My Friday column is a follow-up to the Intown Motors story.
It seems that, at one time or another, Intown Motors has towed away just about every car in York County. The other night, at the town meeting I attended with WGAL's Janelle Stelson, among others, it seems everybody in the audience had a story about Intown Motors. (And again, thanks to all of you who came out the other night.)
So post your Intown Motors stories here.
The City of York is partly to blame for the towing situation. I want to know what kind of a kickback the city or an individual is receiving from Intown Motors.
The City of York tries to atrract people to visit downtown; contracting with Intown Motors for towing is a huge mistake & must be a public relatioins nightmare for the City. It is time for the City to terminate this contract.
It is time to put a stop to this highway robbery. Towing companies who are not accountable to anyone will not cease illicit operations until someone puts a stop to them thru enabling legislation. This sort of gangsterism went out long ago in most cities and it's past time for the city, county or state governments to set limits and rates for all commercial towing activities. Shame on the city government for allowing such activity to continue!
We go to the Saturday evening Mass at St. Patrick's church and park in the new lot across the alley from the school/church. There is an Intown towing sign there and one underneath that says "St. Patrick's patrons parking only". We have been parking in the lot many years even before it was paved to allow elderly parishioners to use the school lot for church as we had been asked. This particular evening we had come in my truck because as we were leaving home we discovered one of the tires on our van was soft. Now,this sounds really strange, but when we returned to the truck after church, we had a very flat tire! It was wintertime and already dark and I decided to leave the truck there and change the tire on Sunday morning when I could also come in old clothes. My son who also attends this Mass drove us home. When I got back Sunday morning to change the tire, my truck was gone! My first thought was that it had been stolen. We contacted the police and were told that the truck had been towed away by Intown. We called Intown, left a message, later the driver told us they had the truck and we could have it back for $145. We tried to contact the owner, who was "not available" and never was. I tried to talk with the tower that since we were parishioners we shouldn't have to pay. The tower said he would ask his boss and get back to us, his boss would not waive the charge. We got absolutely no where. The secretary at St. Patrick's tried on Monday morning to have the fee dropped and ran into a brick wall also. The only way I could get my truck back was to pay the $145!
We were told by the secretary that the church had looked into other towing companies and Intown is the only available option. They have a monopoly, I have seen their towing signs in many lots and parking areas, so therefore they don't need to worry about "customer service" complaints! What can we do?Isn't there something that can be done about putting a stop to their practices?
Something sounds a bit fishy about the guy who paid the Intown driver $100 to get his damaged Talon off the Intown Motors tow truck. I know that if I came back to my legally parked car and found it on a tow truck, I would call the cops immediately, and report an attempted car theft. When damage was discovered, I'd add vandalism, and possession of instruments of crime.
I think we need a fund to get people to park legally at posted lots, be a bit deceptive in the direction they take to enter the store, buy some cheap doodad, and then have the tow truck operator arrested.
If Mike sets up the fund, I have $50 for it. I despise such "business" tactics. Mike, please identify the owner of Intown, sometime soon. I want to boycott.
Im a property owner in the city of york and ive used intown motors towing service for three years and before the hiring of them i had severe parking issues w residents and visitors to the downtown area. The problem is people dont care if your lot is posted or not. Im a tax paying citizen of the city and i rent my parking spots out to help with the high city taxes. There not stealing cars there protecting peoples property. Just like the city tows for street cleaning people dont read signs. As far as damage goes very rarely do self loading trucks do any damage, thats not saying that is doesnt happen. Im sure if its a legit claim and not just a claim because there car was towed that they would take responsibility. The only lesson to be learned is read signs and "PRIVATE PROPERTY IS JUST THAT"!!!
