Parking enforcement towed our (properly parked) car with zero notice for High Heel Race and can't tell us where they put it

Submitted by cheetosandpups t3_ydcl12 in washingtondc

Was anyone else's car towed today for the High Heel Race? Ours was moved from P Street (Dupont Circle area) today, and 311 has no record of where they placed it. Parking enforcement and the cops have told us they may have done a "courtesy" placement of the car somewhere nearby. Quite frustrating seeing as we checked last night to make sure there weren't any "No Parking" signs posted on our street. So they literally gave us no notice. Now, we're just roaming the streets trying to figure out where our car is.

EDIT: Found it! We called Parking Enforcement again and, as someone suggested below, they were able to give us the location of the car by searching through their ticket records. They had moved our car 6 blocks east near Logan Circle. We were written a ticket for a "relocation tow" fee, which we will obviously be contesting. Just FYI in case anyone else is looking for their car!

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The_Sauce_DC t1_itrc9eo wrote

Not shocked, seen DPW do tows and not put them in the system all the time. I’d try (202) 541-6083 every so often to see if the driver called DPW/put it in Teletype. Also check to see later if there was a ticket issued. Might give you some kind of clue if they wrote the ticket for the drop-off location. Otherwise I’d call MPD and ask to have it put in as an ‘Attempt to Locate’

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cheetosandpups OP t1_itrk6p0 wrote

Thanks! Just edited my post above. They still had no record of the tow even after a few hours but they found our car in the system by searching for issued tickets.

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The_Sauce_DC t1_itrkr83 wrote

No problem- DPW is the worst and there’s zero accountability when they don’t out things in whatever database they use/teletype. There’s a not insignificant number of stolen auto cases that I get that are DPW tow jobs.

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AhhAGoose t1_itsp27j wrote

DPW is literally the worst! And nothing will ever change because non of them will ever be fired or held accountable in any way whatsoever

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hemlockone t1_itt972w wrote

I love how they can themselves "the preferred choice". Like, preferred to what?

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AhhAGoose t1_itt9b19 wrote

If there is another choice I would probably much prefer that

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Brickleberried t1_its51h1 wrote

It's common for DC to illegally tow properly parked cars and also for them to tow you without recording it at all (thus not being able to tell you where they moved it to you) or telling you the wrong place.

See my past complaints here.

I have since put an AirTag in my car in case they do this again. Worst case scenario, wherever they move it, they often tow you to illegal parking spots, so then they ticket you again, and the new ticket will tell you where the car is.

Dispute the tickets. I have disputed 7 of my 9 tickets and have won all of the disputes, even if the adjudicator gets super snotty about it.

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Xaerr t1_ituplk9 wrote

"D.C. is a great place is live"

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octodo t1_itrwnv0 wrote

I feel like this advice should be pinned but get an apple Airtag and toss it in your center console. If anybody with an iPhone comes within 30 feet of your car it will update it's location. They cost 30 dollars. Perfect for random 'where is my car' tows (and theft to a much smaller degree)

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BeelzebubBubbleGum t1_its34mp wrote

Place it on the far right side of your vehicle, i.e. Gas Cap, passenger door area, closest to the street for someone to walk by with a phone.

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neofresh t1_its3l4a wrote

My airtag is concealed in my center console. It gets hit from other peoples phones in a parking deck I go to all the time.

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NorseTikiBar t1_itrio4a wrote

Welcome to your introduction to "courtesy towing." As someone else mentioned, it's probably worth it to report it stolen. Then put together a map of about a half mile radius from where you parked it and check the streets. You will probably find it.

Then, you'll have to call the police to say that your car has been found, but given that somebody fucked up inputting the tow into the system, this generally provides a paper trail that will coincidentally make sure that any ridiculous tickets you find under your windshield wiper won't make it into the system either.

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88138813 t1_itrc579 wrote

In my experience calling 311 or DPW is useless when your car gets towed. Just call the police and say your car was stolen (for all you know, it could have been) and you'll get an answer much quicker as they have access to the towing database.

If not relocated to a nearby street, most cars towed by DPW end up at their lot at 5001 Shepherd Pkwy SW

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WaterBubbly t1_itrkyc2 wrote

I can't imagine they towed to SW, most likely on a side street.

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AhhAGoose t1_itsq72m wrote

Reporting it stolen will probably just get a police report with no follow up, they literally do not care

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Wity_4d t1_itrhoh1 wrote

Holy shit that is insane! It's a whole goddamn car, how do they not record where they moved it?!

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oochas t1_itrnpb9 wrote

Sounds like nothing has changed since the '80s, when I once spent a half a day looking for my car in the District, and found it left in a no parking zone with a stack of tickets.

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MathematicianBulky30 t1_itrnlj6 wrote

Dc has some of the most incompetent and inconsiderate ppl I’ve ever seen with my own 2 eyes working for the city.

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MathematicianBulky30 t1_itt5nvo wrote

Yet you ask them and they think that they’re irreplaceable. In some ways I guess they’re right. Because no competent person from anywhere else (that isn’t just as backwards [looking at you NYC,Chicago, Seattle, LA, SF]) would dare work for such a self destructive city.

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AiReine t1_itrqtuc wrote

They’re just not bothering to post no parking signs for any events any more, are they?

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Nikkers1416 t1_itsaeav wrote

This happened to me as well, for the Pride parade this year. I had looked up the parade route and obviously didn't park there, but I got home the night before the parade (pretty late, around 11pm) and parked on my street as normal. There were no signs posted and everyone was parked on both sides, also as normal. In the morning, I woke up to a ton of beeping from the tow trucks moving my whole street of cars. Luckily they hadn't lost my vehicle, but I did get a ticket for parking in an "emergency no parking zone" and another one for the relocation fee. $150 all in. I contested and they rejected, so good luck. :(

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AhhAGoose t1_itso1sk wrote

They call it a ‘courtesy tow’ where they just tow it somewhere ‘nearby’ instead of making you go to the impound and get your car back. No need to thank them…you’re welcome.

It’s probably the only thing law enforcement does around here. Tow cars for no reason without warning

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twunlove t1_itsuqi6 wrote

Oh they must’ve feeling nice

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testingtestintestin t1_its3cwo wrote

Curious, how much is the ticket?

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Jeff_GoldDoubloon t1_itv2k8q wrote

The same thing happened to me. My car was moved a few blocks with two tickets of $50 and $100, one stating "Emergency No Parking" and the other "Relocation Fee". My partner's car was moved half a block with no fine, just a citation stating "courtesy tow". We were parked in the same section though so that's annoying.

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UnusualAd6529 t1_itrnsij wrote

Maybe consider crying a river instead of polluting the planet, classic car-cel

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Brickleberried t1_its5cd4 wrote

Person is an F1 fan, so I'm assuming he's trolling OP and the fuckcars people, but who knows.

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