Though having your car towed is never a pleasant experience, some find the ordeal even more taxing if handled by Riverside Towing.
The company, which owns most of the towing contracts for the businesses and apartment complexes around campus, has been the subject of many online petitions, Facebook pages and negative press over the years.
Most recently, the Facebook group “Make Riverside Towing Pay” has amassed 3,000 members.
“Frankly, I don’t know why so many people who were towed improperly do not file complaints with the state police,” said Baton Rouge area attorney Neil Sweeney, who runs the group. “They complain online, but in the end, they actually do nothing about the fact they have been towed illegally.”
Sweeney said Riverside Towing has pleaded “no contest” in the past to illegal towing due to inadequate signage in towing areas and towing vehicles to midway points to go back and retrieve more cars.
But Angela Chapman, an employee at Riverside Towing, said no illegal activity has taken place since she began working for the company five years ago.
“The state police make the rules, and the public service commission sets the prices,” Chapman said. “We have an annual inspection by the state police, which means they come up, check our paperwork and that kind of stuff. Since I have been here, we have never failed an inspection.”
And though Sweeney is not the only Internet user to question the legality of Riverside’s business, many are just as opposed to their business practices.
Kinesiology sophomore Kate Fisher, who has been towed by Riverside Towing twice, said she knows she was parked illegally at U Club Cottages but was more upset with extra “storage” and “after-hours” fees and the way she was treated when she went to get her car from Riverside.
“The lady was not very friendly,” Fisher said. “There was actually a cop out there who was just kind of monitoring things, making sure no one got upset, which made me think, ‘Hmm, they’ve probably had problems because they are not very friendly people.’”
Fisher said she also was put off by Riverside Towing’s policy that customers must pay in cash, saying many college students cannot get quick access to large amounts of money, meaning their cars must stay in storage longer.
Chapman said the cash-only policy is a way to avoid receiving bouncing checks and disputed credit card transactions.
Chapman acknowledges the company currently has an F rating at the Better Business Bureau for not responding to complaints. Many people have complaints, but Chapman said that is just part of being in the towing business.
She also said she is aware of the Facebook groups and other sites but rarely visits them. Chapman said many of the posts are inaccurate, but she does not want to engage in a public argument.
“Obviously, nobody is happy they got towed,” Chapman said. “People are angry, and we understand that. We really don’t argue with people, or we try not to, anyway. It’s not going to be pleasant, but we try to make it as easy as we can.”
Though Riverside Towing holds many contracts with businesses around campus, Chapman said those contracts do not mean money changes hands. Instead, it gives Riverside Towing the ability to enter private property and handle towing the way each business prefers.
Towing on campus is handled by LSU Parking and Transportation Services, which contracts out to Brown’s Towing company.
“If somebody really truly takes the time to understand it, we’re not only the only company that does what we do,” Chapman said. “I guess maybe we just have the most contracts in that area, so that’s why everybody is thinking we’re the only company.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Ari Ross

Barbed wire fences guard the lot at Riverside Towing on River Road.