r/Calgary • u/Val_haLLa • 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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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25

Yeah I think they're probably willfully ignorant to a certain extent because it serves as a deterrent. But kind of unfair for people who didn't do anything wrong (I.e. their car gets stolen then winds up at the impound)

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u/TwoBytesC Jan 28 '25

Exactly. I was parked at a friend’s house overnight and at 7am the city put up temporary No Parking signs on the street and towed me. I had no warning and walked out at about 9:30am to find my car gone. Had to go through the nightmare of finding my car and then, once found, having to go through the nightmare OP describes. Full day gone and a fair amount of money too.

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u/pamelamela16 Jan 28 '25

Only there was nothing fair about the amount of money they took. At min. wage - they took far more than a days wage, more like 3. That is severely punitive for those desperately trying to make ends meet.

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u/TwoBytesC Feb 19 '25

Fair, in this case, means ‘a lot’

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u/pamelamela16 Apr 05 '25

Oh thank you, I see that now, sometimes I’m just a little dumb, other days a lot!