Charges towed away after error found

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A local towing company has reimbursed 367 people a

total of $8,248.75 for overcharges caused by a computer glitch.

The error was discovered after a Corona del Mar resident noticed he

had been charged for two days’ storage of his blue Volkswagen bus, even

though it had been impounded for less than a day after it was towed in

May by G&W; Towing.

First thinking he would have to fight City Hall, Richard Esposito

instead found a friend in Glen Everroad, an administrative services

specialist who manages the contracts with the two companies that provide

towing service for the Police Department. Esposito showed Everroad the

bill that included two days’ storage at $23 per day and also showed the

times the car was there -- over one night only.

“We investigated and we discovered from the tow operator that they

were using an off-the-shelf software to calculate charges of impound,”

Everroad said. “We discovered that the software was incorrectly

calculating it.”

The program was counting each additional day beginning at midnight,

which means that a car impounded at 10 p.m. would incur two days’ charges

in just over two hours. The city has rules that govern how much its

contractors may charge for towing and impounding cars.

Everroad said the company was quick to correct the error, searching

its databases for all the customers who had been overcharged -- 367 of

them to be exact. In September, all of them received checks from G&W.;

Esposito received his $23 refund check in June.

“It all worked out perfectly,” Esposito said, crediting the success to

Everroad. “He didn’t have to be as diligent as he was. The guy was

great.”

He brought the story to City Council members on Tuesday to call

attention to Everroad’s accomplishment.

On Wednesday, Esposito also praised the towing company for

acknowledging and quickly correcting the error. A representative for G&W;

could not be reached for comment.

Prompted by the incident, Everroad said city officials also examined

the operations at its other contracted towing service, Metropro. That

company, Everroad determined, was charging correctly for towing and

impounding cars. The average towing cost in the city is $94. Since rates

went up this year, impound charges are now $24 a day in most cases.

-- June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .