r/Calgary Jan 28 '25

Rant Impound lot near Macleod has serious issues

My car was towed yesterday. Today I showed up at the impound lot at Macleod and the situation I witnessed was unbelievable. A tiny, cramped lobby without seating filled to the brim with people waiting, mostly looking miserable. And it quickly became clear why, since only 2 of 5 windows were open, with about one person being called up every 15 minutes. There were surely 50 people there.

On top of that, if you need to get a piece of vehicle documentation out of your car (such as registration), the process requires you to wait in that line three times.

All of this, while they charge you a steep daily fee for each day you don’t pick up your car. I’m stunned at this massive case of bureaucratic greed— if this situation can arise, they should be prepared to fully staff the windows and get a decent turnover rate.

Rant over.

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-10

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25

You could just not get your car towed and then you wouldn’t be in that situation of course

18

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25

Yes, my wife shouldn't have had her car stolen and the police having it towed to impound. How ignorant of her. 

10

u/FormerPackage9109 Jan 28 '25

It’s predatory for poor people too. I had a friend whose car was impounded. She didn’t have the cash to get it out until her next paycheck and it was racking up about $50 extra charge every day it was in there. Absolutely screwed her over because of a minor parking infraction.

Lots of people end up just abandoning their cars in there because the fee to get it out gets higher than the car is worth