San Antonio woman’s two cars are towed from a downtown parking lot. Then she discovered she was allegedly overcharged by $100 per car

A San Antonio woman said both of her vehicles were towed on the same night from a downtown parking lot after she and her husband parked there for a date night. Kristina Richie said in her TikTok video that she had flown in from California and that her husband met her in the city, so they ended up with two cars downtown.

She explained that her husband called to say he found parking and shared his location, and that she parked next to him without seeing any signs about paying. Richie said in the video that the pair returned about an hour and a half later and found both vehicles gone.

She stated that she looked around and found a parking sign lying on the ground that appeared to have been hit by a vehicle. She claimed the phone number on the sign was disconnected, the QR code did not work, and that a second sign led her to a towing company whose line played a prerecorded message before disconnecting when she tried to reach a person.

Richie files hearings and complaints while describing company history and ownership claims

Richie said she called the San Antonio Police Department and provided license plate or VIN details so officers could tell her where the cars were taken. She stated that at the storage yard she was charged $358 for each vehicle after a clerk behind mirrored glass said she did not know what a non-consent tow fee schedule was and told her to call the next day.

Richie claimed the itemized bill listed a $272 tow fee, which she said was above the $179 maximum she believed the San Antonio ordinance set for tows inside city limits, plus storage, impound, and a private party administrative tow fee she questioned.

Richie said in her follow-up TikTok video that she later spoke with a San Antonio police officer who handles downtown towing matters and that he confirmed she had been overcharged. She stated that she filed two administrative tow hearings with the Justice of the Peace and a formal complaint with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. She claimed her receipt listed only the address of the lot and did not name the person who authorized the tow, which the hearing form asked for.

In the video, Richie said research showed the towing company, which she said operates under about five different names, previously paid $280,000 after illegally auctioning or scrapping roughly 93 vehicles owned by service members.

She stated that $60,000 of the amount went to the Department of Justice and that the company had already been fined by TDLR for similar reasons. She claimed she was still waiting for her hearing filings to be accepted and had not heard back from TDLR two days after submitting them.

Richie said in her latest TikTok video that the parking payment service named on the sign is Parking and that the same people own both the software and the towing company. She stated that the company’s website says the software is free for lot owners. She claimed many viewers had contacted her with stories of vehicles being hooked the exact minute a parking pass expired and asked how that would be possible unless the towing side had access to the expiration times.

She said Texas law has no grace period, so a car can be towed if someone returns even one, two, or three minutes late. She suggested it could create a conflict if the company holding the software contract also operated the towing service and was the only one able to see when time expired.

She stated that offering free software and signs while the vehicle owner covers the towing costs could let the company earn from both paid parking and from towing unpaid or expired cars.

Richie said she hoped the attention would push officials to audit the company and look at other overcharges. She stated that she has received many messages from people who said the same company overcharged them and that she does not believe companies should keep doing it because people are desperate to get their cars back. She said she planned to keep posting updates.

Several viewers shared their own experiences in the comments. One person wrote, “Thank you for this I hope I still have time to file. My car was towed and damaged from my apt complex. The guy didn’t see the parking sticker that was CLEARLY on the drivers side windshield.” Damage during a tow is a complaint other drivers have raised too, such as when a Philly woman’s car was towed and damaged after she parked legally on her street.

Another commenter described a similar timing issue and said, “They towed my car and when I called they did not tell me if I did not get there before midnight they would charge me a second day – and so I went in the morning because at night I did not want to go there late at night by myself because the area is very sketchy.” A third viewer noted the payment difference and wrote, “Atleast they let you pay with a card they made me pay cash.”

The towing company has not addressed the allegations as of writing.