Letters...

Dear Editor:

I would like to complain about an incident that hap- pened last week.

On March 18th, I parked my car illegally in front of the Vet College of- fice. I had already been towed away last fall which cost me $25, but this time I parked there anyway be- cause of the extremely bad weather. At 5:00 I found that my car had been towed away.

I phoned my parents and we went to the car pound where my car had been taken last fall, only to find it no longer existed. I phoned UPEI Security to

ask. them where my car had been taken and went to the place in question; an aban- doned service station. My car was there, completely exposed to vandalism since the area was not fenced or protected in any way. Af- ter waiting a while, it was clear nobody was likely to show up. I needed my car and was afraid of vandalism so I took it home.

A couple of hours later, Mr. Flynn, the owner of the towing service, phoned me and demanded $30 im- mediately or else he would find my car the next day, tow it again, and charge me sixty dollars. I told him I could not pay that night but would try to pay him the next day. The next day I went to security to see if, indeed, this man had a right to tow me from a legal parking spot; apparently he did. Later, I phoned Rob Kelley the Student Union President, to see what my

options were. Mr. Kelly advised that my best op- tion was simply to pay Mr. Flynn and then try to ap- peal to the Parking and Traffic Committee of UPEI.

However, at around 2:00, as I was leaving to pay Flynn’s Towing, I found my car missing again.

I went to Security and asked them to contact Flynn’s to say that

I was coming to pay the $60

that I now owed them.

The first thing Mr. Flynn did when I handed him the sixty dollars was to raise his fees to seventy. When asked why, he simply said that the car was hard to tow the second time. Next, when I went to my car I noticed that he had tampered with the steering column. It was scratched and the metal was pulled out in some places. Ap- parently he had to take the steering wheel off to change the wheel's position before towing. Finally, he did not just put my car in his lot, he used his tow truck to push it into a snowbank. I asked him to pull it back on the road. His condition for doing so.was that I for- get about the damage done to my steering column. It took me an hour.and a half of shovelling and the help of four passers-by before I got my car out.

I did I small of the different towing ser- vices operating in Char- lottetown to compare with Flynn’s methods and rates. The cost of towing a car from UPEI to downtown

survey

In response to the “Bios Strike Back” article I must say that it shows that the Bios have a great sense of humor. It proves that the only way to take the punishment we En- gineers have give them over the years is to lash back with equally fine entertain- ment. I hope this sets an example for the other mem- bers of the University Com- munity that others may fol- low.

We take this article in the good humor that it was intended and congrat- ulate the Bios on a fine job, but don’t expect you'll get away that easily. I hope that the Engineers will re- taliate with equal or better humor, if it is at all possi- ble. ye

(Name withheld by re- quest )

Page 4

ranges from $18 to $20 and none of them ever needed to tamper with a. steering wheel to get a car out.

Mr. Flynn has shown a complete lack of justice and fairness that I would expect from an employee of the university. He even threat- ened to charge me $200 if he ever towed my car again. Also, he has displayed in- competence by claiming the need to damage my car in order to tow it.

I think the University should straight and more civilized policies

establish

concerning this kind of in- fraction and if necessary take a good look at the other towing services in town.

signed,

Patrick Lemieux

Mr. Lemieux: Accord- ing to the Security dept. the university has no con- tract. with Flynn's towing. but says it uses it because it is the most reliahle. How-

~ ever, it does seem that that

company is also the most expensive in town — all other towing companies T checked with charge $18. with only one charging $25. to tow from UPEI to down- town.

According to the Com- munity Legal Information Assoc., a tow truck oper- ator does NOT have the right to find your car and tow it back to the lot be- cause fees are unpaid. Once the car leaves the lot. it seems the towing company can only sue for the amount owed them. That is why most tow operators disable the car somehow. like by re- moving the battery. so peo- ple can’t just drive away without paying.

I suggest you contact Legal Information about the matter of damage to your vehicle and they can give you more advice.

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. — Confucius

Derrick Webber Lori-Anne Heckbert

Daniel Mullen Shelli Wheaton

James Connolly

Editor-in-Chief Production Editor

Advertising Manager Photo Editor

Systems Manager

Regular Staff Members:

Kaberi Dasgupta Don Lane Sam Okello

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Thursday, Aue 2 1987