To start off, if anybody knows anything or has had any issues concerning Bill's Towing in Tacoma, WA I would really appreciate any info.
My situation goes as follows. I am currently a student in Tacoma and I left my black two-door 1985 325e on May 15th in front of the house I am renting this year to be watched over by my friends moving in on the 1st of June. The car was parked legally at the side of the road, and according to the officer who ticketed it, no street cleaning was scheduled, and the car was not in any other violation. I was not aware of this at the time, but Tacoma has an anonymous hotline for abandoned vehicles, which is to be called if the car is in violation or has been in a spot for 7 days or more (my hometown Chicago's is two weeks so i felt relatively safe), but my car was tagged by the officer just 2 days later on the 17th. He assured me when I talked to him, that he did not know who called in and that he did not know whether the car had been there for fifteen minutes or fifteen days. Because the move in date was not until the 1st, only one of my friends was in Tacoma, though he was a few miles away staying with another friend. The Car, according to city policy, was picked up 7 days after the flagging, on the 24th, by Bill's towing, who then impounded it. I received no notification of this as all the letters were sent to my campus mailbox, even though my registration is listed in Michigan and legally the company is required to contact the original/home address. For 30 days the only attempt to contact me was made to my campus address, so everyone was left in the dark for some time. I had contacted the house a couple times just to check in, and there was no mention of anything wrong, as they didn't know it had been towed in the first place. I had gone away at the end of June for a few days, so at the beginning of July when I got back, I called again and asked how she was driving this time, and they replied that the car was not there (my stomach sank like lead). They spent a couple days searching and found nothing by the tenth. I immediately began contacting all the towing services in the Tacoma/Seattle, until Bill's said they "had" it. I asked what the woman meant "had," and she replied it had gone off at auction on the 6th as they had had it for more than 30 days. Keep in mind, this is dulled down, I had never been that furious and upset, and I am still steaming. They casually told me it had been sold to a scrap yard, and I demanded to know where, to which I got a fat "can't tell you that." I am not going to go into detail, but I let out what I had to say, eventually having her give me her word that she would notify me when she got in contact with the yard. Ten minutes went by and I was frantic so I called every scrapyard I could until a man told me who usually bought from them. I called Lacey's Auto wreckers on his recommendation and the owner said he remembered the car, and that they had shredded it a few days before and that it was now being melted down. This is and was my breaking point, my heart got torn out of my chest.
My mother bought that beautiful car new in Stuttgart in 85' while she was at art school and has driven it halfway around the world. It has been in our family's possession for 26 years, though it was in storage for a couple, and I recently brought it to the west coast after driving it around the midwest for five years, still running without any problems. I loved that car more than I'll ever be able to say, and I feel like I'm missing an arm. I have been researching Washington state law and have been working with a friend's mother who is a Chicago judge, and we seem to have a small claims case together against the towing company and city as scams like this seem to be common under the loosely constructed Washington private towing laws. The car was listed at 5K NADA value and had 129k miles, but I never wanted to sell her in the first place. Even if there is no settlement, I want the court to get wind of this, as I'm positive this was some shady business. If anybody else has run into trouble with these scumbags I would really appreciate your story and any other info I can use, as I will not let my baby go in vain. If you can imagine your car getting ripped out from under you without knowing, send this around, I know I'm not the first to be abused by a city contracted towing company. I sincerely appreciate any help and comments.
Thank you.
My situation goes as follows. I am currently a student in Tacoma and I left my black two-door 1985 325e on May 15th in front of the house I am renting this year to be watched over by my friends moving in on the 1st of June. The car was parked legally at the side of the road, and according to the officer who ticketed it, no street cleaning was scheduled, and the car was not in any other violation. I was not aware of this at the time, but Tacoma has an anonymous hotline for abandoned vehicles, which is to be called if the car is in violation or has been in a spot for 7 days or more (my hometown Chicago's is two weeks so i felt relatively safe), but my car was tagged by the officer just 2 days later on the 17th. He assured me when I talked to him, that he did not know who called in and that he did not know whether the car had been there for fifteen minutes or fifteen days. Because the move in date was not until the 1st, only one of my friends was in Tacoma, though he was a few miles away staying with another friend. The Car, according to city policy, was picked up 7 days after the flagging, on the 24th, by Bill's towing, who then impounded it. I received no notification of this as all the letters were sent to my campus mailbox, even though my registration is listed in Michigan and legally the company is required to contact the original/home address. For 30 days the only attempt to contact me was made to my campus address, so everyone was left in the dark for some time. I had contacted the house a couple times just to check in, and there was no mention of anything wrong, as they didn't know it had been towed in the first place. I had gone away at the end of June for a few days, so at the beginning of July when I got back, I called again and asked how she was driving this time, and they replied that the car was not there (my stomach sank like lead). They spent a couple days searching and found nothing by the tenth. I immediately began contacting all the towing services in the Tacoma/Seattle, until Bill's said they "had" it. I asked what the woman meant "had," and she replied it had gone off at auction on the 6th as they had had it for more than 30 days. Keep in mind, this is dulled down, I had never been that furious and upset, and I am still steaming. They casually told me it had been sold to a scrap yard, and I demanded to know where, to which I got a fat "can't tell you that." I am not going to go into detail, but I let out what I had to say, eventually having her give me her word that she would notify me when she got in contact with the yard. Ten minutes went by and I was frantic so I called every scrapyard I could until a man told me who usually bought from them. I called Lacey's Auto wreckers on his recommendation and the owner said he remembered the car, and that they had shredded it a few days before and that it was now being melted down. This is and was my breaking point, my heart got torn out of my chest.
My mother bought that beautiful car new in Stuttgart in 85' while she was at art school and has driven it halfway around the world. It has been in our family's possession for 26 years, though it was in storage for a couple, and I recently brought it to the west coast after driving it around the midwest for five years, still running without any problems. I loved that car more than I'll ever be able to say, and I feel like I'm missing an arm. I have been researching Washington state law and have been working with a friend's mother who is a Chicago judge, and we seem to have a small claims case together against the towing company and city as scams like this seem to be common under the loosely constructed Washington private towing laws. The car was listed at 5K NADA value and had 129k miles, but I never wanted to sell her in the first place. Even if there is no settlement, I want the court to get wind of this, as I'm positive this was some shady business. If anybody else has run into trouble with these scumbags I would really appreciate your story and any other info I can use, as I will not let my baby go in vain. If you can imagine your car getting ripped out from under you without knowing, send this around, I know I'm not the first to be abused by a city contracted towing company. I sincerely appreciate any help and comments.
Thank you.
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