We [at the Grove apartments] are sorry that we have upset the letter writer her son. Our towing policy is for the benefit of our residents. We want them to have access to the limited parking in front of their apartments, and have signs posted on property letting visitors know that they will be towed, at their own expense, if they attempt to park in resident-parking areas.
We do have a visitor parking lot on the property that is clearly marked, as well as towing-policy signs.
The towing policy that we have with All-Safe Towing does, in fact, include a royalty that we get for each nonresident car that is towed. In this particular case, we did refund the royalty to the family since they were upset, but told them that in the future they would need to follow policy. The funds acquired from the towing policy go back in to maintaining our customers' experience. For example, we just re-striped our parking lot. Furthermore, we are installing a new game room with interactive games for our tenants.
Towing is an effort to keep a secure property and ensure our tenants' safety. We certainly do not tow as a moneymaking effort; we pass on the revenue to our residents' experience.
— Megan Hunter
The Grove
Asheville
While I understand why the car was towed- the royalty is questionable. This to me is a conflict of interest. If the Grove gets a cut of towing fees, then it is obviously in their best interest financially to have everyone towed that they legally can. Hmm…. good ole All-Safe. Didn’t they get in trouble for illegally towing some time back? i believe they did… in a police towing sting. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say.
Anytime a vendor pays a client for giving them business it’s a kickback.