UMass taking a hit for towing gaffe

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - A miscommunication is costing the University of Massachusetts tens of thousands of dollars after hundreds of cars are towed out of a student lot just as they moved onto campus.

UMass officials take the blame for the mistake as students are still trying to bounce back from what they’re calling a big headache.  One of those students was Cody Strait, a first year transfer from Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester. He's only been on campus for three days and already has a college story to tell.

“We walk in the parking lot and I'm standing in the place where it was and no one said anything to me. Luckily there happened to be some girl, she was unloading things from her trunk and she said 'oh, where you one of the people who got towed?' I said 'I guess so,” said Strait on Tuesday afternoon.  

University officials say 180 cars were towed on Sunday from lot 44 because most of the cars did not have the needed parking sticker as many of the students were still in the process of purchasing the permit. The mix-up will cost the university close to $20,000.  In a statement, the university announced it will reimburse families and students with the costs that came as a result of towing the cars.

“Whoever put it in motion, Ernie's Towing is just doing their job unfortunately you have to catch a ride and go get your car,” said Patrick Morrissey, an UMass junior who uses the lot. 

Ernie's Towing has a five year contract with the state to service UMass in the event a car needs to be towed.  A campus spokesman says students were not informed of the parking ban on lot 44, however added that they are not choosing to focus on the miscommunication but rather the reimbursement.  The school will waive the $40 parking citation and pay each student back the $105 they spent to retrieve their car.

“They had to pay an overnight fee if their car got towed overnight. So, definitely a big inconvenience not the way students wanted to spend their first weekend here,” said UMass student Evan Tabachnick. 

UMass officials say they still haven't figured out the process to reimburse the 180 students.  But they should start by contacting parking services .