Getting My Dallas Cowboy Merchandise At The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart

I did not know if the Dallas Cowboys were playing in their shiny new stadium today, or not. Which means I did not know if the Dallas Cowboys Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter was open or not.

I have still not received an explanation as to why the Stadium Wal-Mart shuts down during Dallas Cowboy home games, while all the other area businesses appear to remain open.

So, after I was done with Arlington's Chinatown I headed north on Collins Street to the Stadium Wal-Mart, which was open, with no football game being played across the street.

Inside the Wal-Mart there are a lot of flat panel TV's hanging down from the ceiling on which it appeared a Dallas Cowboys game was being played.

Inside the Stadium Wal-Mart there is an extraordinary amount of Dallas Cowboy merchandise taking up a lot of floor space. Like you see in the picture, with the game playing overhead.

I have not heard from the Mad Texas Grandma since December 15. You remember the Mad Texas Grandma, I am sure. She was mad because she and more than 50 others had their vehicles towed off the Wal-Mart parking lot on November 21, believed by the Mad Texas Grandma to have been towed illegally.

Wal-Mart denied knowing anything about the towing, or about A-AArlington Towing or about the dozens of taxis that showed up to take people to their hijacked vehicles.

The last I heard the Mad Texas Grandma was unable to reach the actual real manager of the Stadium Wal-Mart.

My best guess, as to what is going on with that Wal-Mart, is the manager, on his own, made a deal with A-AArlington Towing and the Taxis, with the manager getting a cut of the towing take.

Then, in a separate deal with Jerry Jones, the manager gives up a lot of store floor space to Dallas Cowboy merchandise, of which the manager and Wal-Mart gets a cut, along with Jerry Jones.

How all this wheeling and dealing between the local Wal-Mart manager, Jerry Jones and A-AArlington ends up with the Stadium Wal-Mart being closed during Dallas Cowboy home games continues to be a mystery.

The Mad Texas Grandma Gets New Info From Arlington Police Regarding The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Parking Lot Grand Theft Of More Than 50 Autos

I have heard from the Mad Texas Grandmother regarding what she learned from the Arlington Police regarding the November 21 incident where more than 50 vehicles were illegally towed from the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart parking lot.

You may remember, the Wal-Mart co-manager, who called MTG, told her that Wal-Mart had no contractual relationship with A-AArlington Towing, that Wal-Mart did not ask for the vehicles to be towed, that A-AArlington Towing is owed by the City of Arlington.

So, what did our Mad Texas Grandma learn from the Arlington Police?

First off, the police spokesperson told MTG that the City of Arlington does not own A-AArlington Towing.

Second off, Wal-Mart has a contract with A-AArlington Towing.

Third off, the police spokesperson told MTG it was Wal-Mart who authorized the cars be towed.

Fourth off, the Arlington Police Department is aware the Wal-Mart towing warning signs are not Texas legal posted signs.

The night that the vehicles were being illegally towed, in other words, the night that over 50 acts of Grand Theft Auto took place, the Arlington Police were called by distraught victims. But, when the police arrived they simply stood by, said they could do nothing, while the vehicles were taken from a parking lot that, we now know, the police knew did not have Texas legal signs posted.

The Mad Texas Grandma Is Off The Boat & Back On The Case

The Mad Texas Grandma is back on dry land, at her headquarters in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Unable to get a straight answer from a woman claiming to be the co-manager of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart, in Arlington, MTG is calling the Arlington Police today to try and get a simple question answered.

As in who authorized the towing of her vehicle and more than 50 others from Wal-Mart's parking lot on November 21?

The Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart did not ask that the cars be towed and that Wal-Mart has no relationship with A-AArlington Towing, that being the entity that did the towing.

There has been a problem in the D/FW Metroplex and Texas with Rogue Towing Operations. Was this a Rogue Operation?

Without Wal-Mart's knowledge did A-AArlington have agents on the Wal-Mart lot, looking for parkers who walked across the street to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to watch high school football games?

Since Wal-Mart denies having a relationship with A-AArlington Towing, if that is true, then there are only a few possible other scenarios. One being the scenario already mentioned, that being the Rogue Towing Operation, with A-AArlington in cahoots with no one.

