QLD Car Towed - Paid to Get It Back

[get them back]

Contact the Office of Fair Trading about the conduct of the "car parking" staff and the tow operator. Tell them all the details and that you could not find any terms and conditions about the parking rates, etc. Say you feel like the operators are using "penalty clauses" which are excessive to the alleged damage they suffered and that you believe they should be prosecuted for having penalty clauses and their unconscionable conduct. Several cases you can read involving car operators include Vico vCare Park Pty Ltd (Civil Claims) [2014] VCAT 565 and Victorian Consumer Affairs v ACE Parking Pty Ltd (Victorian Supreme Court case).

See also Are Private Car Parks “Fines” Legitimate? - Consumer Action and Private car park 'fines/payment notices' - Legal Aid NSW and Private car park fines - Transport - CHOICE and Parking Patrols (Vic) Pty Ltd - Parking Fine Appeals Similar arguments can be made to the Fair Trading departments in each state after a High Court case of Andrews v ANZ banned penalty clauses and made it much tougher to introduce them.

 

[James Tyson]

Interesting fact. Brisbane parking technologies have reatarted under a new name with the new abn of 64 612 360 415

 

[AzureFroz]

ABN of 64 612 360 415 = Elite Security & Parking Enforcement Pty Ltd which is Brisbane Towing.

Just as many of the other posters and the OP, I have had the displeasure of being introduced to this ridiculous and heinous act today when I had parked at the car park at Brunswick Street where Grill'd is located.

I had only seen the 2P and not the tow signs, and after my meal, was surprised and alarmed when I saw another care being towed and my own no where to be found. The fee was $450 and I had found out from the 'tax invoice' that my car had barely been in the carpark 15 mins when it was towed. honestly with only two shops I can hardly see what the loss is to them.

I am an international student and I really find this ridiculous, on my way to the impound, the number of tow trucks heading back into the valley were innumerable, with one heading back to the carpark that I was in. I had not been there when my car was towed, hence I can't rely on any breach of the peace. I am seething with anger but when theres nothing I can do, it's just so frustrating.

 

[muz28]

What normally happens is you'll have a tow truck operator playing the theme from jaws constantly and circling around/around the valley area until he can tow someone. Just to clear things up, where you parked your car in the carpark where the Grill'd restaurant located? I know that the carpark at Brunswick Central off Martin St in the Valley is the most notorious car park in Brisbane that these vultures operate from.

Complicating things for patrons for Brunswick Central is that there are separate managements of each side of the road for complexes concerned and that they both reserve the right to tow patrons who park in one carpark then shop or dine in another across the road. The most confusing thing for customers unfamiliar with the area is that both complexes have the same name!!! Mistakes are made with the spotters getting mistaken with similar looking people from a distance and cars are wrongly towed.

This issue was raised in 2010 but successive impotent state governments have been unwilling to crack down on this behaviour and properly protect motorists from these grubby businesses.

I suggest people use QCAT and use form 3 to file a minor civil debt dispute and at least getting the towing fee refunded. To file the dispute and claim it costs $24.60 and the towies have to respond by law in 28 days. In addition to their outrageous fees, I know some towies make their victims sign a disclaimer form waiving their rights to sue them before handing the car back. I'm not sure if they are still requiring this waiver to be signed (signed under duress?).

 

[parker]

I suggest people use QCAT and use form 3 to file a minor civil debt dispute and at least getting the towing fee refunded. To file the dispute and claim it costs $24.60 and the towies have to respond by law in 28 days. In addition to their outrageous fees, I know some towies make their victims sign a disclaimer form waiving their rights to sue them before handing the car back. I'm not sure if they are still requiring this waiver to be signed (signed under duress?).

Just thinking about this, would the dispute not actually be against the Body Corporate of the complex you were towed from? (For example, the businesses located in the complex between 52 - 66 McLachlan Street)

I-Am-Not-A-Lawyer, but as far as I'm concerned they/the business owners have agreed to engage the towing company (who apparently undertake their work legally) and by doing so they are the ones unfairly imposing grossly excessive (no reasonable person would think $660 is OK) penalties for very minor parking violations.

Thoughts?

(Yes I got done, too.)

