SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - It was a mix-up that cost dozens of sailors hundreds of dollars. More than 40 sailors returned from pre-deployment training on Friday to find their cars were not where they left them on base.
The sailors had been towed while they had been on training.
A sailor's wife says many of the sailors were surprised because they parked their cars in an area they were told to park.
"It was a scheduling conflict with pavement maintenance," the Navy wife said. "Tuesday we got a call saying our car was towed. They left May 30. It was towed on June 8, and I picked it up on the 14. $400 dollars later."
A spokeswoman with Naval Base San Diego sent the following statement to 10News:
"Naval Base San Diego is working with USS ESSEX to ensure every Sailor whose vehicle was towed while they were underway is able to expeditiously pick up their vehicle today."
One sailor told 10News he had to pay close to $800 to get his car back. It was accumulating daily fees as it sat in the impound lot.
Sailors say the Navy promises to reimburse them for the costs.
“They will have to get reimbursed through a file claim," the Navy wife said. “So we have to pay for this upfront which is a huge damper on a lot of peoples weekends as they return. What would I like to see is the base commanding officers to come out and apologize to the sailors and their families impacted."
