I was determined this vacation would be different. Here in Oceanside, I would find my very own slice of paradise.
My typical Modus operandi as a tourist is to see and do as much as possible between breaths of exhilaration and exhaustion. But what unfolded next was unthinkable. I was in Oceanside less than 24 hours into a seven-day vacation when my rental vehicle was towed on 300 Pier View Way.
The locals all know that every Thursday, this street is cleared for a weekly Sunset Farmer’s Market. Tourists find out the hard way. Yes, there were signs, actually four of them — but in that precise moment, my brain processed only one — 2 HOUR PARKING 9 a.m.to 6 p.m. EXCEPT SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS.
In my final hour before total chaos erupted, I had walked the Pier, and admired the sheer beauty of the surroundings. Then, total panic set in as I approached the parking space and realized the car had vanished like a ghost in the wind.
I felt the adrenalin rush through my entire body and my heart accelerate in uneven rhythms. Within seconds, two pieces of paper handed to me by a public works official would be my road map to a foreign kingdom — that of towing yards, taxi drivers, the Oceanside Police Department, unrecognizable streets, signs, parking lots and neighborhoods — and now I only had my two feet to get around.
I was a solo traveler with no resources. Over the next seven days, I spiraled rapidly downward into fear, uncertainty, helplessness, uncontrollable sobbing, and despair.
As a perfectly shiny new 2014 rental car sat idle in a tow lot on my dime, I waited for Avis staff, all mostly unfamiliar with this situation, to provide the required paperwork for release of the car. It was a procedural matter that almost cost me my sanity. Like the Wizard of Oz, the Police Department Records office will grant your wish of releasing a rental car under one condition, in the form of a magical notarized letter from the car’s legal owner, in this case Avis Budget Group.
This truly becomes a miraculous feat over a holiday weekend. Offices are closed while an Avis customer pounds the pavement hoping someone will notice her cries for help.
Now fast forward seven days through the insomnia, blistered and burning feet, throbbing head, 34 phone calls to Avis, trips back to the towing yard to plead, a visit back to Avis at San Diego airport to check the status of that elusive, golden notarized letter … with all of the due diligence on my part, perhaps everything will work out.
But that was wishful thinking. Back at Avis, I was presented with a $1,293.15 bill — the majority of it for impound fees. There was no sympathy, no apology, no compassion, no shame for not coming through for me in my hour of need.
I was deeply wounded in pride and spirit. I had a flash of insight —this is the American way! A rental car held ransom in a tow lot for seven days, a customer powerless while being held financially liable, 34 calls for help (the majority leading to dead ends). I left town with an indescribable sense of defeat, having never found the peace I had come here for, with the realization that if I had sat back and taken no action all at, I’d be facingexact outcome.
After all, nothing had changed. The car still sat in the impound lot one week later, as my plane lifted its wheels to ascend into the sky.
The moral of the story … the next time you see a tourist in Oceanside — smile and give them a big hug! They may really need it!
Paula J. Margus is a Virginia resident.
Update: the author of this editoral is currently in negotiations with Avis Budget Group for a partial credit of towing and impound fees. She has also contacted city officials in hopes of changing a procedure that greatly benefits the towing companies and results in logistical nightmares for car rental companies and their customers.
12 comments
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This wonderfully written and deeply sad story to me is a representation of a growing machine-like culture in America. People seem to lack creativity, common sense, and humanity when they are at work – the place where they spend most of their time awake. It is not possible to do things exactly the same way without consideration for special circumstances. I had an awful experience with the towing company myself, but I was particularly shocked about the lack of understanding by Avis and the Police Department. Being in the business of renting cars, Avis should reasonably predict that their cars will be towed during holidays. I doubt that this is a unique case for Avis, they should be aware of the procedure and be prepared to deal with the situation effectively. And at the police department, I wish we would have more responsible people who are willing to take control and resolve such simple problems. I do hope that by reading personal experiences like Ms. Margus’ we all can be a little more considerate and responsible in our own lives.
Oceanside is a great place. My suggestion is READ THE SIGNS cuz they will ruin your vacation if you don’t. Don’t assume in Oceanside. The laws are not here to make this place friendly.
Clearly, the major problem was the length the car was in impound and that fault is the rental car company’s failure to provide the necessary documents to get the car out of impound. A car rental company should have 24 hour service and it is outrageous that they don’t provide more help.
Sending Avis a letter outlining all of the problems and only dealing with a senior supervisor is always the best way to get what you need; the frontline people really have no power to help. Never waste time asking for help from someone who cannot change the outcome.
