"A strange thing happened at Mcdonalds today." Topic

I had to run an errand today downtown. I intended to complete my errand across the street from the Mcdonalds where I parked then have a meal inside Mickey Dee's afterwards. I noticed an employee about 10-12 feet away from me as I parked and started across the street.

Well, I returned and didn't see my vehicle. I went inside and asked the manager about it. They said they had it towed and that signs were posted. I recieved the Towing Company contact number and left. It would cost me $120.00 USD to recover my vehicle. I went outside and finally found the SIGNS. They were about 3 feet tall and completely obscured by any vehicle that might be parked in the space it occupied. The sign was about 18 inches long. I was STUNNED. You would ONLY have seen this sign if you were aware it was there. I don't frequent this particular store but had done the same thing about a year or so before with no issues. Another couple with two small children approached me and commisserated with me and then kindly offered me a ride. They had also been towed. While we waited for their ride to arrive we noticed that there were two tow trucks hiding in back. We saw several other folks being towed. One was inside the restaurant at the time! They finally let him off the hook.

We then saw a car pull up and the woman passenger get out and start to walk across the street. I mentioned to her that she wasn't able to park there and would be towed. Turns out she was part of the towing team. She went BALLISTIC! She strated screaming and yelling at me saying I was interering with their Business. She threatened me with the Police and getting me thrown off the property. I told here I was on the sidewalk near the street off their property and was merely trying to prevent someone else suffering my fate. She became irrational. She said I was threatening her and cursing. That was completely untrue. She called the Police. I waited but they never talked with me.

My day was becoming a gem. I had to then go to the Tow shop where this same female pointed me out to her three male co-workers as 'he's the one who threatened and cursed at me'! She then started cursing saying I had said those things. I remained calm and said that she was incorrect. I was there to recover my vehicle and that was all. The oldest male attempted to try and intimidate me with the two others walking up to me. I again repeated that I never said such things and had the stranger who was with me agree that I hadn't. That cost him. They wouldn't release his vehicle due to some contrived reason even though he had the cash. The two tow truck drivers then said they heard me say what she had said. However, they had been about1-150 feet away at the time. I couldn't believe this was happening.

I got my van back after paying. I went home and contacted Mcdonald's Corporate. They took my info and said they would contact the store owner. I am fairly certain nothing will be done.

Do I have any means of redress legal or otherwise? I certainly would NOT have parked there if any sign had been visible. I felt there was some sort of ongoing scam happening.

I appreciate any help or advice.

Thanks,

John

I guess McDonald's doesn't want your business (or anyone else's). I don't see what you can do legally, but I would call the franchise company and ask to speak to an executive there. If it's company owned then I would call the company. Someone has made a bad business decision that needs to be reversed.

I used to work at a gas station and watched them take cars from Dunkin donuts . A two man tow team could take a car in under 60 seconds . They were taking cars with people inside . It was then made law that the tow operators had to confim that the vehicle owner was off the property and the manager of D D had to sign the form . Predatory towing was no longer allowed

Typically a business with non-patron parking problems will post large, plain, and visible signs to encourage those with other business to park elsewere. To tow without visible signes is terrible practice, but not illegal (in my local town). In this case it sounds like some sort of deal has been set up with the local tow company which is reprehensible, if not despicable.

I would take a picture of the sign and complain both up and down the McDonald's chain, starting with both the local owner and the corporate office in Illinois. I've heard the people corporate office for McD's frown on games like this and usually put an end to it.

Mark

All towing/clamping companies in the UK are overseen by an independent organisation which checks that they follow quite strict rules. Mind you, it didn't stop me from being clamped, nor for them charging me £150.00 GBP for release.

Is there any such governing body in the US?

I'm going back tonight to take pics.

Thanks,

John

You might also complain to your Attorney General or local State's Attorney.

You're first call should be to the city, if (as covered above) the sign is on a city (ie public) road. I can't speak for Ohio, but when I worked for the City of Calgary's traffic department, one of my jobs was to investigate complaints from motorists who felt they were unjustly penalised in circumstances similar to yours. This usually involved travelling to the location where they got stung, and looking at the sign. My rules were pretty clear: I had to take my camera and position myself to see if the sign was visible from a driver's perspective. I was allowed to exercise my own judgement, but if I thought the sign was obscured, then I could get the ticket cancelled (and then arrange to get the sign visible, either by moving the sign or moving whatever was blocking it). If I thought the sign was clearly visible, then the ticket stood. I often had a few grumpy calls when the evidence supported the ticket!

