Was Towing Really Necessary, Burger King?

It's not BK's fault that you didn't look.

Perhaps Burger King should consider putting up Park and Ride signs
instead?

Yes it was. Burger King isn't your personal parking lot.

if i owned a business, yes, this is how i would handle it. i don't
need customers who can't follow the rules. you know that saying about
ignorance of the law being no excuse for breaking the law? whose
fault is it that you didn't see the sign? use this as a lesson and
next time, pay more attention.

I just was saying to my date on Friday night as we looked for
on-street parking, "Where I'm from, a college town, the general rule
was: If you're parking for free... something is WRONG." In other
words, too good to be true.

All I am going to say is Where is Love?, If the vehicle did not hinder
service at this Burger King, what harm could it have don.. Does this
Burger King share in the reveue receive from this or it's employees..
How sad we have came this far to be so selfest and greddy. And while
not have a sign in the door about the towing..

Maybe next time you'll look for and heed signs and not park where
you're told not to.

Do you still have your receipt from breakfast? If so, you have a case
against Burger King, as this is proof that you were a customer there
on that date.

I'd recommend consulting with a lawyer on this case, but first, give
Burger King a chance to correct their error. They may be willing to
make amends in place of a lawsuit coming down upon them!

Not really.

Most likely people would just ignore the "friendly note", same as
they ignore the posted sign.

Therefore they'd have to keep track of the cars of everyone who
received the note...

Thus they use a sign.

And as for "losing a customer"... if you're parking there only to go
fishing, you're not really a customer. If you were a customer you
wouldn't have been towed.

The real question is this: did you catch any fish?

I'll be perfectly honest and admit I had my car towed once long ago
under similiar circumstances (except there was no sign posted).
However, I just went and paid the tow fine. I realized that I was the
one in the wrong, so I had to take responsibility.

You ask for a warning - but isn't the sign itself a warning?

For all it's worth, I do understand the frustration and panic when you
return to find your car's been towed. However, it was your actions
that led to the car being towed.

Whether or not the overflow parking lot is filled its still BK's
property and they are well within their rights to post these signs.
The reason for the signage is so people who do park and leave will not
do it.
You read the sign...you still left your vehicle there. You took a
chance and lost.

On the same token, I'm wondering why my neighbor felt the need to have
my car towed when I left it parked in his driveway. It was the first
time I'd done it.

Sign was posted. Car was left most of the day. Car was towed. Not
understanding what they did wrong.

If you were parked in a downtown area and failed to feed the meter,
would you argue that they should have left you a nice note or taken
down your plate and waited to see if you came back to put more
quarters in? Of course not!

My guess is exactly your situation (people parking all day on their
lot) is why they began enforcing this rule.

Yes, it was necessary. You were parked on private property.

Why on earth should they give you a warning? The signs were posted,
you just didn't see them (or probably even look for them) when you
parked your car there.

Other than lots that are designated as "Park & Ride" or "Free Public
Parking", all parking lots are owned and maintained by SOMEONE, and
for good reason: to serve customers of whatever business is near
them. Why didn't your friend just meet you at your house, or vice
versa?

By the way: It's quite likely that this lot is not owned or
maintained by Burger King. Many businesses only lease building
space, and really have nothing to do with the parking lots. It's
quite possible that the lot is owned by someone completely
unaffiliated with Burger King, and that they were the ones who had you
towed. You're making assumptions that someone at Burger King called
the towing company. I have to believe that as busy as fast food
places usually are, I doubt that many employees would have the time,
or the care, to monitor the parking lots, especially one that's
designated an "overflow lot". I think your anger is misplaced here,
not only regarding parking there at all, but who is responsible for
towing you.

Who is ultimately responsible? Look in the mirror.

They do own a company and that is how they handled the situation.

There were signs posted. You should have looked around. I had my car
towed once and trust me, I learned to look for any and all signs.

I used to live near this area and frequented Dupont Rd. quite a lot.
I can't believe that BK got so busy on a Sunday especially, that they
just needed the extra space and towed your car out of inconvenience to
them. It was certainly within their right to tow your car, but I
personally think someone was having a bad day or simply decided to be
a jerk and have your car towed out of spite or fun.

They were within their right, but if I were the manager, I most likely
would not have the car towed so "quickly".

I worked at one Burger King where we let a car stay for about 2 weeks
before we finally decided to get it towed. We gave the owner that long
to get it moved and they didn't, and get this, they were irate when we
did!

It would have been nice of them to give you a warning, but as you
acknowledge, there were signs. This is sufficient notice in my
opinion. It appears that the management has cracked down on parking,
and the staff was simply enforcing company policy - maybe it is a
liability issue, as you say the lot was practically empty. Maybe they
have a problem with people abandoning vehicles, or placing "for sale"
vehicles.

Are there local carpool lots in your area? I know that in Michigan,
there are government operated parking lots every few highway exits in
the city exactly for your purpose.

While it totally sucks that your car was towed, you do acknowledge
there was a policy and a sign, so I think their action is 100%
justified. While a warning would have been nice, you are correct- it
would take too much time to track. Do you really expect minimum wage
workers and jazzed up "managers" to patrol the parking lot
competently?

I would not however write off the whole chain as they are all
independently owned, but most will likely have a similar policy.

I guess you are saying that although you failed to see or read the
sign that said cars would be towed if the customer leaves the
property, before you left the premises, that you in fact saw and read
the sign once your car was nowhere to be found. To my mind that means
the signs are large enough to warn people not to park there. In
addition, the corrective action is clearly stated on the signs.

If they went to the trouble to have signs made and installed, that
means they likely got tired of warning people by less severe means.
Besides, which hourly employee is going to have the job of tracking
how long people are parked, and drawing up these warnings?

Burger King clearly values keeping the parking area available for a
flow of customers more than maintaining spots for the ones who stop by
for a meal and leave to go elsewhere.

I agree with you. If this is a new policy, and Burger King has
allowed cars to park in the overflow lot in the past, it would have
been decent of them to first issue a warning before towing. A warning
would show that it's a community oriented business that actually cares
about its customers. It might have required a little effort on their
part, as you said, but worth it in the long run.

Yes, yes it was. Burger King does not own and maintain a parking lot
for its customers so that noncustomers can use it for long-term
parking, or for customers who grab a bite to eat and then abandon
their vehicle for six hours.

How about if the owner of BK parked his car in your driveway all day?

I'm confused. Why should Burger King let you park your car for free in
their parking lot, even once?