Help needed in Los Angeles. This is serious, Please read

[Redman]

.... The case was settled without going to court this morning. ....
....
... I’m going to tell them to pay my $80 ticket or I
....

Chris Mr. Shirazdrum,

Wow, I am surprized that they addressed the issue at all on the morning of the 2nd day, let alone offer a settlement.

The fact that they denied any fault does not suprize me at all. I am sure they have lawyers advising them to not admit any fault, even if it is obvious.

But you must have provided them something that showed it was obviously thier tow operators fault/negligence/stupidity.

Would not the ticket be from the city? And tow company not have anything do do with that?

.

[1_v8_merc]

Good move!

That's similar to what happened to us.
We got ****ed over by a moving company, supposed to be a $800 bill, and ended up coming out to $2000.
We TOLD THEM to stop all work and talk to US FIRST if the bill was about to increase or any additional charges to be added.
(since we were under contract of an exact amount of money)

Well they delivered our stuff to the new house, JACKED up the bill to $2000.
Then demanded we pay it NOW, or they wouldn't unload our stuff, and threatened to drive off with our stuff and leave it in a warehouse and make us pay rental charges!!!!!!!!!

Lucky for them, I wasnt home when this happened.
I would not hesitate to pull out my dear friend Mr. Glock, and proceed to tell them that They weren't ****ing going ANYWHERE with my furniture until the bill came back down to the initial $800.
(as far as im concerned, you pull into MY driveway with MY property, increase the bill, and THREATEN to LEAVE with my property? That is theft of property, and that's easily enough to get you shot over.)
The nerve of some of these pricks!


ANYWAYS, they ended up knocking $1000 off the bill....which STILL wasn't down to the original amount....

2 months later, and 10 or so phone calls to the company and complaints to the Better Business Bureau...they ended up giving us ANOTHER $500 in refunds.

And the company was on the brink of being shut down last time I heard.

The name of the company isn't worth mentioning, because they aren't in operation.

But apparently these guys were notorious for opening up companies, ripping off people, getting shut down, and then opening up Another company under a different name.....

You gotta be careful out there these days, there's so many scams, it's unreal.....even companies with good reps, can suddenly turn sides too.

[Buster-boy]

Good for you man. I'm shocked at what they did, and even more shocked they made it right - sort of. I looked at the damage pics. Looks like they hooked the strap to the front/top of the tank and cranked it down from the back. That's the only way to crunch that part of the tank.

Good luck on the rest of your trip and let's hope this is you only problem - or atleast your worst one!!

[mighty13d]

too bad $350 might just cover the petcock, tank and seat. I would have probably let their shop paint up a NEW tank and get a new and petcock and then just put the stuff back with a refund of the charges in my pocket too of course. BUT anything is better than nothing.

My roommate's car got towed and he was a police officer at the time. we went to get it back and they wouldn't release it to him because he was borrowing his parent's car at the time due to his being broken. Did I mention he was a Police officer, fully equipped with badge, gun and ID to prove it. Even a quick call to his dept could have proved it too. But since he wasn't the registered owner he had to call his parents to drive over and get it for him. Good thing it was only an hour drive.

[shirazdrum]

I guess I was lucky (or they were) that I didn’t see them towing my baby regardless of how they did it. There is no way of knowing what I would have used; Fiskar hatchet or the Kershaw blade.
Monday it rained like hell in L.A so I didn’t move a muscle and I didn’t have internet either. I woke up at 8 this morning to head out for estimates and media bash. I stopped at Starbucks to check my emails and get addresses of the places I needed to go when the ******* manager called. He said they found nothing wrong with their method of towing and no one to blame! But!!!!! They are willing to fix the bike for me if I don’t sue them!
So that letter scared them a little and got them moving I guess. He offered to fix the bike for free at their bodyshop but it would take over a week to do so and this bike is my only ride. After a lot of haggling, I agreed on $350 for the damages and I repeat: only for damages.
I got there to collect and they only handed me a $350 check. I asked for the refund of the towing fee since that was part of the deal when I wrote that letter and they didn’t budge. With the place full of customers, I said what I wanted to say to them and made it as loud as I could.
At last I told him, all I wanted that night was to be treated with respect, and if he apologized sincerely I would let him go but he apologized for the damage to the bike but not for being a prick. I gave him the chance to do it several time but he didn’t so I decided to continue my bashing. I can’t sue them anymore since I signed a release but nowhere does it say that I can’t say what happed to the media. The messed up thing was that he kept saying “we’re good people, I will give you a discount on your next tow”. And I was thinking, next time you touch my bike, I’ll give you a discount on your tombstone.
I have sent over 25 letters to different newspapers and TV station and hopefully someone will listen.
I strapped the tank down, loaded my stuff and retreated back to Bakersfield for the repair and to pick up some of my leftover stuff. The ride was a miserable one. It was 23 degrees at the Tejon Pass and my fingers were numb. I stopped to take pictures of the fresh snow from yesterday but I was so cold and jumped on the bike again to get down to lower elevation.
The forks are fine, with a slight arch but I could be hallucinating too.the petcock operates as it should although it’s bent with no leak. It rides fine but with a lot of rattles from the tank and the seat. I’m getting it fix here tomorrow morning. Cheff1366 lives in Bakersfield and I’m sure we can figure something out.
I’m writing another letter to the company’s board of directors again and I’ll keep writing till I get more out of them. I will keep you posted.
Thanks to every single one of you for commenting here or offering your helping in the area. My phone is dead and I wanted to call you guys to say thank you personally but I left my charger in L.A. I’ll charge the phone on the bike and start calling tomorrow.

Moral of this story is: STAY AWAY FROM TOWING ZONES.

P.S. Don’t be afraid to bluff when that’s all you got.

[Skateguy50]

Glad to read it worked out reasonably well and more importantly in a timely manor so you can be back on your way. Good luck getting things patched up and getting back on your way.

[tfb]

The mind boggles at the sheer pigheaded ugliness of some people in this world...
I'm glad you got the situation redressed in some sort of way, even if it's not adequate.

Ride on!