SAN ANTONIO — Tourist Sabrina Vega walked out of the Shops at Rivercenter one Saturday to find her vehicle missing and several other tourists standing around in a parking lot owned by Platinum Parking.
At first Vega hoped she just forgot where she parked but it was soon clear she had been towed. She wasn't the only one.
“I saw these other people and there were quite a few families that were left here in the parking lot wondering where their vehicles were,” Vega said.
The tourists called SAPD and made a report. The report showed one vehicle was towed 18 minutes before it's time was up and it also showed an odd situation with Vega's vehicle. The police said the towing company reported towing Vega's vehicle at 5:27 p.m. At the same time, it shows Vega was already calling the police at 5:27 p.m.
"I came back two hours later, which is what I paid for, and my car was already gone," Vega said.
The SAPD report also included a note from the responding officer that stated, “I advised all parties that the towing company is known for towing early, or grabbing the vehicle as its time is going to expire.”
The lot where this happened is owned by a company named "Platinum Parking." That parking company should have control over what tow companies tow from their parking lot so KENS 5 reached out to Platinum Parking to see if they could address the issue.
KENS 5 made multiple calls to Platinum Parking offices, sent emails to local manager Albert Cuellar and regional manager Jose Ponce, and even visited the Platinum Parking office nearby with the camera rolling. Neither manager ever contacted KENS 5 back.
KENS 5 also emailed other Platinum Parking Offices in Austin and Dallas but those offices did not contact us back either.
We then reached out to San Antonio Councilwoman Sukh Kaur, who represents Council District 1, and sat down with Kaur for an interview.
"Most of the tourists that come in come in to visit district 1 and we want to make sure that they are having a good experience," Kaur said. "Coming out to find your car towed is definitely not going to add to that good experience so it's an issue that is important to us."
Still, while Kaur's office also contacted Platinum Parking multiple times, the parking company stayed silent. Kaur said she was able to contact the towing company but any complaints with the towing company would need to go through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
KENS 5 also called Shops at Rivercenter General Manager Jerry Wiggins. Wiggins said he had worked with the parking company before and he would work to get KENS 5 a response about the issue.
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