Fail tag would've been appropriate here too.

There may be some blue collar businessmen out there with less ethics than tow truck drivers, but I just can't think of any right now.

meh. honest mistake. If your life is so pathetic that you are lined up at 4:30AM at a Best Buy maybe the universe needs to give you a little kick in the ass anyways.

The law ought to require the person who orders a nonconsensual tow to be responsible for a share of the costs. Do you take offense at somebody using your store's otherwise-empty parking lot at 3:00 AM? Fine, pay half the $100 bill to have the car towed away. Aha, so you didn't really care that much after all.

There is no societal benefit to allowing predatory towing.

Cities in Massachusetts have started to demand kickbacks from tow companies, to share the profit.


SilentStrider

Maybe FAIL, maybe a calculated gamble that went awry. Most of the time "tow first and ask questions later" works. Most of the time it fails there is no consequence beyond lost profit for the night. We had a tow company committing fraud in Cambridge one holiday. Tow company employees directed traffic headed for public parking into private lots, then towed the cars from the private lots because they had the contract to do that. When the dust cleared they had to give back the money. The company kept its license and nobody went to jail. Calculated gamble that cost them a night's profits.

ZAZ: Do you take offense at somebody using your store's otherwise-empty parking lot at 3:00 AM? Fine, pay half the $100 bill to have the car towed away. Aha, so you didn't really care that much after all.

Until a drunk who parked there plows into your building or falls on the way back to his or her car and proceeds to sue.

ZAZ

The law ought to require the person who orders a nonconsensual tow to be responsible for a share of the costs. Do you take offense at somebody using your store's otherwise-empty parking lot at 3:00 AM? Fine, pay half the $100 bill to have the car towed away. Aha, so you didn't really care that much after all

If they imposed this rule at Philadelphia International Airport, the city would go broke, and I'd consider flying commercial again. Those bastards will hook your car up if you stop it at the curb - you don't even to have to turn off the ignition or leave the vehicle.

SilentStrider: Fail tag would've been appropriate here too.

In defense of the tow truck drivers, they *did* successfully tow the cars away.

Except for the whole "towing the wrong cars away" bit, they were masters of their craft. Perhaps they were a little TOO good.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: Except for the whole "towing the wrong cars away" bit, they were masters of their craft. Perhaps they were a little TOO good.

So they were so successful, they failed?

SilentStrider: So they were so successful, they failed?

My theory?

It loops from GREAT SUCCESS to EPIC FAIL and then returns to GREAT SUCCESS and quickly vacillates to EPIC FAIL again and so on and so forth.

In essence, we've uncovered the secret of perpetual motion.

We should harness this somehow and solve the world's energy crises.

In essence, we've uncovered the secret of perpetual motion.

Put tow truck drivers in a hamster wheel for all eternity?

ZAZ: Do you take offense at somebody using your store's otherwise-empty parking lot at 3:00 AM? Fine, pay half the $100 bill to have the car towed away.

Private property is really only private when you're using it at that very second!

ZAZ: Put tow truck drivers in a hamster wheel for all eternity?

The potential gains are too high to not attempt this.

That's *all I'm saying.

People that camp out at Best Buy deserve anything bad that happens to them as a result. Stupidity should be painful anyway.

hockeyfarker: meh. honest mistake. If your life is so pathetic that you are lined up at 4:30AM at a Best Buy maybe the universe needs to give you a little kick in the ass anyways.

Honest mistake, MY ASS.

I guess I'm a little slow: What is stupid about camping out to ensure access to on-sale items?

WTF kind of asshole bar won't let people park there overnight if a patron has had too much to drink?

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: We should harness this somehow and solve the world's energy crises.



String theory.

/hot

CaesarSneezy: WTF kind of asshole bar won't let people park there overnight if a patron has had too much to drink?

I was going to say RTFA, however you obviously didn't even have the capacity to read the headline either.