 

[parker]

BTW, is 'Hayden' still a member here, and has anyone had contact with John Merivale/(or is it Merriweather?)?

There has been no update to the Facebook site since April, and I have no way of validating who he is.

 

[muz28]

Be wise to start the process of the civil dispute against both the body corporate committee and the tow truck company concerned. The process of dealing with the dispute will allow the evidence gathering that is necessary to discover who was actually responsible for the (illegal) towing of your vehicle.

A $660 "release fee" is nothing short of a cash grab. QCAT BCCMA Adjudicators have said that "any action to tow the vehicle would need to be based on common law rights. There are inherent risks in having a vehicle towed including risks of being liable for damage, compensation or even criminal sanctions."

 

[Scrooge]

I am not personally identifying any business. The point I was trying to make is that I am a solicitor and was personally impacted by a business that sounds like the same as that mentioned by others above.

I'd like to jointly take action with others affected. So I can give more information, please reply direct below

I will happily join you should you wish to proceed

 

[Gutted]

I am another person who has had the unfortunate story that so many of you on this site retell. I don't think my story is unique and it seems there is a group of these towing companies regardless of names that operate under the same immoral compass.

I was charged $571 including cab fare to retrieve my vehicle at 10:30pm at night with my young daughter. It was towed from a very poorly lit car park in hope st South Brisbane (that had very clear signs posted and there is no excuse according to the smug operator for me parking there) to Newstead. To find out who actually owns the car spots has been an incredibly difficult process. I rang the towing company several times who initially told me that they don't know who it is they work for .

I rang police, council, google search none of who could give me any indication who I needed to talk to find out this information. The business that is named at this address apparently sublets a small portion of this office to another very large international company and they tell me that that includes the parking spot that I was towed from.

I rang the international company from which I was given the big runaround. I was told someone would ring me back but, of course, no one did. When I eventually got onto the same person they told me that her boss told her to tell me that there is nothing that can be done. The points that they conveyed to me was that it wasn't a public carpark. That there was very clear signage saying that it was a tow away zone. That it wasn't a public carpark because it was poorly lit and the surface was uneven making it a hazard to the public and them open to litigation.

I am absolutely gutted. That is my mortgage payment for the week and half of my rates bill. If they were genuinely worried about the public surely a chain after business hours and appropriate lighting would be what was called for. The irony of this situation is that I had parked on the street six blocks up from hope street but relocated my car to hope street as I felt it was a safer option for a woman walking late at night and her young daughter.

I have rung office of fair trading and they have advised to seek legal council through community legal centre . I will do this and look at other avenues. These whole events have made me really upset as it is so far from where my moral compass sits. I just don't know how you could do the job that they do and enjoy it. What a life.

I am also going to ask my uncle who is a barrister what he thinks. Although I I probably won't get a favourable outcome I really think I should use some of my energy constructively instead of playing a victim. I keep imaging what it would be like for another innocent that this happens to that is in an even worse financial position than me who is a single parent.

 

[Scrooge]

But what can be done to warn others? If a lawyer, or office of fair trading can "as a whole" make it a more fair situation that seems the best way

I'm sure there is some need for policing those who pull up outside shops and go away for hours BUT maybe an hour time frame for taking such drastic measures as to take someone's vehicle and leave them stranded sometimes with young children and for days at a time is a better start. While these companies make money and get away with it it seems they can:

1/ charge what they like
2/ hold people to ransom with their vehicles in a yard post-tow or on a truck still in position not having been towed anywhere
3/ are in a position whereby state police steer clear and won't get involved
4/ don't operate transparently with no recourse to the driver not providing contact details to the person who may have just been forced to pay for a service (tow) not performed
5/ there's no fair/reasonable decision making, it's a race to collect cars and get out of there ASAP
6/ by the time someone cops a charge like this and get the run around they no longer have the finances or energy to fight the trade and have the system changed

If a painter turned up to paint my house after I booked them but they didn't start painting and I appeared and said I don't want you to paint-they can't barricade themselves in my house and not leave until I pay.

Same-a tow truck is contracted to tow, turns up and doesn't tow b.ut has a vehicle on they'd truck, why should you pay "for a tow"