Towing spoiled Festival of Lights
To the editor:
The holiday festival organized by the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Comcast featured all of the sights and sounds one might expect to find at a fun community event.
There was a toy train ride for the little ones and a mountain of snow for sledding. There was lights, music, dancing and of course Santa. How wonderful that the city could provide a nice evening for families, and for free! However, there was one aspect of the night I never would have expected.
My family and I arrived at the Holiday Festival after dark, when many businesses were already closed. We parked in a business lot on 47th Terrace. I thought parking off of the road would be safer, (as I said all businesses were closed).
We strolled through the festival and some of the shops then chose to leave about one hour later. We returned to find our car was gone. At first we thought it had been stolen. Then we saw the sign stating the tow-away zone. I admit it, I parked in the wrong place.
If the festival activities had been held during the day (business hours) I would have found somewhere else to park. I would not have taken a space that a customer would have needed.
We called the towing company and were told exactly what was required of us in order to retrieve our car; $200 in cash, that evening. If we were unable to get the car the same night the cost would be higher as they would be “storing” it for us.
I have two issues to address with this situation:
This was a city-organized community gathering, not a private function. The city of Cape Coral, the C.R.A., and the Chamber of Commerce are trying to encourage attendance and participation at the functions that are available, (Red, White & BOOM!, Art Fest, etc.) If this is an example of how residents will be treated by the local business owners, then I think the functions will suffer.
I may have parked in the wrong spot this time, but who is to say that I might have wanted to visit the businesses (whose lot I was parked in) in the future? I guarantee I will never visit them now.
My other concern is the general economy of our city right now. The citizens of this struggling community deserve to be treated with respect. The extreme actions taken by this company (though legally) were way out of line. The small business owners should take a look at how they can encourage residents into their establishments, not discourage it!
My outrage over this could be tempered somewhat if the fee had not been so exorbitant. Or maybe, if the clerk at the towing office hadn’t offered this “tid-bit” of information, “This is our busiest night of the year!”
Cape Coral, maybe we should stick with Wal-Mart, Target and The Edison Mall for our needs. They aren’t so particular as to where we park.
As a side note: If the businesses feel the need to keep non-customers away from their store fronts, why not purchase some galvanized pipe, 15′-20′ of heavy weight chain and two bags of concrete. You could simply close off entrance and make it clear you don’t want anyone near your store during non-business hours; I’d understand that. But now, I don’t care to know anything about what type of business you provide. I wonder how many other families received this holiday surprise? I also wonder if this will make them choose which of their monthly bills won’t be paid on time because they had to retrieve their car.
Merry Christmas, Cape Coral.
Judi Stratton
Cape Coral