When David Miller’s truck disappeared in Ottawa last summer, he reported it stolen and accepted it could be on a container ship sailing to parts unknown. She had resigned herself to never seeing him again.
Then, early last week, he got an even bigger surprise in his mailbox, he says.
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) sent him a notice informing him that his 2018 Dodge RAM had been found and was in the storage yard of a towing company south of Ottawa. Miller could go to a police station, get the necessary authorization form, and he could be his again.
Good news, right?
Except the OPS notice was dated November 26. According to the envelope, it wasn’t mailed until December 16 (at the end of the recent Canada Post strike) and the towing and storage bill waiting for Miller in the company yard totaled almost $4,000, before taxes.
If he had been told in late November that his vehicle was found, Miller estimates he could have recovered his truck for a fraction of that cost.
Instead, he feels like his pocketbook is being burned by bad bureaucracy.
“The tow truck didn’t call me. The police didn’t call me. Nothing,” he said.
Found in the parking lot
Miller, 34, is a father and logistics worker who lives in Arnprior, Ontario, located more than 60 kilometers west of Ottawa.
He had the truck for about a year and a half before it disappeared. Photos he shared with CBC show him using it to transport dirt bikes and take his family to their cabin.
Miller also sometimes wore it to work.
One night last summer, he went to a restaurant in Ottawa’s Byward Market for a beer after work and discovered his keys were missing when he returned to his table after going to the bathroom, he said.
Miller filed a report with police in July, but did not learn it had been recovered until he received notice from OPS last week. It turned out that his truck had been found in an underground parking lot in Ottawa.
“Why did they send the letter in the middle of a postal strike instead of just calling?” said.
The police tried to contact him “by other means”
The towing company says it received the truck on November 25.
He had charged Miller for towing, an administrative fee and the accumulated cost of storing the truck for a month and a half, for a total of $3,948 before taxes, or about six weeks of his salary, according to Miller.
The company has since told CBC it agreed, given Miller’s circumstances, to reduce the bill to $2,508.90 before taxes.
But Miller still hasn’t picked up the truck or paid the bill because he doesn’t believe it’s his fault.
“I am the victim of this,” he said.
PAHO declined to be interviewed. But in a statement emailed to CBC, police said owners whose stolen vehicles have been recovered and towed are usually notified by mail.
While OPS’ notice to Miller states that “this is the only notice you will receive from the Ottawa Police Service,” OPS told CBC that “efforts to contact the owner by other means were unsuccessful.”
According to PAHO, towing companies also play a role in notifying vehicle owners.
“Contracted towing operators also send a certified letter (not affected by the postal strike) to the owner if a vehicle is not claimed within three business days,” according to the OPS statement.
“Despite the postal strike, towing companies assured PAHO that they were sending certified mail as a precautionary measure to ensure prompt notification.”
‘We sympathize with this client’
Near the end of the strike, Canada Post warned that strike-related delays could persist into January.
“This is an unfortunate situation and we sympathize with this customer,” the Crown corporation said in its own statement emailed to CBC.
Miller said police suggested he pay the bill up front and then seek compensation through the city of Ottawa’s complaints process.
Additionally, when a homeowner has a concern regarding a bill, “OPS may audit it to confirm whether the bill conforms to the contracted rates,” OPS told CBC.
Miller said so far his old insurer won’t cover his bill, and he thinks OPS should.
“Why should the victim pay out of pocket when someone else caused the problem?”
Tomorrow in Ottawa5:38Notice lost in the mail: Owner of stolen truck must pay tow fee to recover it
David Miller’s truck was stolen, found and held at a tow truck yard. Due to the postal strike, he only received the letter to come pick it up months later.
