‘I was confused,’ fumes driver whose car was towed despite paying for parking – she had to shell out $297 to get it back | 88I24H8 | 2024-05-12 12:08:01
'I was confused,' fumes driver whose car was towed despite paying for parking – she had to shell out $297 to get it back | 88I24H8 | 2024-05-12 12:08:01
A DRIVER attempted to enjoy a day out with her friends at a vintage clothes show and became the victim of a common scam.
Similar scams have been reported in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
Los Angeles, California, is known for its incredibly long list of things to do – many museums, sports stadiums, concert halls, and fairgrounds.
There are just as many parking lots that provide the ideal working grounds for scammers looking to take advantage of those attending a high-attendance event.
David Tracy, owner of and writer for The Autopian, wrote an article about his girlfriend's experience being scammed by clever "lot attendants" into paying for paying, only to be towed.
He referred to her as Elise to protect her identity.
Elise planned to spend the day with her friend at a vintage clothing show in the City of Angels and decided to park her Lexus SUV on a surface lot instead of the unground parking lot she'd used before.
"There was a sign that said $10 parking. There was an attendant with tickets," she told Tracy.
"I pulled in; he directed me to park in a specific place. He put a ticket on a window. I paid him, then left."
She told Tracy that she'd parked and enjoyed the show with her friend, and was shocked by what she saw in the parking lot.
"About four hours later, I go back to my car, and it's on a tow truck," she recalled.
The proof of payment that the "attendant" had her put on her windshield was fake, so the actual lot attendant removed it, resulting in the tow.
<!-- End of Brightcove Player --> "I was confused. I'd paid for parking," she said.
"When I talked to the [tow truck operator] and realized I'd gotten scammed, I felt embarrassed and shocked. I felt that feeling when you get when someone takes advantage of you."
Her Lexus had not moved an inch, but the two front wheels were on the truck, so she had to pay a drop fee to get her car back.
Typically the drop fee for a towed vehicle is $115 per vehicle according to Los Angeles' Official Police Garage website, but Elise paid more than that.
"I had to pay $297 for him to drop my car… to do a 'field drop,' even though he literally hadn't moved my car an inch," she said.
"He just had the two wheels up."
Elise wasn't the only one who was scammed, either.
Many of her friends fell for the convincing scam.
"I also felt bad for the women whose cars got towed. I think [the tow truck operator] said he'd towed 10 cars already," he said.
<p class="article__content--intro"> Wrongfully or not, retrieving a towed vehicle can be a hassle. </p> </div> </div> "I felt lucky that my car wasn't towed; at least I didn't have to pay over $500 and then Uber to some impound lot."
Tracy cited other outlets that reported similar scams in large cities where people dressed as parking attendants, had people pay for parking, and then gave them fake receipts to place on the window to serve as proof of payment.
He sourced a Reddit post of a driver warning people about it happening to them in Chicago, Illinois, where a "lot attendant" wrote the number 20 on the back of a Chanel card and instructed them to show it to the actual lot attendant who oversees the parking lot.
When the Redditor showed the attendant his "proof of payment," they were turned away and told the proof of payment was fake.
The police were called, though nothing was done about it.
Another Reddit post was sourced to show it was happening in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania, with a user commenting they'd seen the scammers prowling in lots during major events to target visitors.
In July 2023, police in Cincinnati, Ohio, asked the public for help to catch a scammer wearing an official-looking reflective vest who was allegedly scamming people into paying for parking.
Tracy contacted the owner of the garage Elise was scammed at, Joe's Auto Parks, and did not get a helpful response.
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