So, apparently our recently re-elected City Controller finally noticed that getting your car towed in Philadelphia by a private operator means getting the shaft – and not the driveshaft, either.
Controller Alan Butkovitz issued a scathing report earlier this week decrying the practices of towing companies operating in the city as “price gouging” and “predatory towing”.
If Butkovitz is surprised by the findings in his report, he’s all alone.
The city is chockablock with horror stories from motorists fleeced beyond comprehension by tow truck drivers who can swipe a vehicle in seconds, and the towing company owners, who hold that vehicle hostage for a king’s ransom. Walk into any barbershop, tavern, grocery store, or beauty parlor and bring up the subject with a random stranger. Not only will they chew your ear off for hours, everyone in the vicinity will join in – until the conversation resembles the game show “Can You Top This?” with each tale of agony progressively worse than the last.
If you’ve ever had your car towed, or accompanied some poor soul attempting to retrieve their car from these extortionists, it’s an experience you’re not likely to forget – sort of like being robbed and beaten by muggers. In fact, tow truck companies and muggers have a lot in common.
Both strike when you least expect it and can least afford it. Both find particular joy in taking advantage of the most vulnerable victims. But mostly, both tow truck companies and muggers leave you with the same feeling – wounded, violated, bewildered, and flat broke.
The Controller’s report is a stinging 37-page indictment of all the city’s major towing operators, and of Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, whose job it is to regulate these thieving pirates. L & I’s enforcement of city code with regard to these predatory towing companies, as you can imagine, has been pitiful. You can view the full report at www.philadelphiacontroller.org.
The report - an engrossing page-turner, by the way – is such an incredible insight into the city’s underbelly of greed, corruption, and incompetence, that it would be downright funny if not for the fact that we’re the ones paying for it.
Tow companies are allowed by city code to charge $150 for towing fees. An exorbitant price, to be sure, and enough to keep any honest businessman happy – but not enough if you’re a thief. These bandits routinely go above and beyond, charging up to $200 for towing, in addition to tacking on other phantom fees for labor and equipment. And this in addition to their usual $25 per day storage fee, a pickpocket scam if ever there was one.
City code also mandates that towing companies take credit and debit cards as payment. Even the operators themselves laugh openly at this one. Several owners told reporters this week that not only are they going to continue to demand cash only, no one can stop them.
The report was accompanied by two responses from the relevant department heads, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and L & I Commissioner Fran Burns.
Ramsey is all for stricter enforcement of towing operators because police are often called when disputes arise between tow truck operators and enraged car owners. While he doesn’t have the actual numbers of incidents, it happens often enough to impact police readiness.
Here’s an excerpt from page 8 of the report, to give you some perspective: “Private parking towing operations provide opportunity for unscrupulous operators, under cover of their private parking enforcement authority, to steal private automobiles. As a result, the Police Department has spent considerable time and effort to monitor and control these operations to prevent vehicle thefts.”
Note the Controller’s language. They’re not illegally towing vehicles, they’re stealing vehicles. And we’re expending valuable police manpower trying to stop them.
L & I Commissioner Fran Burns’ response was to say that her department is improving its ability to track towing violations, and she hadn’t gotten an overwhelming number of complaints from citizens. I’m guessing at L & I, ‘improving’ means going from nonexistent enforcement to lax enforcement.
Fine. If that’s the way she wants it, then let’s do it.
Flood L & I with your complaints. Bombard that new 311 number city managers are so keen on using.
Every towing sign you see with more than $150 in fees, call 311. If your car was towed illegally, call 311. Every time one of these crooks tries to jack up the fee on you, call 311.
Call your city councilperson, call your state rep, and complain to anyone in power who will listen.
The car you save might be your own.
