Complaint Review: Rockford Towing Smitty's Towing

On 5/14/09 I was visting my sister at the Malkommen Plaza, in Rockford, IL. There were no immediately recognizable signs for tenants and guests to park at this HUD senior citizen facilty. I parked where I thought was a legal place to park and went to call my sister on the intercom. She came down immediately, introduced me to the manager, Kim Smith. Ms. Smith and the owners of the complex were outside when I parked. My sister, my mother and I went up to her apartment. She asked me where did I park and I told her. She went to look and within five minutes or less the car was gone.

I went downstairs to ask the manager what happened and she was very irate, screaming at the top of her lungs that she had 175 tenants to take care of and was not responsible for cars being towed. At first I thought that my Enterprise rental car had been stolen with my luggage and GFS unit in it. I asked her where were the signs that indicated where to park and she referred me to a sign that said that visitors could not park in tenants numbered parking space. I live in Fort Lauderdale, FL and there are many apartments similar to this. Almost all of them have clearly dissigned signs for tentants and guests on cement blosters in front of the parking space. the guest spaces are painted in a bright goldenrod with bold black letters that say guest. I must admit that I was quite angry with this lady because I felt that she had called the towing company.

I went upstairs, called the towing company and learned that the red chevrolet HHR car was there. I asked the gentleman how much did it cost and where it was located. He told me that it cost $125 and it was approximately five or six miles away. My nephew and his mother took me to this location, which was closer to ten or fifteen miles out in the bondocks in a gulley with no clear markings except for the same sign that was at the Malkommen Plaza. I asked him who had called him to pick up my car and he told me that they survey the grounds for cars that don't have tenant stickers and tow them away. When I got back to the parking lot, I saw the place where visitors and tenants park with no clear distinction and I noticed that there was several cars that had no stickers.

Since I don't plan on coming back to that place, I am doing this so that the ownership of Malkommen will make things more clearer for individuals who are not privy to their procedures of scamming unsuspecting visitors.

Georgia
Plantation, Florida
U.S.A.