Dept. of Brass, Pure Brass

[kaffy_r]

Ballsy Advertising

Tales from a condo board president: like many condo buildings with parking lots, our building has a contract with a towing company, to deal with non-approved people parking in the lot. 

We're in Chicago, and our contract is with Lincoln Towing Services. If you're from Chicago, you know Lincoln Towing Services as a company of towtruck-driving sharks, cruising through alleys and streets, looking for un-permitted cars to tow. Its history is so replete with tales of towtruck drivers' voracious hunger for towing, and those drivers' lightning quick tow action, that it's become legendary. 

How legendary? This legendary: 

"Steve Goodman : Lincoln Park Pirates (Live)" (Watch on YouTube)

Yesterday, one of our unit residents who was temporarily using a rental car, and who forgot to put a permit in her window that one fateful Tuesday, got towed. Although it was, ultimately, her fault, I told her I'd try to convince Lincoln Towing to reimburse all or part of the $218.50 it cost her to free the car from its pound. I've put in the call, although I don't expect anyone to call me back; if they do, I don't expect them to reimburse anything.

That's not the point of this post. 

When I was put on hold during my first call, guess what music played while I waited?

You damn betcha. 

I've got to admire the chutzpah. 

Comments

[heliopausa]

:D

[kaffy_r]

inorite?

One's got to admire that kind of in-your-face cheekiness, though!

[bibliofile]

When my car got illegally & inappropriately towed off the street by the LPP, even the cops wished me luck with any official complaint I might make. (The car was parked legally on the street; the LPP claimed it was in a lot they controlled. I suspect that the people whose house I'd parked in front of gave someone some cash to make my car go away.)

[kaffy_r]

That wouldn't surprise me in the least.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Wow.

[kaffy_r]

I hate to say that I admire them for putting that on their hold music, but I do admire them. I wasn't on the board, or even in the building, when the condo association hired Lincoln Towing, and our car was actually towed one time as well; they're doing the job we hired them for, I'll say that.

[clocketpatch]

That's certainly impressive.... I'm not certain what kind of impressive, but it's some kind of something. I wonder what the ratio of people who laugh at the hold music to people who become utterly enraged by it us.

[kaffy_r]

Well, given that one definition of chutzpah is a man charged with murdering his parents, throwing himself on the mercy of the court because he's an orphan, I figure this ... creative ... musical interlude is at least a little less horrifying.

the ratio of people who laugh at the hold music to people who become utterly enraged by it

There is, of course, a third group to consider: those whose jaws hit the floor, and are unable to process anything further once they hear the music ....

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

I'm over here just falling OUT (and feeling slightly guilty, because...poor woman!) But yeah. That takes some balls. You gotta give it to them for that, lol!!

*HUGS*

[kaffy_r]

I never did get an answer back from Lincoln Towing - not that I'd expected one. They really are sharks, albeit sharks with a sense of humor.

*hugs right back*

[carbonel]

That's...something. Funny and chutzpah, I guess.

(Once upon a time, I lived in a condo with assigned parking spaces in an outdoor parking lot. One day after I'd lived there for over five years with the same car, someone parked in my parking space. I parked in an open space, leaving an explanatory note. The head of the condo association, in what I can only describe as a moment of pure nastiness, called the towing company. It cost me over $200 and calling in a favor to get a ride there, and was directly linked to my deciding it was time to get out of that place.)

[kaffy_r]

Good lord! The person who should have been towed was the person who parked in your spot! But of course, you know that, and the nasty condo board prez knew that. I can see why it was part of what led you to get out of Dodge.

As I said to a_phoenixdragon, even while I chuckle over the music choice, I acknowledge that Lincoln Towing is peopled with bastards. Sharks indeed.