Shannon said they could only release the car to the owner, but then told her that she could have a friend pick it up if we sent them a notarized statement, saying that the person was authorized to pick up the car. They said we could fax the statement to them, but that the notary seal had to be stamped, not embossed. We finally found a notary with a stamp, had the statement notarized and faxed it to Shannon.

When the friend stopped to pick up the car, they said they needed the original, not a faxed version, of the statement ... that a fax was "not a legal document," and that whoever said differently gave the wrong information.

First of all, a signed statement ought to be more than enough, with verified identification.

Secondly a fax is commonly accepted in business.

So why the run-around? ...to get a couple extra days payment for holding the impounded car, of course. It took a day to pull together someone to pick up the car, draft the statement, get it notarized and faxed. Now it will take another day to do it all over again.

What can we do? Not much. They have the car...