Another scenario would be the Arlington Police were behind the towing. One of the choice items the Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG was that A-AArlington was owned and operated by the City of Arlington. Looking at public records that does not appear to be true.

Another scenario would be that Jerry Jones has someone monitor parking, determined to make money off as many people as possible. Don't want to pay $40 to park on his lots? Trying to park for free on the Wal-Mart parking lot? Is it Jerry Jones who contracted with A-AArlington?

MTG has determined that this was an illegal towing operation due to the fact that Wal-Mart's towing signs do not meet the criteria as defined by Texas law.

It will be interesting to hear what MTG learns from talking to the Arlington Police today.

Message For The Mad Texas Grandma & Wal-Mart

I have not heard from Mad Texas Grandma for a few days. She left on a cruise last Saturday. I assume she is still lost at sea.

If you missed who the Texas Grandma is mad at, you can read all about that here. Short version, the Mad Texas Grandma believes her vehicle was towed illegally from the Stadium Wal-Mart on November 21 while she attended a high school football game at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

The picture is one Mad Texas Grandma took of the sparsely parking Wal-Mart parking lot the day after her vehicle was stolen.

I heard from another victim of A-AArlington Towing, I'll call Ryan J. This victim had his pickup stolen by the towing company from its perfectly legal parking position somewhere in Fort Worth. Somehow, during the course of towing the pickup, A-AArlington lost the pick-up bed's cover. A cover that costs around $2,000.

Ryan J. did not even have to go all legal on A-AArlington. Presented with the fact the towing was illegal and that they caused substantial damage to Ryan J.'s vehicle, A-AArlington cut him a check to cover the damages. I don't know if he got extra for pain and suffering. But he did find a replacement bed cover cheaper than the original.

Yesterday I got an interesting email regarding the towing of over 50 vehicles from the Stadium Wal-Mart Parking lot. I'll copy it below...

I think it's pretty obvious to anyone that the people who's cars were towed were trying to save a buck. They did not want to pay the ridiculous parking fee being charge at the lots around the stadium. Walmart has signs telling people "No Event Parking."

It would be my guess that those signs stop most people from attempting to park for free. On that Saturday night of October 21 over 50 drivers chose to risk parking on the Walmart lot.

My thinking is this. Those people parking on the Walmart lot did not hurt Walmart at all. I live near that Walmart parking lot. There is always plenty of parking available. On that Saturday night there would have been a lot of parking available, especially by midnight.

Why would Walmart want to risk the goodwill of all those potential customers? Of those 50 plus who were towed, had any gone into Walmart and bought something before walking across the street to the game?

Why doesn't Walmart take advantage of the situation and sell parking spots like so many other area businesses do? Wouldn't that make better business sense than putting so many of their customers through the misery and expense of retrieving their cars? Or have someone at the parking lot entry had out a time stamped 2 hour parking pass to all incoming cars, charging a fee if more than 2 hours pass before they check out of the lot.

Surely there must be a more sensible, more business-wise solution, from Walmart's view, than what was done to all those people that Saturday night.

According to what I read the Mad Texas Grandma say, she claims Walmart denies employing A-AArlington. Who told them to tow then? Why doesn't the Mad Texas Grandma contact the Arlington police, telling them she wants to know who was behind authorizing her car be towed.

Anonymous

Usually I hear from Anonymous via comments to this blog, in email I don't recollect anyone being Anonymous before, because, well, I can see their email address, which in Anonymous's case was still pretty anonymous.

Anyway, I agree with Anonymous. Good questions he/she raises.

Still No Answer To Who Authorized A-AArlington To Steal More Than 50 Cars From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Parking Lot

Yesterday I told you that the Mad Texas Grandma had received a phone call from a person claiming to be the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart's co-manager.

The co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart has no towing contract with A-AArlington, that being the towing company that stole MTG's car on October 21.

If Wal-Mart does not have a contract with A-AArlington to tow vehicles off their lot, who does?

A-AArlington has a website. On their website A-AArlington clearly explains that they have 2 tiers of customers, with their primary customers being businesses, and their secondary customer being those whose cars they hi-jack.

