Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Tow truck company's practices being questioned


From PIX11:

A real-life parking wars situation is playing out in Elmhurst, Queens.

As one private tow company is making quite the bit of cash off of one lot, customers of two restaurants in the same location say they’re being targeted and towed despite following the rules on posted signs.

“Bianca” asked PIX11 not to show her face or use her real name since she is a city employee, but she told us she is furious and feels as though she and others are being scammed.

On Friday night, Bianca said she parked her car in a private lot located on 59th Avenue in Elmhurst, right next to the Queens Center Mall. With plans to meet her family inside Olive Garden, she says she decided to peek into Cheesecake Factory across the street to check out the line.

“That was literally a three minute layover. I literally walked across the street saw the line was crazy and walked right to Olive Garden,” explained Bianca.

Following dinner at the Olive Garden, Bianca says her car was gone and Done Deal Collision out of College Point had towed Bianca's car.

“He was like, 'yeah I took your car. You left the premises,'" Bianca recalled. "I'm like bro your sign says Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouses."

Despite showing receipts and trying to prove she followed the rules of the lot as stated. Bianca said she had to fork over $250, far more than what's indicated on this sign to get her car back that night.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Extortion racket. She needs to sue them for damages to her car.
This racket is alive and well in other locations also.

JQ LLC said...

Couldn't help noticing the Cheesecake Factory is right across the street from the lot, so I assume the lot has cameras focused on the front door. It looks like they cased Bianca as soon as she left the car and used her choice to go their first so they can justify snatching her car.

On an unrelated note, I can't believe the restaurant that Penny waitresses for in the Big Bang Theory is doing business here. I initially thought it was fictional. Now I know why cafe's and bakery's ask for liquor licenses these days.

Anonymous said...

She should press charges for car theft.

Anonymous said...

I'm like bro you left the parking lot and went to another restaurant. Was I supposed to watch you after that to see if you returned? Like bro if you stayed at the other restaurant you would have come back and moved your car?

I'm like bro I have no sympathy for you. I hope Olive Garden was worth it.

Anonymous said...

THEY ARE ALL EXTORTIONISTS. YOU DON'T HEAR MUCH ABOUT THESE SCAMS ANYMORE. DIBLASSIO LOOKS THE OTHER WAY !!

Anonymous said...

"Bianca" should not park where she's not supposed to. She deserves the towing. But as I understand it, the fee for towing is regulated by the City for only $108.

Anonymous said...

Bro Anon, do you always support people having their cars stolen?

These towing companies should be rounded up and arrested en masse. This is nothing more than mafia behavior that has existed here for decades. It needs to go. Anyone who thinks this is acceptable should go move to some backwards country.

Anonymous said...

It sounds like they were in the right to tow, but the fee above the posted amount or any city regulation crosses the line. I'm not sure how she paid, but if it wasn't cash, I'd execute a stop order and send them certified mail the exact posted amount, no more no less.

Gran Torino said...

What's with all this bro shit, anyway?

Anonymous said...

Put it all out on social media as a slam and boycott against all those restaurants. They will change the policy quickly.

Queens Leftover said...

Oh yes, I'm crying for you Bianca. Crying.....weeping.

JQ LLC, you have lost me.
Now I know why cafe's and bakery's ask for liquor licenses these days.

I'll bite. Why?

Crapper- can you please ban the person who keeps using all caps and explain to him/her/shim (the tranny gender classification) that it's the same as screaming.

Queens Leftover said...

Anyone who thinks this is acceptable should go move to some backwards country.

Queens is a backwards country. She uses a word that is not in any dictionary - Bro.

Joe Moretti said...

Typical Queens and NYC Crap: Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory and Longhorn Steakhouses. Wow, how original in the supposedly "greatest city in the world".

Anonymous said...

On Oct.2014 I had the same problem at a shopping center parking lot on Northern Blvd. and just ran into RCN to drop off a remote and as soon as I left the parking lot they put a boot on my tire. Done Deal guys told me it would cost $136.00 to get the boot off and they only accept cash.In the meantime if their two truck came it would be towed to Jamaica and cost me $250.00 to get my car back.I called a buddy to bring cash and I was out of there.
I went on Dept. of Consumer website and it says the most a boot costs is $25.00 and they must accept credit cards so I filed a claim with the city and I'm still waiting more than three years now.

JQ LLC said...

@Queens leftover, that's a great name by the way.

I read a lot of other local sites and every day they have something about some bakery or cafe opening up that applies for a liquor license, and I kind of correlated that with the Cheesecake Factory, which has a bar.. I actually had second thoughts about posting that, it was mostly a silly observation being that I am of the opinion that bakeries and cafes selling booze is stupid and it's weird that they would need a permit to sell alcohol.

I'll be more careful next time, but it was mostly a pop culture reference.



Anonymous said...

What do drag queens have to do with this???

Anonymous said...

Queens Leftover get lost creep. Give instructions to your family members you control freak.

Anonymous said...

@Joe Moretti said... "greatest city in the world".
Just curious where would you move to in the U.S. ? Rural/City ?
I'm thinking of a rural town in Pennsylvania, Maine, or North/South Carolina.

TommyR said...

Those place are awful but for a short while after it opened, I checked out Longhorn's $5 happy hour, which for a quick bite and some decent red isn't bad at all.

Then again, I can just as easily walk over to 59th in good weather..Joe's Crab Shack is fine if you like eating giant sea bugs. I've parked at the lot plenty of times and gone in to the restaurant and that's that - never had any issues.

As for this lady - these places live and die by turnover, they probably have a deal (A Done Deal..ha!Ha..) with the tow company in question to ensure customers don't sit in the lot and shop at the Mall or whatever (like goto Shake Shack) instead: I mean, it is RIGHT across the street...the temptation's definitely there if you drove it from elsewhere.

Best policy with shit like that is to leave someone in the car. Each of those new restaurants on what were empty lots forever has a designated section of parking. Or park a little farther away and get your fat asses some walking in - you can surely use it after eating at OG, blech.

Anonymous said...

Queens is a backwards country. She uses a word that is not in any dictionary - Bro.

Is ebonics. Get with the program Bro.