Local businesses are warning students to steer clear of the parking lot on the corner of Chamberlain and Hillsborough streets if they don’t plan on immediately visiting the adjacent businesses.
The lot, which is shared by Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, GoPaks Bazaar, I Love New York Pizza and Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins, provides free parking to all customers and employees of the businesses in the building. Carolina Auto Recovery Specialists tows all other vehicles from the lot.
The Raleigh Police Department’s towing logs indicate that at least 650 cars have been towed from the lot by Carolina Auto, which operated under the name Atlantic Coast Towing and Recovery from February 2008 until November 2009. By comparison, the other hot spots on the logs, the parking lots of Zaxby’s and Sylvia’s Pizza, had around 464 and 118 cars towed, respectively, in the same time period.
However, Chandan Kumar, manager of GoPaks Bazaar, said the reason for towing has morphed into a chance to turn a profit rather than to keep the lot clear for customers.
“If somebody comes in our store, or any of these businesses, they don’t get their car towed,” Kumar said. “But if they leave the property or go somewhere else, across the street even, the towing company will tow your car right away. They don’t even come inside and ask me anything about it. They have their own people sitting in the parking lot watching people to see where they are going after they park their car.”
Travis Denton, president of Carolina Auto Recovery Specialists, said Jimmy John’s franchise owner Dan Mall contracted with him about a year ago to tow in the lot, but he denies hiring those “spotters,” claiming that they are “a rumor stirred up by the WRAL article last year.” Although Denton said the business owners call in the towing company, Mall said he hired the towing company to control the lot independently.
But aside from Kumar, others who live and work along Hillsborough Street, including Eddie Johnson, one of Mall’s employees, told the Technician they have seen spotters watching for illegally parked cars.
Johnson, who has been a driver for this particular Jimmy John’s for less than two years, said he likes the towing policy because it ensures there are enough spaces for delivery drivers.
“The spotters watch everyone. They even tow our own people if they come back and park after their shift is done,” Johnson said. “They know when people work and what they drive. For everyone else, the signs are out there and they’re clear. If you can’t read when you are coming in to park, then that’s not our problem.”
Mall also said the policy is clear.
“We need to tow cars that aren’t supposed to be there to make room for our customers,” Mall said. “If you leave the property for any reason, you will be towed.”
Other business owners in the area are not pleased with the policy.
Mike Ritchey is the owner of Global Village Organic Coffee, which sits a block away in another parking lot. Ritchey said towing on Hillsborough Street at all is simply a hassle, and one of the biggest issues with the towing practices of these businesses is they tow their own patrons.
“If the spotters see people walk in any other direction than into either the convenience store or one of the other shops, they automatically call the tow trucks on them,” Ritchey said. “But on more than one instance somebody has, for example, gone to the bookstore to get a book and then gone to New York Pizza to buy lunch, and then come out to find that their car has been towed because they did not go immediately into New York Pizza.”
However, towing companies aren’t solely targeting students, which is why Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said he suggests it may be time to put the issue of predatory towing before the City Council.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
The Council last revised its “improper towing” ordinance in 2008. It said a towing company cannot legally tow away a car if the owner returns to their vehicle while the tow truck is still in the lot, with the understanding that the owner will move the vehicle in question. The ordinance also states a towing company can charge a maximum of $100 for towing a car.
“[Towing] is a very marginal business and predatory towing is a very bad practice. I know that businesses are concerned but there has to be another way to regulate their parking lots,” Meeker said. “They shouldn’t use these types of companies.”
According to the Better Business Bureau, an organization that rates business quality, Carolina Auto Recovery Specialists holds an “F” rating. These ratings are based on various factors, including longevity of the business and the number of complaints. Carolina Auto Recovery Specialists’ rating stems from their lack of cooperation with the Better Business Bureau to furnish basic company information, which would be available online to the public.
By comparison, Ace Towing and Recovery, the company used by many other businesses on Hillsborough Street, like Zaxby’s, has an “A” rating.
Mall said he worked with the police department to find a “reputable business” with “reputable business practices.”
Although Raleigh Police spokesperson Jim Sughrue said it is unusual for the Raleigh Police Department to provide referrals, but it may have provided Mall with a list of local towing companies.
Several business owners and managers on Hillsborough Street said they agree this is not the way to deal with the abuse of the lot by drivers. At the very least, they said they’d like for the tow company to wait 15 to 20 minutes to see if the drivers come back before towing their cars, since the excessive towing is scaring away customers.
“There is plenty of parking if you are patient, but when people have a bad experience with the parking on Hillsborough Street, they will go tell 100 people,” Ritchey said. “People don’t necessarily tell anyone if they have a good experience. And yes, we’ve seen a decrease in business.”
News Editor Nathan Hardin contributed to this story.