I'll copy what A-AArlington says about their 2 tiers of customers....

At A-AArlington, we serve two tiers of customers. Our primary customers, property owners and managers are key to the business and our longevity. Their businesses are apartment communities, manufactured home complexes, hotels / motels, industrial properties, everyday retail stores, shopping centers (big and small), and privately-owned lots.

Our secondary customer, those who have had their vehicles towed by A-AArlington, are also important to our business, And, our treatment of them, in their most unfortunate situation, is one of the more significant ways that A-AArlington can, and will differentiate itself from the competition.

So. How is it that Wal-Mart is a customer of A-AArlington with Wal-Mart's co-manager claiming that Wal-Mart has no contract with A-AArlington?

Who authorized A-AArlington to go on Wal-Mart's parking lot and remove over 50 vehicles?

I also told you that the Wal-Mart co-manager told the Mad Texas Grandma that A-AArlington is owned by the city of Arlington. From what I've seen I don't see how that can be. Unless Straw K, Inc. is somehow a business set up by Arlington. I could find no info about Straw K, Inc. beyond the fact that it exists, located in Arlington and is doing business as A-AArlington Abandoned Vehicle.

Another Cold Foggy Wet Day In Fort Worth Texas

It is not even winter yet and I've grown tired of that particular season this second Tuesday of December in Texas.

That is my balcony view when I returned from swimming around 8 this morning. The fog was so thick it was pretty much a drizzle getting everything soaking wet.

It is a relatively balmy 40 right now in foggy Fort Worth. I suspect the swimming water was a few degrees warmer.

My new swimming shock therapy method is to run into the pool til I'm in swim mode, swim to the end, swim back, run to the hot tub. When I get in the hot tub I feel no heat for a couple minutes. Then it gets feeling too hot. I then get back in the pool where it takes about 2 minutes to feel too cool again.

I heard from the Mad Texas Grandma a couple times last night, emailing from her cruise ship somewhere in either the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean. We still have not found out who actually owns A-AARLINGTON ABANDONED VEHICLE or how it is they tow cars from the Stadium Wal-Mart with Wal-Mart claiming they have no towing contract with the mysterious company.

It is going to be a long day.

The Mad Texas Grandma Hears From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Regarding The Dozens Of Auto Thefts

I have heard from the Mad Texas Grandma again. You may remember me telling you about the dozens of grand theft auto thefts that occurred on October 21 at the Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart in Arlington.

In that blogging I said I was not sure I remembered the facts correctly that MTG had told me over the phone and that I was awaiting confirmation. Turns out I was mostly right. MTG says it was at least 50 cars stolen, the taxi to the stolen car was a $10 ride and the troll toll to get the stolen car back was $244.00.

I did make one glaring error. I said MTG had her 5 year old grandson with her. When in fact it was MTG's 6 year old granddaughter. I'm feeling as factually challenged as a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter right about now.

Yesterday I told you that MTG had had no luck reaching the Stadium Wal-Mart's manager. So, she called Wal-Mart corporate headquarters. Headquarters told the local manager to call MTG. MTG had learned that the Wal-Mart local manager's name was Matt.

But it was a woman who called MTG and identified herself as the manager of Wal-Mart. MTG told the woman she couldn't be the manager because he was a man named Matt.

The woman then said she was Matt's co-manager. MTG asked where is Matt? He is not here today was the reply. This was the same reply MTG has gotten every time she has called the Stadium Wal-Mart trying to speak with Matt.

Matt's co-manager denied that Wal-Mart has a towing contract with A-Arlington.

MTG told Matt's co-manager that she'd found 3 different names listed as owners of A-Arlington.

At that point Matt's co-manager, who had denied that Wal-Mart had a towing contract with A-Arlington, told MTG that the City of Arlington owns the towing company!

MTG asked Matt's co-manager how the taxis knew to be sitting and waiting for the grand theft auto victims. She said the taxis don't sit and wait.

Matt's co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart's towing signs were legal and that Wal-Mart had never lost an appeal in court.

