5 ms·

I have, on multiple occasions (in Austin, >10 years ago), paid for parking to an "attendant" at a lot I know is free. Those guys will just have your car towed —

I have, on multiple occasions (in Austin, >10 years ago), paid for parking to an "attendant" at a lot I know is free. Those guys will just have your car towed — the whole scam just hangs together: the towing company charges you for the storage & processing, but not the nominal fee; the attendant gets cash. Win-win-lose.

kortilla 3y ago
How can they have it towed if it’s free. That’s just theft.
- asah 3y ago
  Towing companies enjoy special privileges and presumed innocent, e.g. no penalties for "towing the wrong car."
  - jakelazaroff 3y ago
    I mean, everyone is (supposed to be) presumed innocent. But point taken about the special privileges.
  - WirelessGigabit 3y ago
    It approaches qualified immunity. Consider an AWD BMW without badges. If it's a 3 series or above all you know is that it's either RWD or AWD. If they tow it by the rear wheels you blow up your transfer case. But try and prove that it was THAT action that blew it up.
    - ciupicri 3y ago
      The proper way to deal with this is to lift the car using a crane and put it on a platform like this https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seeligstadt-germany-april-08-2016-man-407622505 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seeligstadt-germany...
- nikanj 3y ago
  Call your buddy at the towing company, give them $20 cash. Criminals are quite efficient at getting things done
- KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
  A lot of the blue collar professions are in cahoots with organized crime (and similarly many adjacent white collar industries like real estate) In New York it has gotten so bad that even first responders have been subverted https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/gang-members-and-others-who-used-violence-take-control-new-york-fire-mitigation https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/gang-members-and-others...
  - woodruffw 3y ago
    “Fire Mitigation” are not first responders: they’re private entities that listen to the FDNY’s radio frequencies and follow them around. They’re ambulance chasers and that’s always been a scummy domain; it’d be much more surprising (and worse) if FDNY themselves were somehow involved.
- Spooky23 3y ago
  Two things. Sometimes these venue areas have other central business district employers who don’t allow overnight or weekend parking for the public, but don’t enforce it. (But they are signed to allow towing) The fake parking guy probably has a relationship with the tow driver. Also, tow operators are generally pretty shady. Because they operate in a second responder capacity, they have personal relationships with cops and sheriffs, repair garages, etc.
LandR 3y ago
In my city, in the rougher parts it used to be somewhat normal to pay someone to "look after your car", of course you were paying them not to vandalise it while you were away! Especially popular on football days when parking near the stadium. It was only a couple of pounds or so. I haven't been to these parts of town for years so I have no idea if this practice still goes on.
- leesalminen 3y ago
  There’s a popular swimming around here that’s near a rough neighborhood. One elderly gentleman from that neighborhood guards the cars at the swimming hole. He even got himself a shirt that says “security”. You pay $2 and he makes sure nobody busts the windows out of your car.
  - seabass-labrax 3y ago
    Do you think this is blackmail as described by your parent comment, or a genuine (albeit unofficial) offer of protection?
    - leesalminen 3y ago
      No, I don’t think it’s blackmail in this particular situation. Though that definitely does exist here in other spots. This is just an old guy who tries to quell the riff-raff of the youth of the neighborhood. He’s really sweet actually. And if you bring him a cold beer, he’ll do a quick cleaning of your windows to boot!
- djbusby 3y ago
  I'm aware, and have used, this practice in Oakland, CA, Los Angeles, SF, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and Portland OR. One reason I keep a small amount of cash around - just for the vig.
  - canadianfella 3y ago
    [dead]
xg15 3y ago
That goes beyond fraud though. That sounds more like a protection racket.
NikolaNovak 3y ago
I'm from a developing country with humongous corruption. I now live in Canada and love it. But to certain degree corruption is just less visible. For example, apparently majority of our towing industry in Toronto is just organized crime. With murders and arson and everything - in the seemingly simple and innocuous towing industry. And when opening a restaurant in downtown, near one of the stadiums, protection money is just normal line item. https://www.thedrive.com/news/44749/inside-the-tow-truck-mafia-how-organized-crime-took-over-canadas-towing-industry https://www.thedrive.com/news/44749/inside-the-tow-truck-maf...
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  > majority of our towing industry in Toronto is just organized crime All industries who's generous profits depend on monopolizing a fixed pie, they need to tightly control the amount of competition in order to maintain their profits, so they eventually devolve into a maifa-like organization, regardless if they're blue collar or white collar. The only difference is the blue-collar mafia is way more visible as they solve their difference with valence, while the white-collar mafia doesn't need to resort to barbaric acts but simply lobbies their political friends in power to put enough laws and regulations in place to stop any newcomers entering their turf. If only the towing industry could have taken a page out of Canada's telcos' book and lobby their way.
  - mlloyd 3y ago
    "The only difference is the blue-collar mafia is way more visible as they solve their difference with valence, while the white-collar mafia doesn't need to resort to barbaric acts but simply lobbies their political friends in power to put enough laws and regulations in place to stop any newcomers entering their turf." Ah, Brujah vs Ventrue.
- tomca32 3y ago
  Similar experience here, and from your name we’re either neighbors or from the same country originally. People from our region usually have some idealized fantasy about western countries. After I moved to the US I was shocked to find out that it is just as corrupt as the Balkans, just in a different way. My pet peeve is hearing how I don’t understand corruption because I live in a functioning country now.
konschubert 3y ago
What if you just send the police after them if they tow your car?
aBioGuy 3y ago
I remember when I moved to DC many years ago we drove to an art exhibit (in an empty building way away from the metro). There was a guy walking up and down the road saying "$5 to park!" I paid him and in the elevator an older woman smugly told me "It's free to park here!" I told her "I know, I'm paying for him to not break MY window." The look on her face....

