Think Outside the Bull

Crime: October 10, 2006, young man leaves Taco Bell restaurant after eating lunch inside and leaves his car in the parking lot while he goes across the street for less than one hour.

Punishment: Car is towed eight miles to wrecker service lot.

Cost: $175.00

Enforcer: Joseph Guevara, Taco Bell Manager

The story is as follows: My son met two friends for lunch at the local Taco Bell recently. After eating their meal they all got into his friends' car and drove across the highway to run an errand. They returned within the hour to find my son's car missing. When they asked the store manager if he knew about it he told them he had called the wrecker service to have it towed. They immediately went to the wrecker service lot and picked up the car at the cost of $175.

As you can imagine, when I heard about this I immediately went to visit with that manager. The manager, Joseph Guevara, pointed out the sign in the parking lot that clearly reads, "All unattended cars will be towed at owner's expense." He also said he knows exactly which customers drive which cars and in his words, he calls the tow truck "alot". The problem, as I see it, is the definition of "unattended".

After one more visit with Mr. Guevera and a couple of phone calls to his superiors, I have now written letters of appeal to the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, all the local news stations and the Star-Telegram as well as a letter to Southern Multifoods Incorporated who own this Taco Bell. None of this may result in our receiving our money back but I worry about how often this happens. The tow truck driver confirmed to my son that he gets alot of business from this manager, and it makes me wonder if Mr. Guevara has made some sort of deal with the towing company.

In my conversations with company representatives, never once have I screamed, cussed, made a scene, or even exaggerated. In fact, neither I nor the company is disputing any of the facts in the situation. I am also not calling on a nationwide boycott of Taco Bell or it's sister companies owned by Southern Multifoods. I can tell you, though, it will be a long time before anyone in my family eats there. Any company that allows such poor customer service to be apart of their company policy will not receive my patronage. I realize that this company will not be financially affected by anything I say or do but I will not sit by and do nothing. If you would like to express your feelings on this subject I have a link here that will go to the Better Business Bureau web site where you can have a voice. Trust me, it'll make you feel better! And at least they don't still use that stupid little chihuahua to sell tacos!