Speaking of court dates, MTG's is December 21 at 1pm. I'll get more details in case you'd like to attend.

Regarding Wal-Mart's sign. They say "NO EVENT PARKING VEHICLES MAY BE TOWED AT OWNER'S EXPENSE."

Texas Occupations Code 2308.301(b)(5) stipulates that the following precise verbiage must appear on the sign...

"Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed at Owner's or Operator's Expense"

Go here for more details about Texas towing laws and the crimes committed by those violating them.

Now, from what I've read about Texas towing issues, the parking lot owner, which is Wal-Mart, has to have contract with a towing company. Yet Matt's co-manager says Wal-Mart has no such contract. A towing company can not randomly show up on someone's property and start towing cars. Someone, somewhere had to authorize it. Was it the City of Arlington monitoring Wal-Mart's parking lot?

Why does Wal-Mart not sell parking spaces like virtually all the other business in the stadium area do during events? I've never seen the Stadium Wal-Mart's parking lot anywhere near full.

Why is the Stadium Wal-Mart totally barricaded, with no entry possible, during a Dallas Cowboy home game? What is the agreement between Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart and the city of Arlington that makes the closure happen?

It's all a perplexing mystery.

Dozens Of Cars Stolen From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart In The Middle Of The Night

You are looking at a blocked off entrance to the Wal-Mart Supercenter across from the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium on Randol Mill Road in Arlington, Texas during a Dallas Cowboy game on November 22, 2009.

All entries to the Wal-Mart were blocked, thus closing Wal-Mart.

There were cars parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The parking lot was maybe a third full.

Unlike most of the other possible parking lots in the area around the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, Wal-Mart puts up no "Event Parking $60" sign. One would think they would, if they are going to close the store, with their lot being so conveniently located.

So, what I am curious about is how did it come to be that Wal-Mart is shut down during Dallas Cowboy games? How is Wal-Mart compensated for this? In an area where Jerry Jones is charging up to $60 for parking one would think Wal-Mart's compensation must be hefty.

I was also at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium the day before, to take pictures of the Dallas Cowboy Outhouses. On that day, November 21, high school football playoff games were taking place in the stadium. On that day the Wal-Mart Supercenter was open.

So, I parked on the Stadium Wal-Mart's parking lot. I saw a few signs that said something like "No Event Parking. Violators May Be Towed." I now know these were not warning signs that meet the criteria for such signs as defined by Texas law.

When I was parked at that parking lot it was maybe 1/2 to 2/3's full. The store was extremely busy. I saw people walking from the parking lot across the street to the stadium.

There were no security type people that I detected watching the Wal-Mart lot.

The last of the football games finished a bit past midnight. I have asked my source to confirm the numbers, but have yet to get that confirmation. But, I believe around 50 people exited the stadium and walked to the Wal-Mart parking lot to find their vehicles missing.

A line of taxi cabs was waiting for the people with the missing cars, offering to take them the short distance to where their vehicles had been impounded. I believe the fee was in the $10 zone.

When the people arrived at the impoundment place they were told it would take 20 minutes to process each vehicle. And cost something like $240 to get back in their vehicle.

My source, a Grandma who was with her 5 year old grandson and the grandson's pregnant mother, was able to persuade the impounder to process her quickly. She made it home sometime after 2 in the morning.

According to Texas State Law a vehicle can not be impounded unless specific verbiage, on easily seen signs, is installed on the parking lot. An impounder taking a vehicle from a lot without the proper signage is considered to have committed auto theft. The victim can recover any losses and have any damage to their vehicle paid for by the improper impounder.

What we are trying to find out is who really owns the auto impounder, Straw K, Inc. doing business as A-AARLINGTON ABANDONED VEHICLE. The property manager, that is Wal-Mart, had to have entered into an agreement with the towing company. Was this done on the local level? Or from Arkansas?

What is the arrangement with the taxi cab company? Who calls them and tells them there will be some distressed people looking for their vehicles?

If there were 50 towed vehicles that Saturday night, at $240 each, that's $12,000. Who gets that money? The towing company? Wal-Mart? The local Wal-Mart manager? Jerry Jones? Who?