kortilla 3y ago

How can they have it towed if it’s free. That’s just theft.

asah 3y ago
Towing companies enjoy special privileges and presumed innocent, e.g. no penalties for "towing the wrong car."
- jakelazaroff 3y ago
  I mean, everyone is (supposed to be) presumed innocent. But point taken about the special privileges.
- WirelessGigabit 3y ago
  It approaches qualified immunity. Consider an AWD BMW without badges. If it's a 3 series or above all you know is that it's either RWD or AWD. If they tow it by the rear wheels you blow up your transfer case. But try and prove that it was THAT action that blew it up.
  - ciupicri 3y ago
    The proper way to deal with this is to lift the car using a crane and put it on a platform like this https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seeligstadt-germany-april-08-2016-man-407622505 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seeligstadt-germany...
nikanj 3y ago
Call your buddy at the towing company, give them $20 cash. Criminals are quite efficient at getting things done
KRAKRISMOTT 3y ago
A lot of the blue collar professions are in cahoots with organized crime (and similarly many adjacent white collar industries like real estate) In New York it has gotten so bad that even first responders have been subverted https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/gang-members-and-others-who-used-violence-take-control-new-york-fire-mitigation https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/gang-members-and-others...
- woodruffw 3y ago
  “Fire Mitigation” are not first responders: they’re private entities that listen to the FDNY’s radio frequencies and follow them around. They’re ambulance chasers and that’s always been a scummy domain; it’d be much more surprising (and worse) if FDNY themselves were somehow involved.
Spooky23 3y ago
Two things. Sometimes these venue areas have other central business district employers who don’t allow overnight or weekend parking for the public, but don’t enforce it. (But they are signed to allow towing) The fake parking guy probably has a relationship with the tow driver. Also, tow operators are generally pretty shady. Because they operate in a second responder capacity, they have personal relationships with cops and sheriffs, repair garages, etc.

LandR 3y ago

In my city, in the rougher parts it used to be somewhat normal to pay someone to "look after your car", of course you were paying them not to vandalise it while you were away! Especially popular on football days when parking near the stadium. It was only a couple of pounds or so. I haven't been to these parts of town for years so I have no idea if this practice still goes on.

leesalminen 3y ago
There’s a popular swimming around here that’s near a rough neighborhood. One elderly gentleman from that neighborhood guards the cars at the swimming hole. He even got himself a shirt that says “security”. You pay $2 and he makes sure nobody busts the windows out of your car.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago
  Do you think this is blackmail as described by your parent comment, or a genuine (albeit unofficial) offer of protection?
  - leesalminen 3y ago
    No, I don’t think it’s blackmail in this particular situation. Though that definitely does exist here in other spots. This is just an old guy who tries to quell the riff-raff of the youth of the neighborhood. He’s really sweet actually. And if you bring him a cold beer, he’ll do a quick cleaning of your windows to boot!
djbusby 3y ago
I'm aware, and have used, this practice in Oakland, CA, Los Angeles, SF, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and Portland OR. One reason I keep a small amount of cash around - just for the vig.
- canadianfella 3y ago
  [dead]

xg15 3y ago

That goes beyond fraud though. That sounds more like a protection racket.

NikolaNovak 3y ago

I'm from a developing country with humongous corruption. I now live in Canada and love it. But to certain degree corruption is just less visible. For example, apparently majority of our towing industry in Toronto is just organized crime. With murders and arson and everything - in the seemingly simple and innocuous towing industry. And when opening a restaurant in downtown, near one of the stadiums, protection money is just normal line item. https://www.thedrive.com/news/44749/inside-the-tow-truck-mafia-how-organized-crime-took-over-canadas-towing-industry https://www.thedrive.com/news/44749/inside-the-tow-truck-maf...

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
> majority of our towing industry in Toronto is just organized crime All industries who's generous profits depend on monopolizing a fixed pie, they need to tightly control the amount of competition in order to maintain their profits, so they eventually devolve into a maifa-like organization, regardless if they're blue collar or white collar. The only difference is the blue-collar mafia is way more visible as they solve their difference with valence, while the white-collar mafia doesn't need to resort to barbaric acts but simply lobbies their political friends in power to put enough laws and regulations in place to stop any newcomers entering their turf. If only the towing industry could have taken a page out of Canada's telcos' book and lobby their way.
- mlloyd 3y ago
  "The only difference is the blue-collar mafia is way more visible as they solve their difference with valence, while the white-collar mafia doesn't need to resort to barbaric acts but simply lobbies their political friends in power to put enough laws and regulations in place to stop any newcomers entering their turf." Ah, Brujah vs Ventrue.
tomca32 3y ago
Similar experience here, and from your name we’re either neighbors or from the same country originally. People from our region usually have some idealized fantasy about western countries. After I moved to the US I was shocked to find out that it is just as corrupt as the Balkans, just in a different way. My pet peeve is hearing how I don’t understand corruption because I live in a functioning country now.

konschubert 3y ago

What if you just send the police after them if they tow your car?

aBioGuy 3y ago

I remember when I moved to DC many years ago we drove to an art exhibit (in an empty building way away from the metro). There was a guy walking up and down the road saying "$5 to park!" I paid him and in the elevator an older woman smugly told me "It's free to park here!" I told her "I know, I'm paying for him to not break MY window." The look on her face....