He said
I think it is best to start out this week with a little anecdote that should let you know how I feel about a certain Blacksburg towing company. First and foremost, I am the owner of a 1986 Pontiac Parisienne — if any of you have a worse car, please let me know because I have yet to see one at Virginia Tech.
Still, I have never really complained, as it always taken me from point A to point B — that is, until last winter break. I had packed up my car and was ready to go back to North Carolina when the behemoth of a machine just simply would not start. For those of you who know anything about cars, my starter motor died.
I had to leave my car at my apartment complex all winter and wait for my mom to pick me and my stuff up. This was not too much of a problem because I knew I would just fix it when I came back to Blacksburg the next semester.
I came back to find the beast right where I left it, in the parking lot of my apartment complex. I knew the thing wasn’t going anywhere because a) I don’t know who would want such a beat-up car, and b) it wouldn’t start if someone tried to take it anyway, so I left it unlocked.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten about one item that was singlehandedly worth more than my whole car — my parking sticker. On the night I returned to Blacksburg, someone had stolen it off my rear window, which led Valley Towing to take it away.
Yes, it’s the company’s job to tow any illegally parked car, but mine was probably the most identifiable in the parking lot. It looks like a small tank, and it hadn’t moved in well over a month. The thing was clearly legally parked, but that didn’t seem to matter. I had to trek out to the boonies to get to their headquarters, where I spent every cent I got for Christmas to retrieve the thing.
Despite getting lost somewhere between a cow pasture and a scene from the painting “American Gothic,” I reached the gated lot and hut that is known as Valley Towing. Now remember two things: it was the middle of winter, and my car would not start.
A version of this article appeared in the Sep 30 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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As much as I vehemently despise valley towing, the blame does not fall entirely with them.
-Landlords and property owners sign contracts with valley towing telling them to tow cars with no permits. Valley towing doesn't just tow from everywhere, only places where they have contracts with the property owner.
-Parking stickers should be adhered to the inside of windows so they are not stolen. Stickers meant to be on the outside are stupid and deserves a complaint to the landlord or property owner.
-If the painting on spaces is insufficient or the number of visitor spots is insufficient, again complain to the landlord or property owner, but keep in mind more visitor spots means less resident spots, do you really want this?
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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(CONTINUED)
-If you do not want to have to park in a lot the has a contract with valley towing, sign a lease with somewhere else. I am not going to post it here because I don't want a bunch of non residents parking in my parking lot taking up all the spaces, but I live in an apartment complex that does not tow, and there are others out there. Give them your business. Also, I'll add that, by living in a non towed lot, its not uncommon to pull in a night and have there be zero spaces because non residents took them all. What would u rather have, people breaking the rules getting towed(I understand there are occasions where people get towed who are following the rules, this is why I hate valley towing so much), or consistently full lots?
-Again, as much as I hate valley towing, and never imagined I would ever defend them even slightly, it is really not that hard to not get towed(except when valley towing tows legally parked cars, but that is not the case in probably around 99% of towings).
-Lastly, asking for a courtesy shuttle, or for a break because your a VT student is ridiculous. Why do you deserve to be allowed to break the rules? The entitlement issues of some of my classmates is getting ridiculous.
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"...when it has zero customer service..."
I'll bet they have great customer service. But the person being towed is not the customer. The customer is the owner of the parking lot.
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Bingo Econ Major
Valley towing's customers are those who contract with them to tow. And a whole lot of people are getting kickbacks when the towing company is charging $150 for a tow. If you get towed in a large city, chances are you'll only be paying a fraction of that.
A suggestion to those who live in an apartment complex who contracts with valley towing... show some initiative - find out from your leasing company when their contract with valley towing expires. Then form a petition with a bunch of your neighbors requesting that your complex contract with another (more reasonable) towing company following the expiration of said contract. Or, if it expires way too far down the road figure out what penalties would be incurred by your complex pulling out of said contract and offer to cover the cost as a community. If they refuse either, you can always use rent as leverage.
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You do realize that there is a state law limiting towing charges, right? I'll bet you that nearly every company in the state charges the max when towing illegally parked cars. When you break down and have a choice, you have the benefit of competition.
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Why yes, I do realize there is a low limiting towing charges. And I have seen rates charged by other companies.
Rather than "betting me" try going to Richmond. Rates are often posted in lots or on the street, and they are far less than $150. There is a lot of underhanded money exchanged in the towing business in Blacksburg. It has been that way for ~ two decades now buddy.
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Bingo Econ Major
Valley towing's customers are those who contract with them to tow. And a whole lot of people are getting kickbacks when the towing company is charging $150 for a tow. If you get towed in a large city, chances are you'll only be paying a fraction of that.