Anyway, back to the advice. If the sign is not visible, then complain to the local authority. They SHOULD cancel the fine and then move the sign to make it visible. Note that this is not guaranteed to work – in that case, by all means follow up with the media!

"Is there any such governing body in the US?"

No, the US is made up of 50 seperate legal entities, (53, 54? counting Washinton DC, Guam, Puerto Rico, etc) that each have their own rules. It would be on a state by state basis.

"Anyway, back to the advice. If the sign is not visible, then complain to the local authority."

Sounds like a private property tow, in which case the local police have no say in what happened.

I would follow a three pronged attack.
1) Contact McDonald's corporate headquarters and keep on them hot and heavy. Document everything, i.e. keep a diary of when you called, who you talked to, what they said, etc. Don't let them say, "We'll be in touch." If they don't call back in a reasonable time, say a week, call them back. Be polite, but firm.

2) Contact the local media, most areas have a 'consumer watch' organization in the local newsroom. Locally it's called '10 on your side'.

3) Contact the local District Attorney's office. Check and see if this is legal. For example, in VA the sign has to be a certain height off the ground, certain size, etc. Find out the law in your state and if they are in violation, consider criminal charges.

Anyway, that's what I'd do.

Thanks a bunch guys! I went and took pics.

Thanks,

John

Contact the local media and whine.

THEN… Place an ad in your local "Greensheet" or free newspaper: ask, "Have you been towed in front of McDonald's at xxx address?" Then Call xxx to complain.

Include McDonald's address AND the local TV hotline. If you can get enough people to make a stink, you'll get results (probably from the media, who will find a sweet mom of 8 who got towed. She'll look great on camera and the McD will change their sign.

Well, I talked with the Franchise owner of that store. He was a jerk. Told me he was SURE that the Towing Compnay was aware of and followed the law. I said obviously not since they and he were in violation of Ohio Revised Code. He then told me to take it up with the Tow Company. Right…….I asked for the Regional's name and number. They were out of town. The VP of Operations is suppossed to be calling me back.

We'll see.

Thanks,

John

I would definitely work the media angle. TV consumer reporter watchdog types live for this kind of idiocy.

Jesus John, let us know how this went. There's a lot of things I could say about those jerks in the tow trucks, but it would be CA.

Does the tow company and/or store have an email address. Bt all means post it.
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Tim

Doesn't the woman's reaction warrant talking to an attorney for slander? With her making all these accusations that you said and did things to her, that you didn't, fall under slander? Try to get the names of the witnesses and talk to an attorney. The calling corporate McDonald's is a good one too. The big guys really have fits over folks (anybody!) giving them a bad name or reputation.

Keep us posted.

It's a scam. I'd bet even money the manager of McDs gets a kickback. Talk to an attorney, there are remedies.

Hire some kids to talk to the towing people on the sidewalk near McDonalds. I bet you could pay them peanuts and put a real hurting on the towing companies profits. Make sure they have a camera, they almost always do anyway, so that if the towing people start crap they can film it.

Good luck.

Need a loan or someone to back you up in a rumble?

You might be able to sue them for fraud, but your best bet would be to consult a lawyer to see if it's worth it.

If so, park in front of the sign and take a picture of the area in front of your car as proof that no sign is visible from that location.

Put a notice in the paper asking for the evidence of others who have been caught the same way. A class-action suit might be possible.

It's surprising that McDonald's would be part of such a scam. They ordinarily bend over backwards to ensure customer satisfaction.

The woman's attitude doesn't surprise me a bit. "You swore at me" is a hot-button item, and the moment you're accused of that, all ears are sealed shut to anything you might have to say. I've had it used against me at least twice, neither of which time I swore.

You got off lightly at $120. USD There's a woman whose husband thought he had a 400,000 life insurance policy on himself.
He died of cancer and the company not only denied his claim, but their denial was upheld in court on the basis that a law was passed by our Congress that disallows anyone from suing insurers for anything more than the premiums paid.

In today's political environment, however, I wouldn't hold out much hope of being allowed to sue any business for any reason.

JW