I am happy to post this sequel to my Unjust Towing Company blog. Since January, Evergreen State Towing has been billing my friend Diane for expenses on a car we sold on her behalf more than two years ago. I took on the task of Daviding her Goliath, but instead of slinging stones, I sent letters. My letters, however, were not making an impression on Goliath or the agencies I appealed to. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the laptop, not so much. In desperation I contacted our Governor's office. Governor Gianforte's constituent representative, Mary Grant, had the stones we needed. I was discouraged when she asked Diane/me to file a complaint with the Washington bureau of licensing in charge of, among other things, tow truck operators because that agency was actually the second letter I wrote on Diane's behalf. Their response was--not in our jurisdiction, hire an attorney.
But this time our complaint was accompanied by a letter from the Governor's office requesting justice for Diane. And this time the bureau's response was to assign an investigator who went to work on the problem immediately. She referred to the same Washington regulations that Mary Grant had quoted in her letter. It turns out the law about contacting the owner of record that Evergreen repeatedly tried to club us with applies only to vehicles registered in the state of Washington. Thunk! A second law says they must accept proof of sale, which we had provided in our original letter. Thud! Evergreen told the investigator they would cease billing Diane for expenses. Wham! Although the license bureau did not fine Evergreen, the investigator promised to "educate" them regarding the law. We did not get to chop off Evergreen's head or loot their armor like David did to Goliath, but this still feels like victory. Persistence paid off. The unjust towing company gave justice in spite of themselves. At last, Goliath goes down!
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