Towing fee from chevron

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that perhaps the gas station
owner isn't illegally gouging the OP for the additional $50 or is
trying to claw back additional money than what was already paid to the
tow company. Many service stations charge a storage fee for cars that
are left there beyond a set period of time. For example, when my
husband's venerable 1989 Nissan Sentra finally gave up the ghost a few
years ago, the service station that pronounced the last rites for it
gave us 48 hours to have it towed to a junkyard or they would have to
start charging us a storage fee. Stations have a finite amount of
parking space available to them -- they can't keep cars there
indefinitely.

I wonder if the demand for payment from the gas station is intended as
a tactic to keep the OP from ever parking there illegally in the
future.

Think about it - now that she thinks he's wanting money from her,
she's gonna be sure to steer clear of his establishment in the
future.

It's actually kind of ingenious. He can keep people from parking
there and not even have to post signs - Folks will be avoiding his
property like the plague!

You deffo shouldn't pay the $50...for one simple reason - Chevron has
no way to punish you for not paying it AS LONG AS you do not have a
Chevron credit card, they do not know your SSN and you haven't paid
for anything at that Chevron with a check or credit card.

Easy to just ignore it and not pay. If the exceptions above are all
true, they cannot whack your credit or do anything to set you back
financially.

You might ask the tow company what, if anything, they charged the
chevron owner. Might be interesting info to have.

Why bother? I wouldn't pay the $50. But I also wouldn't have parked
there in the first place (if you're parking for free, something is
wrong), and I wouldn't park there again.

He just wants to fine you $50 for parking in his lot. He has no legal
grounds to get this money from you -- no signs posted, nothing. I'd
forget about it and consider it a lesson learned.

you say there were no signs there. However many towing companies
won't actually tow unless their signage is in place.

and 120 is pretty close to what i've heard is the going rate.




i know you have a letter of complaint here, but have you asked them to
even explain why yet?

as for the 50 bucks... I would suggest you ask them explain it.

don't say "i won't pay it" and ignore it cos that will always bite you
in the backside with fouled up credit.

My experience having cars towed from a business where I was the
manager, is that it cost us nothing - the cost was to the car owner
and paid to the company that towed it before the car was released.

I doubt you owe them anything. I would not pay.

I think a lot of this boils down to the local ordinances in your town.
I would call and check. It may well be they can do this and also, if
they have your plate number, start collection proceedings if you don't
pay. If your town does not allow this, don't pay.

Give NOTHING to the Chevron owner.

If the owner paid for the tow and the towing fee was not included in
the 120.00 when you got it out of impound, then yes you own him the
money.

I would ask for a breakdown of the costs from the impound and
paperwork from the owner (like an invoice) and see exactly what the 50
dollars is for.

No, you normally can not just park your car anywhere. Even parking
lots or gas stations or the side of the road. I don't know how long it
was at the gas station but you should have made arraignments with the
owner if you needed to leave it there.

Your letter doesn't say what state you are in, but I'm almost 100%
positive that it is illegal for the owner/manager of Chevron to charge
you. The vehicle was towed at your expense, not his. You already paid
the towing company what they were owed. I would contact your local
police department to make them aware of this, I don't think it is
legal.

If there is a sign anyone saying no parking and vehicle towed at
owners expense he could come after you. Otherwise just never go back
to that Chevron.

would tell the manager what to do with his hand-written letter. You
were parked illegally, got towed, and paid the penalty. You owe him
nothing.