:05
    +2

    don't know what the law is like in QLD, but in NSW it's almost impossible to legally remove someone's car from visitor parking no matter how many signs, etc are posted.

  • [Deactivated] on 20/01/2016 - 12:20

    Ridiculous move by body corporate.

    I would have reported the car stolen.

    How did you even know it was towed?

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