CaesarSneezy: WTF kind of asshole bar won't let people park there overnight if a patron has had too much to drink?

The kind owned in part by a tow-truck company.

It would be a shame if the towing business would have been mistakenly hit by Jewish lightening ...

Marcus Aurelius: There may be some blue collar businessmen out there with less ethics than tow truck drivers, but I just can't think of any right now.

While it's true that they are frequently unethical with regards to towing, they maintain the utmost ethical behavior with regards to drug delivery.

RED WITH RAGE!!! KILL KILL Lik.

hockeyfarker: If your life is so pathetic that you are lined up at 4:30AM at a Best Buy maybe the universe needs to give you a little kick in the ass anyways.

You know what's just as pathetic? Sitting on your ass in front a a computer biatching about people who do things you don't.

Predatory tow truck drivers are the lowest scum, they can really fark up your day or week-end if the compound is closed 'till monday morning.

In Texas, just complain to the tow driver's parole officer.

ZAZ:

Cities in Massachusetts have started to demand kickbacks from tow companies, to share the profit.



What could possibly go wrong?

Know what gets me?


These people were not lining up at 3 or 4 am. I can understand that.
It says the line started at 4pm Thursday. That's farking insane.

CravenMorehead: People that camp out at Best Buy deserve anything bad that happens to them as a result. Stupidity should be painful anyway.

So you're saying that by posting to Fark, you deserve to have your car towed? Makes sense, I guess.

hockeyfarker: meh. honest mistake. If your life is so pathetic that you are lined up at 4:30AM at a Best Buy maybe the universe needs to give you a little kick in the ass anyways.

It's worse than you think. I passed a Best Buy at 2:30 yesterday afternoon and there were already people lined up in front of the place. The funniest part is that Amazon was selling the same stuff online for the same price yesterday (sometimes a little less) as Best Buy was selling for this morning.

ZAZ: The law ought to require the person who orders a nonconsensual tow to be responsible for a share of the costs. Do you take offense at somebody using your store's otherwise-empty parking lot at 3:00 AM? Fine, pay half the $100 bill to have the car towed away. Aha, so you didn't really care that much after all.

Awesome, I'm going to get drunk and park in your driveway next time you go on vacation. You won't be using it anyway.

The majority of tow truck drivers I've encountered have been the absolute worst pieces of redneck trash you can imagine. The one and only who was nice was a foreign guy.

Leopold Stotch: Awesome, I'm going to get drunk and park in your driveway next time you go on vacation.

I don't care. I won't be using it.

andreirublev: The majority of tow truck drivers I've encountered have been the absolute worst pieces of redneck trash you can imagine. The one and only who was nice was a foreign guy.

Actually the majority of tow truck drivers are foreigners in that section of Houston.They are also the biggest scumbags.

ZAZ: Leopold Stotch: Awesome, I'm going to get drunk and park in your driveway next time you go on vacation.

I don't care. I won't be using it.

Do you mind if I sell Meth out of my car while I'm there?

andreirublev: The majority of tow truck drivers I've encountered have been the absolute worst pieces of redneck trash you can imagine. The one and only who was nice was a foreign guy.

Bastards will steal your pot right out of the center console.

ZAZ

The law ought to require the person who orders a nonconsensual tow to be responsible for a share of the costs. Do you take offense at somebody using your store's otherwise-empty parking lot at 3:00 AM? Fine, pay half the $100 bill to have the car towed away. Aha, so you didn't really care that much after all.

I am not any sort of libertarian (for instance, I have advocated that the government would be completely right to crush and destroy any business that allows smoking indoors) but I think it's beyond asinine to make it illegal to remove a tresspasser without payment. Even on the most public of private properties, like a parking lot, the owner retains basic rights, and the most fundamental right of property is to control access.

nytmare: CravenMorehead: People that camp out at Best Buy deserve anything bad that happens to them as a result. Stupidity should be painful anyway.

So you're saying that by posting to Fark, you deserve to have your car towed? Makes sense, I guess.

