we took our rental car over to Phillipsburg for the day to shop and play on the boardwalk. We parked on the side of the road along side of a bank building, there were no "No Parking " sign ANYWHERE. There were serveral car also parked along this wall. It was by a bank and right around the corner from the police station. After about 2 hours of shopping (and spending A LOT of $$ in this city) we came back to our car to put our stuff in the trunk and go back to the beach. well, when we got to the place that we parked, our car was gone! The security men in front of the bank knew right away that our car was towed away and told us that there was no parking there. We said there was not a sign posted...they just said we couldn't park there.
(I think they were running a scam with the towing company by not having a sign posted and call them when cars parked there so they can come and tow them away).
When we went to the police staion and it took them over 1 hour to find out what tow company had our car! Then we waited another hour for someone from the tow co to pick us up and take us to our car...then we had to pay $75 CASH ONLY to get our car back. Thank goodness we had that much CASH on us (after shopping). The tow people were VERY RUDE and there were about 8 people in front of us getting their cars back from being towed too(each paying 75 cash). This was the BIGGEST SCAM. There are a lot of "No parking" signs in the city so you think that if there is NOT a sign, it is OK to park there. Well...beware!!
We always stay in the French side, and we only shop in Marigot now...too afraid ( and mad) to go to Phillipsburg and risk this again.

Sorry you had a bad experience. It's hard to find parking around that area.

Hi Kamela,
The same thing happened to us three years ago. To add insult to injury we were going to pick up my $2,700 ring my husband bought me for our anniversary!!! I can't repeat what my husband said!!!!. We were not happy either, but when it really comes down to it, can you park anywhere you feel like it at home? Rule is if you don't know ask. The banks have limited parking for their customers. The down town area is especially packed when ships come in. The police are the ones who call the tow trucks. It is usually because there are complaints from people in the first place. Usually there are a rash of cars all towed at once. We have always since then parked either along the pond and just walked over to town which isn't far, or just paid to park in the parking lot which is cheap. We always check to see how many ships are in for sure. The day we were towed there had been twelve cars towed as well. When we first started going to the island you could park right on front street down at the end of it, and just walk up one side and down the other back to the car. We see three times the people and cars now. We have experienced the same rudness and problems on the french side too. It infuriates me to have to deal with the menace who continues to harrass us every time we go to the marina for supper. The last time he actually told my husband something could happen to the car if we didn'y give him money. We told the police and they really did nothing about it at the time, and we were parked where we are supposed to park. We learned our lesson and always check to be sure we can leave our car now. The island is so busy now especially around Christmas and in January you find out very quickly where you can park and where you can't. We still love the island and will keep going back. Small problems we have had have some times been partly our fault too. Giong back again for another month!!!

"After about 2 hours of shopping (and spending A LOT of $$ in this city) we came back to our car to put our stuff in the trunk and go back to the beach. well, when we got to the place that we parked, our car was gone!"

You should consider yourself lucky that you only had to pay $75 for the tow. If you had put your stuff in the trunk and gone back to the beach all of the spending you did shopping would have been gone. YOU NEVER SHOULD LEAVE ANYTHING IN A CAR IN SXM, NOT IN THE TRUNK, NOT IN THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT, NOWHERE PERIOD.

Good point and sad but true.

just had to reply to this because we have had experience with both. First the guy in Marigot with whom we have run into the last 3 years-think he is harmless but have found it easier to just give him a dollar-makes him happy and you can go have dinner and not worry-what's a dollar when you are spending thousands on a vacation-i know its the principal of the thing and not the dollar but as i said-it makes life easier. Now the towing-last year my sister parked on the back street where a lot of other cars were parked. After shopping -bingo the car was gone-of course not even thinking of towing-walked around for several minutes looking tho we were sure that is where the car was. Finally one of the shop owners came out and when we aked him he said that it was a bus stop even though the paint on the street that marked it was long worn away. When asked what we should do and where it would be he told us that there were a couple of places it could be-and then offered to take us all in his car to find it. Of course it was in the third place-a real junk yard and u guessed it $75.00. The lovely shopowner would not even take any money-so it goes to show you there are still really great people living in SXM. By the way-the police could not even tell us where the car could be.

Welcome to the friendly island!! Right. We only use public parking and if not scrutinize the situation very very well. That stinks! Sorry you had a bad experience.

Yes..I know, I know, DO NOT LEAVE THINGS IN THE CAR!! We were going to keep the jewlery with us and only were putting our kids toys in the trunk, so it would not have been a big deal if someone stole them.
We were just really surprised that this happened because we have been going to the island for the past 10 years and never had this experience before. IF we do go back to shop (going back to the island to Nov) we will park along the pond or in the lot. I am a major shopper, so I'm sure that I will probably HAVE to go back to Phillipsburg...but I will always have that icky feeling when I am there

Kamela,

I'm happy to see you did know about leaving things in the car. Even the kids toys would be taken especially if new and you wouldn't want to have to revisit the stores to buy again. The towing thing is a bummer though. We always park in the lot and try to pick days that aren't too busy. I'm with you on HAVING to go to Phillipsburg and shopping. Don't let it get to you, the feeling will pass. We go in November too, 6-15. When are you there?

Concerned...We will miss you...we are going during Thanksgiving.

Concerned:

We always park along the pond area when shopping in Phillipsburg. Never had any problems. We are returning for a week 4-11 Nov this year. I see your are visiting 6-15 Nov. We are at the Cap Caraibes on Orient Beach. Where are you staying?

Tom,

We stay on the Dutch side at The Towers. Would love to meet up and toss one back somewhere!!!

Cocnerned: Any way to get your e-mail so we may correspond directly regarding Nov visit. We are all for sharing a cool one.