I rented an apartment on 5 th street in San Jose. When I spoke with the house manager, Irene I explained to her that I would be arriving late (after 10pm) on Wednesday 11/13//2019. I was attending training classes on Thursday and Friday from 8:30-5Pm at the Superior courthouse on 1st (about 4 blocks away). Irene told me that it was hard to find parking around the courthouse.
I told Irene that I would be walking, riding my bike or renting a scooter. She told me that I could leave my car out front, just not in their driveway, I parked directly in front of their house and saw a sign that said, "NO PARKING ON TUESDAY for street cleaner".
I made 2 trips to get my belongings, saw 2 men smoking outside and they watched me bring my stuff inside the apartment. In the morning, I left the apartment about 8:25am, saw a young man outside, he waved as I walked away and headed to the Superior Courthouse. After class, I walked back to the apartment. My car WAS GONE!!
I went to the front door of the apartment and the young man answered the door, I asked for Irene. He said hold on....an elder man (the Host's father) came to the door and asked why I was looking for Irene. I explained that my car was gone. He said, "she doesn't live here. what color was your car" I said Silver 4 dr. He said, ooooo yea I saw it being towed. I said "why?" He said, because our streets are being resurfaced. I said, why didn't anyone call me or tell me? How do I get it back? He said, "I don't know, call the police department". I said, " I'm not from here. No one told me that I couldn’t park there, and no one called me to tell me that my car was being towed". He said, "didn't you see the signs?" I said, "no, I did not see any signs. He said, " I'll drive around and see if there's any." He left in his van. I walked up and down the street and didn't see any signs that said that I could not park there.
When I returned to the apartment, the doors were closed, the lights were off, and the blinds closed. I knocked on the door, no one answered. I called Irene's phone number, she answered. I explained to her what had happened. She told me that she was in a car accident and broke her foot and could not climb the stairs and was staying with her mom, therefore, she wasn't aware that the streets were being resurfaced. I explained to her that I need to get my car asap, I was scheduled to be in class on Friday morning. She sent me a text with Autodesk's phone number. I called and it explained that the registered owner needed to be present to get the vehicle, reg must be current and a licensed driver must be present. I car belongs to my 86-year-old mother. I had to send my daughter to my mom's house to sign a letter stating that I could use her car then take my mom to a notary at 8pm, then she texted it me. I asked Irene for a ride, she said "I can't find anyone to give you a ride, guess you'll have to take uber". I called the fex ex store (they closed at 10pm), I took uber there and printed the documents and took an uber back to the apartment.
The next morning, I got myself ready, packed all my belonging. Called Lisa, the host back. I explained what had happened, she said "I'm sorry this has happened to you, please let me know if we can help." I said, "yes, you guys need to pay me back for everything that's happened". Lisa said, "no, we're not going to do that! You’re a licensed driver, you should have seen the signs. My brother is an UBER driver and he was there yesterday visiting my parents and he saw the signs. My nephew, Irene's husband saw the signs too.
I live in Washington DC, so I don't actually know what's going on there". I explained to her, that I had told Irene that I would be arriving late (after 10pm), would be leaving my car there because I was going to walk/ride my bike/scooter to the Superior Court (4 blocks), had seen 2 men outside smoking when I got there and 1 guy in the morning when I left for my training class...... NO ONE had told me that their streets were being resurfaced. When I booked your apartment, I specifically told Irene in a message on AIRBNB's platform that I would be walking, riding my bike or renting a scooter to the Superior Court house on 1st Street because I had class on Thursday and Friday.
I explained to Irene that I would be arriving late Wednesday evening after 10 PM, I read the entire manual from front to back, read all the notes and instructions that were left in the apartment and nothing mentioned not being able to park in front of the house or the consequences of having my car towed if I did. I explained to Lisa that I would not be checking out on Friday am until after I had my car because I did not have a place to leave all my belongings. She said, "I won't charge you for the extra day." I said, "COME ON, how could you? I have nowhere to take all my belongings". Lisa said, "well, I'm not paying for your car being towed!". I said, "ok, then I'll sue you due to your lack of communication". Lisa said, "do whatever you need to do". I said, "thank you Lisa! Goodbye". Lisa said, "Goodbye Lucy!".
I got a ride to the San Jose Police Station to get a release for my car then called uber to take me to the tow yard to pick up my car. I went back to the apartment and picked up all my belongings and sent Lisa and Irene a text, letting them know that I had left their apartment at 10:17am.
The SJPD charged me $122 for release from. $315 at the tow yard, $60 ticket and $30 for notary services, $20 for my daughter's gas, missed my class, 4 rides to and from fed ex & to the police station and tow yard and the fees at the fed ex store.
I'm not from this area, and no one mentioned their streets being resurfaced...….Host should of communicated that information to be.
I was contacted by AIRBNB, a senior case worker. She asked me what it would take to compensate me for this situation. I said, I want my mom's credit card reimbursed all the charges involved in this situation. She called back and said that the host denied my request. She told me that she would talk to her supervisor and get back to me. On November 17, I received a message regarding the resolution....they offered 2 coupons worth $300 each (good for 1 yr.) and $150 refunded to my mom's credit card for a total of $750 and she stated that she has personally educated the host to help the guest with complete information about parking at the listing to avoid any such situation in the future.
I said "thank you for your offer, but I cannot accept that. I need to repay my mom's credit card. I would accept SJPD ($122 plus tow yard $315) for a total of $437 needs to be applied to my mom's credit card and the difference ($215) in an AIRBNB voucher plus the ($150) vouchers for my inconvenienced. But she discussed my request with her supervisor, and they could not compensate me at all.