Beware the predatory tow trucks at the Carl’s Jr. at the Orange Outlets

This post was originally published on this site

One of our readers, who is in her 70’s and is retired, had an awful experience recently at the Carl’s Jr. at the Orange Outlets, located at 450 The City Dr S.

She met a friend and they each parked their cars at the Carl’s Jr. They failed to see that a sign warned that their cars would be towed if they parked there and were not customers.

They went to see a movie at the AMC theater at the Orange Outlets. When they returned to their cars they were shocked to see that the cars were gone.

The manager at the Carl’s Jr. admitted that they had observed the pair on surveillance video. Whether or not they called the towing company is not clear.

When the pair finally got picked up by a relative and went to retrieve their cars from the Southside Towing yard in Orange they each had to pay $393 to get their cars back. A tow yard employee told them that they cruise the parking lots at the Orange Outlet every two hours to find cars to tow.

$393 is an outrageous amount of money to have to pay for this disservice. Imagine if you are retired or on a low income? That could mean not eating for a week or not paying your rent or utility bills.

Our reader called Carl’s Jr.’s corporate office and was essentially told sorry but too bad.

The Irvine Company handles this a different way. Their security guards will post a warning on your vehicle. That is certainly better than getting towed and having to pay a small fortune to get your car back!

It is disappointing that the Carl’s Jr. at the Orange Outlets supports and encourages predatory towing. Our readers should avoid eating there until they change this awful policy.

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Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions.

When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.