A suggestion to those who live in an apartment complex who contracts with valley towing... show some initiative - find out from your leasing company when their contract with valley towing expires. Then form a petition with a bunch of your neighbors requesting that your complex contract with another (more reasonable) towing company following the expiration of said contract. Or, if it expires way too far down the road figure out what penalties would be incurred by your complex pulling out of said contract and offer to cover the cost as a community. If they refuse either, you can always use rent as leverage.
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Had either of you been parked legally when you were towed I could work up a little sympathy. But as is? No.
And really? Leaving your parking permit in your unlocked car? I've had items stolen from an unlocked car and instead of whining about it I accepted responsibility and learned my lesson: lock my car.
Why would Tech students take priority over those who live, work, and *pay taxes* here in Blacksburg year round?
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I used to live in Terrace View and worked late on Friday and Saturday nights. Nothing made me more furious than coming home from a ten hour shift at 4am only to find NO parking. What did I do? I called Valley Towing to come take a sweep of the lot. Why? Because I paid rent to live there and didn't feel it was fair to walk several blocks to my own apartment just so a bunch of jerks could get drunk in the next building over. Guest means guest, have some manners. Park on the street, take the bus, walk, Blacksburg isn't a huge metropolis. You have no right to park where you don't live. It is a courtesy at best.
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Why is there so much hate in these comments?! Sure he should not have left his car unlocked, & sure, she should have checked the parking spot to make sure the paint really said visitor, but at the end of the day, they didn't just park anywhere. His sticker was STOLEN & her parking space was not PAINTED well. Everyone makes mistakes, but when it comes to these two instances in particular, they made mistakes & SO DID OTHERS. Plus, I think anyone wants to vent a little about towing companies. I'm not against them, but who can argue that it's not slightly inconvenient to get towed?!
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I was fine with the article until the end of the "She said," where she mentions being a college kid and that she shouldn't be towed with a Tech sticker. Are you kidding me? The vast majority of parking illegally, as well as other law violations, are most likely committed by Tech students. We should be incredibly gracious, always, to Blacksburg residents for every single service that they provide us. It is nothing but blatant rudeness to do anything else. The university wouldn't run, at all, if not for the countless acts performed by community members. As much as students like to think that they run Blacksburg, they don't and they shouldn't. Though towing sucks, students need to respect the laws and customs of the places where they live, just like everyone else.
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Valley Towing contracts were given to Campus Exxon/Automotive in the past couple of months...Valley Towing is doing less at Radford Univ. and here at VT. Matt McMurray owns Campus and is not very well liked in general by the B'burg locals....
Just be extra careful where you park...that's all I can say...
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And FYI:
Most of the anonymous comments are probably from McMurray...he stalks Craigslist Rants/Raves like a maniac....he's all about self-promtion, and if he could "flag" these comments, he would love it! But you can't do that here buddy!
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But seriously -- what is Valley Towing actually doing that is so wrong? They provide a service to paying businesses. Students should know and follow the rules of apartment complexes they live and visit in. This happens everywhere in the country -- you park illegally, you get towed. In the town where I'm from, "predatory towing" happens all the time, to the extent that people watch you as you park and leave your car. And why? Because businesses build parking lots for their patrons, and those customers have top priority. A paying customer, like an apartment resident, should always have priority over an illegal parker. These all seem like pretty basic business principles. And getting towed sucks, but it's the price you pay.
We're actually lucky as students in Blacksburg, where we have public transit available to the point that driving whenever you have to go to a friend's house is unnecessary.
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Valley Towing, if they are operating within the law, is doing nothing wrong, and I support the enforcement of parking policy. However I've stopped them from towing my car on two separate occasions when I was parked in a time sensitive spot (i.e. no parking between 12 and 1 pm). I parked in the spot at 1:04/05 and caught them trying to tow my car. They all have cell phones with accurate time signatures on them. I know plenty of others who have had similar issues with them.
But their rates really are astronomical and they don't always follow the rules themselves. That is why they are so disliked in town.
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Unfortunately parking spaces don't generate income for most of the landlords of large developments - Bedrooms do and more bedroom mean more cars. When space is tight on a construction project - parking always looses and developers almost always do the minimum.
I'd say that the fault lies with these developers not the guys asked to actually solve the problems created by someone else's attempt at maximizing profit.
If they were not around, you can bet you'd never find a legit place to park.
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It's easy to stay in business when your trucks are absolute junk that can barley run and your drivers are bow legged whiskey tango boys who you work or minimum wage. I used to park my car so the sticker so they couldn't just sit in the truck with their flashlight and patrol, I made them get out of the truck if they were thinking about towing my car!
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