Couple stuck with $1100 impound bill after scooter stolen

Having your only mode of transportation stolen is bad enough, but finding out you owe more than $1,000 to an impound company makes it worse.

“That’s just completely unfair, I may be sued for something that was stolen from me because I don’t have the money to get it out right now, I’m being robbed again,” said Danny Fierro. He and his husband Marco Parsons owned a 2014 Honda Metropolitan Scooter.

On May 12th, someone stole the scooter from a parking lot on Alejo and Palm Canyon in Palm Springs. Two weeks later, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department found it in Cabazon near Main Street.

Unfortunately the sheriff’s department didn’t contact the owners so the scooter went to the Gosch Towing and Recovery lot in Beaumont, where it started racking up storage fees.

We asked the sheriff’s department why the couple wasn’t contacted. They told us that they did attempt to call Mr. Parsons but they were not able to get a hold of him.

“We just never knew that it was here or we would have contacted them,” said Parsons.

On June 5 the couple got a letter stating the impound lot put a lien on the scooter.

“In order for us to get it out as of last Friday, it was going to cost $905, if I wanted to pay the $905 that day they still would have charged me an additional $110 because it was considered a weekend, it was after 5 o’clock on a Friday,” said Fierro.

Danny Fierro estimates the moped’s worth about $950. The impound lot planned to sell the moped, but according to this notice, the couple would still be on the hook for the fees and could be taken to court.

“They will not budge on what they were going to charge us for towing or storage or anything, and now I just kind of feel that we are being taken advantage of by this,” said Fierro.

We went with the couple to the impound lot to see if we could get this straightened out. The owner of the towing company showed up and came up with a compromise.

“We didn’t know there was a concern, our tow clerk was just doing the paperwork, until we found out that there was a concern, and like in past situations where things are unusual we have made arrangements with customers, so that it all works out in the end,” said Eric Gosch, owner of Gosch Towing and Recovery.

The price dropped from more than $1,000 to just $100 to cover the cost of the tow and some paperwork.

Unfortunately the scooter was severely damaged by the thieves. The seat was torn, the paint was scratched and the ignition was popped out.

“At this point we really don’t think it salvageable to run or to fix,” said Parsons.

“I’m glad that we are not going to be held liable for any fees or any more costs, because it’s not worth it anymore,” said Fierro.

The couple ended up signing over the pink slip to the towing company. They’re going to try to sell the scooter.