Hi Susan. Even though I received very conflicting information from Avis in regard to how and when the notarized letter would be handled, and they didn’t escalate this to a Manager/Supervisor who could assist me in a more timely manner, I found out after I arrived home that the letter had been prepared the day after the towing incident (thanks to a female AVIS Dispatcher). However, the bureaucracy of the Oceanside Police Dept. was primarily the reason the car didn’t get released and sat in the impound lot for 7+ days. The indifferent treatment I received from the Oceanside Police Dept., the downtown Police Dept. Resource Center on Mission Ave. & S&R Towing was even more disturbing. They all made it crystal clear I had no rights and was powerless to get the car back. I’m typically a very calm and controlled professional female (in my mid 50’s), however, I was sobbing hysterically at the tow yard when they told me they weren’t authorized to release the car until they got the okay from the Oceanside Police Dept. Where I reside in VA, to my knowledge, the police dept. are not involved in towing incidents, and a citizen deals directly with the towing company for the car’s release. I was penalized rather severely for an innocent parking oversight that I was willing to pay the fee for ($100 to Oceanside Police Dept.) and $185 to S&R Towing, had this been resolved the first day. The car was towed 3.25 miles so the fee was approx. $60. per mile.
The only benefit to this unfortunate experience is that it will cause discussion and hopefully some changes to the way this is handled. As an Oceanside resident, I am sorry for the grief that this visitor experienced, and putting myself in her place makes me cringe with what I would feel towards our city. I am thankful our city manager is aware and on the case, as we want Oceanside to not be just a bad memory to folks who come to visit.
Wow, what a lesson in customer service. This individual deserved better treatment by the city. There is a big difference between being technically right doing the right thing. I am not sure what we can do to fix this for the tourist visiting our city but I would like to talk to her and/or the car rental company to see if I can correct the towing and storage issue. We obviously need to look at our signage and our towing procedures to see that this incident does not repeat itself. The writer is correct, we need to do a much better job of being more customer friendly. Apologies alone will not fix this issue, but they are sincerely k offered as public as this letter. Coast News, can you help me get in touch with the letter writer?
Thank you.
Steven Jepsen
City Manager
I am the tourist who endured this experience & wrote the commentary. I would very much like to know how this extreme restriction/policy required by the Oceanside Police Dept. came about whereby rental car companies have to provide a notarized letter for release of the car. Within minutes, the Oceanside Police Dept. (as well as S&R Towing) could have confirmed that I was the legal renter of the car with an Avis Representative at the San Diego airport. My contract w/AVIS was in the rental car so the paperwork and my driver’s license was available. Instead I was made to feel like a criminal, my credit card was charged unfairly for towing and impound expenses, I’m extremely disillusioned about traveling, & I’ve been scared off from ever visiting this coastal town again. Where do I start to change the policy that impacts tourists in such an adverse way? If this had happened to an elderly or disabled person, he/she could have had a heart attack being stranded without transportation. The Oceanside Police Dept. was closed 3 days in a row, so it was impossible for AVIS to submit the letter they insisted on. Does this ‘policy’ really exist and when did it go into effect? I do believe I have a right to see it in writing. For the amt. of $$$ I was charged for this incident, I could have taken an international trip and the chances are I would have been treated with a lot more courtesy and respect. Also, what happens to all the revenue generated by the towing companies in Oceanside? According to http://www.manta.com/c/mx84vzk/s-r-towing-inc, S&R Towing generates estimated annual revenue of $2.5 – 5 million dollars! How do these millions get allocated? I’m willing to contact whomever I need to advocate a policy change.
I love it when people play the let’s blame everyone but ourselves for (fill in the blank)
And yet, Councilmembers Kern & Felien support traffic slowing, reverse-angle parking, round-abouts and the REMOVAL of 2 lanes, 1 in each direction on Coast Hwy. Imagine the gridlock whenever the 5, 78 and 15 Fwys. overflow onto Coast Hwy. (which happens often). As for towing, the same thing is going on in Oceanside’s manufactured home communities, where park owners paint fire lanes on every side of every street and have tow trucks patrol the parks. Many disabled seniors have had vehicles towed while unloading their groceries or loading their wheelchairs. Cars have been towed right out of driveways and visitors must obtain PASSES by noon each day (as if they can anticipate their Mom might be ill late at night!) Hospice workers report their cars towed even WITH passes in their car window! CNA’s have been denied passes to care for patients at night. Yet the Council Majority does nothing. DUMP KERN & FELIEN IN 2014.
You are clearly just on a continuing political rant against Kern, Felien, Feller . . . because as you note, you have a ‘special interest’ and that is in keeping your ‘no rate increases’ on your trailer park. As for the City parking/ticketing/towing issue, I can tell you that problem has been around LONG before these guys came on board. This issue can be placed squarely in Esther’s lap.
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