My wife parked my car at the parking lot that used to be owned by CTI(Market & Pershing) last Wednesday to run down to the WIC office to get checks for baby formula for my newborn daughter. She was gone about 15 minutes total. When she came back, the car was gone-towed by the infamous Intown Motors. Now believe me, my wife and I understand that we were taking a chance by parking in this lot. I immediately came to pick my wife up and head directly to Intown Motors to get my car out of impound. From the time she parked there until the time I got to Intown, it was about 1 hour. When I approached the woman at the desk, I asked her how much it would cost to get my car back. She said "$180.00" as nonchalantly as if she was saying $1.80. What a joke/robbery! These people scout, looking for illegally parked cars, and have them on the truck before you can say, "hey, that's my car!" Did it really cost them anywhere near $180.00 to put my car on the truck and drive it 2 miles, if that? NO WAY!!! Intown Motors is a bunch of thieves that get away with this only because they have that contract with the city. How much could the overhead possibly be to run that crusty old shop on East Philadelphia St.? Regardless of what I was responsible for, you are still a bunch of crooks.This was a very expensive lesson for me and my wife, and one that we will never forget..
I agree they way overcharge BUT you GAMBLED and lost. Next time , feed a meter with .50 cents and you wont have such problems.
Intown motors is doing a job for the city of York which makes them agents of the city. York city is to blame for their buisness tactics. My cars have been towed twice now because the sigs that say not to park there are covered by trees. I live in a very nice residential part of town, there are many trees and shrubs that people keep in their yards to keep the area looking nice. The city puts their signs almost strategically where these trees are to hide the fact you cant park there. I have seen the police show up at 11:59 pm to begin ticketing cars. Alright I parked in the wrong spot but towning for street cleaning is ridiculous, up the fine for the parking to $50 and leave the car there and go around it this is highway robbery!
had my car towed by InTown Towing from the Staples lot on Saturday night after I left the car at Munro Muffler to get it serviced on Sunday. When I parked it there I asked if the vehicle was ok there and was told it was. Then on Sunday I came in to get the car and find that its gone - Intown Towing strikes again.
The guy who towed it and the company who owns the lot says the lot was marked with signs that said no overnight parking. So we looked for them - and found the sign buried in a twelve foot pile of snow, a sign which said (after I uncovered it) No Truck or Van Parking. My car is neither a truck or van and still they towed it. Got told that the sign meant to say cars too.
Long story short - out 225 dollars to get my car back, cops refused to help even when they acknowledged that the sign didnt say anything about cars,(and insulted me and hung up on me when I asked to talk to a supervisor) and the owner of the lot basically told me to go to hell when I complained about it and that he didnt care if I never shopped at the stores on his lot again.
So that is what I will do - not shop ever again at the Staples, Dollar Tree, or any other store on their property.
As for InTown - lets just say that I wont cry any tears if I ever hear that their drivers or the owner of the company go to jail along with whoever is getting the kickbacks they are giving to stay in business.
had my car towed by InTown Towing from the Staples lot on Saturday night after I left the car at Munro Muffler to get it serviced on Sunday. When I parked it there I asked if the vehicle was ok there and was told it was. Then on Sunday I came in to get the car and find that its gone - Intown Towing strikes again.
The guy who towed it and the company who owns the lot says the lot was marked with signs that said no overnight parking. So we looked for them - and found the sign buried in a twelve foot pile of snow, a sign which said (after I uncovered it) No Truck or Van Parking. My car is neither a truck or van and still they towed it. Got told that the sign meant to say cars too.
Long story short - out 225 dollars to get my car back, cops refused to help even when they acknowledged that the sign didnt say anything about cars,(and insulted me and hung up on me when I asked to talk to a supervisor) and the owner of the lot basically told me to go to hell when I complained about it and that he didnt care if I never shopped at the stores on his lot again.
So that is what I will do - not shop ever again at the Staples, Dollar Tree, or any other store on their property.
As for InTown - lets just say that I wont cry any tears if I ever hear that their drivers or the owner of the company go to jail along with whoever is getting the kickbacks they are giving to stay in business.
David,
Mike Argento here. Give me a call at 771-2046.