Employees beware; here is a sad story of a good friend of mine that commutes to Philadelphia.
My friend is a pilot and commutes out of Florida to PHL. Last weekend he called me up and needed a ride from the employee parking lot because his car had been stolen. I have to tell you that he isn’t driving the latest trend car or any sort of popular model when in fact it is a true “Land Yachtâ€. It’s at least 30 years old and after several years in the northeast it is showing plenty of rust spots.
This car has current plates, registration and proper stickers, is registered in his name and parked legally in a stall in the employee parking lot. It like a lot of other cars in the lot and owned by commuters is well beyond its useful life and has found a new useful purpose getting people to and from their crash pads.
When I picked him up he has finished talking to the police and tells me that it wasn’t stolen but instead reported as “abandoned†by someone and has been towed by the local authorities to an impound lot. Since it is a weekend he has to wait until Monday to get it released so I become the chauffer for the weekend.
When he checks with the police on Monday he is directed to the impound authority and is required to pay $93.00 in towing and administration fees. The authorities also tell him that he will be receiving a summons in the mail regarding abandoning a vehicle and the fine for that is $300.00.
Apparently either frustrated employees are tired of looking for places to park in the lot and see an old vehicle that is in a parking spot for a length of time (in this case 5 days) and they turn in the vehicle as derelict or someone has a racket going on in the lot to confiscate cars that look old and abandoned and get a cut on the towing charges. The police department also told him that they have had several calls regarding abandoned vehicles in the employee parking lot in the last couple of weeks and towed several of them away only to have their owners make out a stolen vehicle report. Inevitably they pay all of the fees and fines just to get their car back.
My friend did get his car released but it just makes life in PHL that much more unpleasant and his wallet a lot lighter.
So watch out on those classic cars that have been so loyal to you in the past. Someone wants your parking spot.
My friend is a pilot and commutes out of Florida to PHL. Last weekend he called me up and needed a ride from the employee parking lot because his car had been stolen. I have to tell you that he isn’t driving the latest trend car or any sort of popular model when in fact it is a true “Land Yachtâ€. It’s at least 30 years old and after several years in the northeast it is showing plenty of rust spots.
This car has current plates, registration and proper stickers, is registered in his name and parked legally in a stall in the employee parking lot. It like a lot of other cars in the lot and owned by commuters is well beyond its useful life and has found a new useful purpose getting people to and from their crash pads.
When I picked him up he has finished talking to the police and tells me that it wasn’t stolen but instead reported as “abandoned†by someone and has been towed by the local authorities to an impound lot. Since it is a weekend he has to wait until Monday to get it released so I become the chauffer for the weekend.
When he checks with the police on Monday he is directed to the impound authority and is required to pay $93.00 in towing and administration fees. The authorities also tell him that he will be receiving a summons in the mail regarding abandoning a vehicle and the fine for that is $300.00.
Apparently either frustrated employees are tired of looking for places to park in the lot and see an old vehicle that is in a parking spot for a length of time (in this case 5 days) and they turn in the vehicle as derelict or someone has a racket going on in the lot to confiscate cars that look old and abandoned and get a cut on the towing charges. The police department also told him that they have had several calls regarding abandoned vehicles in the employee parking lot in the last couple of weeks and towed several of them away only to have their owners make out a stolen vehicle report. Inevitably they pay all of the fees and fines just to get their car back.
My friend did get his car released but it just makes life in PHL that much more unpleasant and his wallet a lot lighter.
So watch out on those classic cars that have been so loyal to you in the past. Someone wants your parking spot.