Wow, you're one of them what-you-call genyuses aintcha?

bmr68: andreirublev: The majority of tow truck drivers I've encountered have been the absolute worst pieces of redneck trash you can imagine. The one and only who was nice was a foreign guy.

Actually the majority of tow truck drivers are foreigners in that section of Houston.They are also the biggest scumbags.

Really? Huh. In Dallas, my lifetime score has been:

Redneck assholes: 4
Friendly guy from Sierra Leone: 1

/includes tows of friends' cars... I don't break down *that* often

Leopold Stotch

There no market for meth in my city and you would be noticed and removed if a stream of people started showing up from out of town.

MIguy

hockeyfarker: If your life is so pathetic that you are lined up at 4:30AM at a Best Buy maybe the universe needs to give you a little kick in the ass anyways.

You know what's just as pathetic? Sitting on your ass in front a a computer biatching about people who do things you don't.

No, standing out in front of Best Buy at 4pm on Thansgiving Day is more pathetic than that. A lot more. Like, if their car gets wrongfully towed I'll totally be laughing at them pathetic.

MIguy: You know what's just as pathetic? Sitting on your ass in front a a computer biatching about people who do things you don't.

What if you're biatching about people who biatch about people doing incredibly pathetic things?

Back when I was an on-call claims adjuster, I got called out one night on a car/city bus accident. I got photos of all the damage to the car and then let the tow truck hook it up and take it away. Five minutes later, I hear a loud thud a block away. One of the by-standers runs up and tells me the tow truck dropped the car and are hooking it up again.

After I got done at the scene, I went to the tow yard and took photos of the new damage on the car. Saved the bus company about $500 on that one.

I've seen things a lot worse around here.

Not long ago one of the local station filmed guys charging drivers for parking in private lots near before event. They then filmed them taking down the parking advertisements and nailing up "private property no trespassing" signs on trees around the full lot during the event.
Then they towed them all.

The police were called. Only to tell the angry mob outside the tow yard that they had to pay to get their cars back or leave, otherwise be arrested, but they were called.

Somehow I suspect the rumors that the city got kickbacks was likely true.

hockeyfarker: What if you're biatching about people who biatch about people doing incredibly pathetic things?

That's obviously less pathetic.

MPOM: I guess I'm a little slow: What is stupid about camping out to ensure access to on-sale items?
You're just too stupid to know.
Get out there, line up, and wait for the nice people who'll allow you to spend your money.

If you're in line to save money, you are a tool.

aerojockey: the most fundamental right of property is to control access.

Right. And if you find a stray car on your property you can have it removed. You can have it removed. You're the one asking for work to be done, you pay for it.

Maybe somebody will turn out to be liable to you in (civil) tresspass. Maybe not. The risk and expense of litigation is the friction that prevents the system from turning into an orgy of ripoffs. This seems to be accepted in most cases, but somebody made a law saying it isn't for parking.

My favorite part is how they managed to tow 12 cars before the people standing outside Best Buy called police. I bet just about everyone standing in the line was bored out of their minds and were actually watching their cars get towed.

hockeyfarker: meh. honest mistake. If your life is so pathetic that you are lined up at 4:30AM at a Best Buy maybe the universe needs to give you a little kick in the ass anyways.

It wouldn't be a problem if tow truck drivers didn't do this ALL THE TIME.

/okay that's an overstatement
//but enough time to gather a good amount of hatred around here.

Tow truck drivers shouldn't be allowed to tow a car without express consent specific to that vehicle. They should need a written "permission to tow" slip to be signed by the property owner with the license plate of the vehicle. No more of this, you can tow any car form here any time you want bullshiat.

If the car isn't bothering you enough to call a tow truck, then it doesn't need to be towed.

MPOM: I guess I'm a little slow: What is stupid about camping out to ensure access to on-sale items?

The fact that you can get the same and better sales all year long online. No tax, no shipping, no hordes.