r/chapelhill • u/obscurecoffee • 7h ago
Question Regarding Car Boots in Chapel Hill
Hey guys,
Yesterday I parked in a lot by The Gathering Place. I was in a rush, thought I was in the appropriate parking lot for the gathering place, and didn’t see the signs saying it was a private lot.
Stupid of me, I know.
I come back out to my car 20 minutes later and there’s a boot on my car, and as I’m inspecting it a truck pulls behind my car and blocks it in (I already can’t go anywhere) and a guy rolls down his window and starts yelling at me and demanding I give him $240 dollars within 30 minutes or he’s calling a tow truck to take my car away.
I realize I made a mistake and I ask him if his company takes card and he starts insulting me and telling me to “walk my ass to the atm”
I go to the ATM, and I only had $200 in my bank account so I asked him if he’d accept that amount since I was only there for about $20 minutes and it was quite literally all I had left. I apologized again for parking there. He started cussing me out and telling me “you better call someone” and hurling insults while I called a friend for some help.
I eventually get the money, and the whole time he’s taking the boot off he’s just talking shit and grumbling. I ask him what company he works for and he refuses to tell me, and I ask him for a receipt and he refuses.
Is it legal for them to refuse to give me a receipt or refuse to tell me the name of their business? Is there a cap on how much a private lot can charge for boot removal? Is there anything I can even do in this situation?
I realize I fucked up by parking in a private lot, but the way this guy was acting was insane and extremely sketchy. The way he refused to give a receipt or tell me what company he works for was a huge red flag, but I’ve never been in this position before and I’m not sure what to do.
Also, I just want to add that Alpha Pie/The Gathering Place had NOTHING to do with this. They are a great business with extremely nice people who sympathized with me after all this.

