Joined Jul 2005
Scarydevil Monastery
Forum Thread
My friend lives in NJ. His car was stolen, stripped, and abandoned. The city is making him pay for the towing and impound fees.
September 3, 2010 at
06:15 AM
in
Rant
Does that seem right to anyone else? It's basically costing him over $350 to have his car stolen and, since he didn't have theft insurance, it's a total loss. The only possible redemption is going to be today if a mechanic offers him any money for the scrap.
WTF?
I'm not even going into how rude the city employees were to him or how they turned him away yesterday afternoon because they didn't think he could get a tow truck (at his own expense) to the impound lot before they closed at 4:45. OR how they wouldn't help his wife when she was there at noon, because they were all at lunch.
Please reserve any comments about him being dumb for not carrying a theft clause or whatever you call it on his insurance policy. It was an older Honda Civic and he didn't think it was worth insuring for very much. I'm not sure how all of that works but his deductible might even have been more than what he would've gotten for the car, if that applies.
I think it's infuriating that the city is forcing him to pay towing and impound fees when his car was stolen! Does he have any recourse here? Maybe he can deduct the cost of the fees from his taxes or something? Who should he contact?
My friend is a really nice guy--I would've raged out on those impound lot employees for sure. My buddy said he knows when he's defeated and he's licking his wounds and counting his losses, and that his anger is reserved for the car thieves. I understand that, but really, it looks to me like the city's just adding insult to injury here.
Anyone have any experience with this?
WTF?
I'm not even going into how rude the city employees were to him or how they turned him away yesterday afternoon because they didn't think he could get a tow truck (at his own expense) to the impound lot before they closed at 4:45. OR how they wouldn't help his wife when she was there at noon, because they were all at lunch.
Please reserve any comments about him being dumb for not carrying a theft clause or whatever you call it on his insurance policy. It was an older Honda Civic and he didn't think it was worth insuring for very much. I'm not sure how all of that works but his deductible might even have been more than what he would've gotten for the car, if that applies.
I think it's infuriating that the city is forcing him to pay towing and impound fees when his car was stolen! Does he have any recourse here? Maybe he can deduct the cost of the fees from his taxes or something? Who should he contact?
My friend is a really nice guy--I would've raged out on those impound lot employees for sure. My buddy said he knows when he's defeated and he's licking his wounds and counting his losses, and that his anger is reserved for the car thieves. I understand that, but really, it looks to me like the city's just adding insult to injury here.
Anyone have any experience with this?
153 Comments
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But when I live in a city and that city has laws, and those laws say that other people aren't allowed to take away things that don't belong to them, then yes, I do expect the police to enforce those laws, and no, I don't accept that "crime is a part of life." I think that's our fundamental disagreement here, too. You choose to believe that it's something we have to accept or take it upon ourselves to defend against, while I refuse to do that and demand a better accounting from the people who promised to enforce the laws as they are written.
I realize the cops can't watch everything all the time. I don't really think it's the cops' fault that my friend's car was stolen--although if laws were enforced and police had the bodies to patrol properly, perhaps it wouldn't have happened. There's no way to know.
I have to sleep soon.
Paved roads, intersections, schools for kids, an agency that tries to protect our air, the $1m it takes every time air force one lands, obama's golf trips, a war in iraq....
You are personally responsible for your own safety and the protection of your personal property, there is no one else out there that is responsible for it.
Crime is a fact of life, if we are to be realistic, its something we have to accept. You seem to think that if we had 100% police coverage crime would stop, but we know it wont, because people are not perfect, honest, law abiding citizens. Even the police are not perfect.
Wot? it was too serious in here.
Ok, It's been a very long day.
*disclaimer* I am no longer responsible for anything that comes out of my fingers which are driven by the crazy train conductor.
Crime is a fact of life, if we are to be realistic, its something we have to accept. You seem to think that if we had 100% police coverage crime would stop, but we know it wont, because people are not perfect, honest, law abiding citizens. Even the police are not perfect.
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I disagree. I think we're at an impasse. I think most people are basically good and try to act properly and that it's circumstance--nurture--rather than defect--nature--that causes them to break laws and commit crimes. So while I understand that as things are right now yes, crime is a part of life--I do not, and will not ever, accept that it has to be, and I think we should always strive to do and be better.
But remember, you live in the present.
Not to mention, as a law enforcement officer, i cant help but have to deal with the reality of life.
Ok, It's been a very long day.
*disclaimer* I am no longer responsible for anything that comes out of my fingers which are driven by the crazy train conductor.
I'm only familiar with this "land":
But remember, you live in the present.
Not to mention, as a law enforcement officer, i cant help but have to deal with the reality of life.
I am going to have a whole bunch more work when you get back to the office huh?
I am going to have a whole bunch more work when you get back to the office huh?
Ok, now that's just mean.
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