I phoned the Volusia County Sheriff's Office this morning. Police don't have an "automatic" mandate for ordering vehicles towed from private property.
Ormand Beach Days Inn first registered me to a smokers' room with a damaged door and a chirping smoke alarm. Since the alarm was 110-volts, and hard-wired to the ceiling (and out of easy reach) I opted to change rooms and was directed to park on the opposite side of the motel. (Where I unloaded from the inconvenient end).
The new room, continuing with smoking odors and damaged lock/door frame, was just
OK--but towing might have been made even easier!
Ready to finally relax, I pressed a Styrofoam coffee cup to the hallway's ice machine--which promptly dropped its entire front door near my toes! (No ice container had been provided to the room).
As for expense, this
Days Inn was somewhat more expensive than my usual stay in Ormond Beach. Others had charged a $100 deposit!
I blame
Wyndham for their "coupon incentive" to stay at their large family of motels. :
I ran this problem by a
Motel 6 registration desk during my stopover in Pennsylvania. They said Pennsylvania had abandoned the decal system.
Stolen annual decals have long been a problem in Florida, so I carry my current registration with my drivers license. Alas,
nobody asked to confirm my ownership--they just quietly towed my vehicle.
I agree, and should be contacting
Ormond Beach PD "desk" first thing tomorrow. Say, where is an opinion from member "Mr. V"?
I hope I have more luck than with the Volusia Sheriff's Office. Their "telephone tree" was so labyrinthine, I resorted to 911, where I was casually patched-through to the towing company. (Who I can't really fault--
excepting...).