update on the tow situation at the lansing mall.

[Kenneth Samson]

it's not so bad now that i have gotten the mall management to agree to
pay half the $500 towing bill and also got the tow company to reduce
the bill by $100. that leaves me $150 out of pocket instead of $500.
of course, i sure wish i weren't out of pocket at all because the mall
management admitted they screwed up, but $150 is way better than $500.

i spoke directly with the boss of the man who manages the mall, after
sending the mall manager the following email:
---
Fred-

Just a note to you to let you know that i DID NOT park overnight here
at Lansing Mall even though you might assume from my parking position
that i did. I simply was able to obtain the same parking spot as
yesterday when i returned this morning. When i need to do some work
on my computer for a few days, I routinely park along side trees next
to a mall entrance way whenever possible to have some shade and
breezes for the dogs. I have paid accounts to t-mobile and
freedomlink wifi locations around the country, with Barnes & Noble
being one of freedomlink's national partners. That is the only reason
i am here. Your tenant is my wifi internet service provider. This is
the way of the future, and you'll only see more and more travelers
parking during BN hours to use their paid wifi account. This is their
right. In the future, don't be so quick to haul people out based on an
assumption of wrongdoing. Verify, Confirm, get the Facts. You can
imagine the negative publicity that would be generated if one of these
travelers or myself went to the Lansing newspapers and recounted what
happened to them while visiting the city of Lansing.

thanks,
ken

ps. Do you work for Ken Huge? I did a little
research on GGP today.... with it's portifolio of over 200 malls,
24,000 stores, 200 million square feet of retail space, 5000
employees. pretty impressive.
---
Apparently, the mall manager then sent this to his boss, and his boss
[who turned out to be Ken Huge, as i suspected] came down from his
ivory tower to talk with me after mall security tracked me down
working on my computer..... long story short, Mr. Huge agreed to pay
half because i pointed out that the security at the mall logged me as
having slept overnight at the mall, on the day i was towed, which
simply was untrue. he did not say so, but i suspect their security
tapes confirmed this. i had indeed moved the coach and slept
elsewhere, OFF-SITE. he countered that i had screwed up by not coming
to the mall management office and letting them know i was visiting the
mall, not parking overnight. [funny - he does not expect all mall
visitors to do this, just those with motorhomes.....or so he claims.
never in two and a half years have i been told this at any other mall
i have visited, including other malls within the GGP portfolio.] so
we compromised on a split of the tow bill, $250 for each of us.

after agreeing to this, i went and talked to the wife of the owner of
the tow company and she agreed to refund $100 of the bill. [she liked
the dogs, i suspect that was the only reason she agreed to it. :-) ]
so i have gotten back $300 of the money so far, all told, and am
supposed to get the remaining $50 this week after mall management
replenishes their petty cash account.

this morning, when i pulled into the parking lot to get some coffee
and a bagel at Panera Bread cafe, a lansing city police cruiser pulled
in a few minutes after me and asked me [writing on a notepad because i
told him i was deaf] "didn't i just have you towed out of here last
thursday?" i told him, "yes, you did, and thanks for telling me so,
because now i have your name and badge number and i can sue the city
and police department for unlawful towing of my HOME and my dogs in
the middle of the day from a public parking lot." he quickly changed
his tune, said he had not authorized the tow, the mall did, he was
just doing his job, yada, yada, yada.... i locked the motorhome and
simply walked away from him towards the mall entrance.

once Mr. Huge gives me the remaining $50 this week, i'm out of this
city, never to return.

ken