“Riverside stole my car,” was the statement Andrew Fuselier, civil engineering sophomore, woke me with early one Friday morning. “Can you bring me to get my truck?”
Unfortunately for me, I had to make the drive down River Road to the car prison we know as Riverside Towing Inc. But what I thought would be a quick trip quickly turned into a nightmare.
We arrived, money in hand, ready to pick up his truck. As we entered the run-down lot, the lady running the establishment told us Fuselier’s parents must come pick up the vehicle because his dad was listed as the owner on the insurance.
She told us an e-mail from his father would suffice, so we left, only to return minutes later with an e-mail sent to Fuselier’s cell phone. It was apparently no good — it needed to be printed out.
Finally, after producing a printed e-mail and paying more than $154 in cash — they don’t take credit cards or checks, and they don’t give change — we    retrieved the truck.
Before that day, I had heard Riverside was a sad excuse for a business (the main office is essentially a shack) and had pretty shady practices, but I never quite believed it until I experienced it.
So I started asking around and discovered I wasn’t the only one who found the company a little strange.
Ally Mendoza, civil engineering sophomore, said Riverside moved her car to tow others.
“My car was in a legal parking space [in Arlington Trace], but Riverside moved my car behind other residents’ spots to tow cars by mine,” she said. “They didn’t move it back, and in the morning the residents I was blocking keyed my car.”
Mendoza said her car was parked in the overflow lot, and when she met with the complex’s supervisor, the supervisor said Riverside is not supposed to tow from the overflow lot.
Mendoza also said she has seen a Riverside employee damage a truck at University Crescent on Burbank.
“[A Riverside employee was] moving cars to get to others, and when the driver went to lower a truck, sparks flew up as it hit the ground … and the [Riverside] driver ran out and tried to pretend that nothing had happened,” Mendoza said.
There’s a Facebook group called “Make Riverside Towing Pay,” where unfortunate souls complain of the alleged ills the company has caused them.
Most comments claim, “[Riverside] stole my car.” But some comments read “I got towed in a guest spot,” and “I have personally witnessed [Riverside] damage more than one car … because they were working in such a hurry.” Others say the employees were more than just rude when trying to get their cars back — they told people asking questions “to get to the back of the f&%$#@ line.”
So after reading this, I went down to the Riverside office to find out just why everyone is so livid about the company.
I questioned the “rude” employee — who turned out to be the manager — whom everyone seems to comment about on Facebook, and she gave me answers to the many reasons of why we hate Riverside. She wished to remain unnamed because of the reputation of the company.
She told me all fees that Riverside charges are set by the Louisiana Public Service Commission — Riverside does not have the pleasure of setting the absurd prices we claim they charge. Another thing I was told was the lack of change comes from the fact they immediately deposit all transactions into a safe, and no employees have access to it.
She also said all their practices are honest and legal — they have contracts with apartment complexes, they video tape each car before towing and they are allowed to tow you if you do not have your parking pass in the right place. Lastly, she said the police make them require a letter from the car’s owner before you can drive it off the lot.
Riverside claims to be an honest business, but most people who have dealt with them say otherwise. And their shady actions have led to an outright hate towards them as seen in the Facebook group’s picture, which says “Grand Theft Auto Baton Rouge Presented by Riverside Towing.”
And until something drastic happens, Riverside is here to stay. But there are a few things we can do to annoy them in the meantime.
The first can occur after your car has been stolen from a complex that uses parking stickers. Borrow a friend’s sticker, go to Riverside and ask to get something out of your car and place the sticker in the appropriate place. Tell Riverside about the sticker, and you’ll get your car back and $100 in compensation.
And the second — well, it’ll never happen. But if we park in the correct places for long enough, they’ll go out of business.
Chris Grillot is a 19-year-old mass communication and English sophomore from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Cgrillot.
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Contact Chris Grillot at [email protected]^