Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On 9/27/2022 I had a vehicle towed. On 10/03/2022 I went and signed the vehicle to scrap.2 years later now 10/2/2024 I find out I am in collections for this company. Mistakes happen. My insurance was supposed to pay the bill. Never happened. I am not upset about the tow bill. Mistakes happen and I will rectify.What I am upset about is they charged me for 2 months of storage fees after I signed it over to scrap. As of 10/3/2022 it was no longer my vehicle. They chose to keep it for that time, not **** never received the notification of collects because I was in the process of moving 2 week prior to that. I had not updated my registration because I had an only been in my new house a couple weeks.I attempted to have a conversation with them. I was angry and did a substantial amount of cursing on the phone. Im human. I do not believe it is ethical or reasonable to assume any fees after the tow and 8 days of storage. I spoke to police about the matter and was told that it is a Civil matter. However, the moment Reds towing took the title, it is their vehicle to do as they wish with. They agreed with me that a reasonable person would assume they no longer own the vehicle after the title is signed over. I have a photo copy of the title from this transaction.

  Business response

  10/07/2024

  On September 27th, 2022, we were called by local police to respond to a motor vehicle accident and tow one of the vehicles involved. The owner was aware that we towed the vehicle into our facility and were holding it for him. Company policy aligns with Montana state law that we send notifications by mail within 15 days of a vehicle being towed into our lot. This is to notify vehicle owners that their vehicles are in our lot and accruing daily storage. Every towing company nationwide charges not only accident tow rates but daily storage rates on vehicles in their lot. We are only given addresses for registered owners, at the last address that they registered the vehicle at, as per the state database. We are not given phone numbers or notified if an address has changed and can only go by what we are given. The notice was sent on 9/29/22 so withing 2 days, and that letter was never returned to sender.  Our letter clearly states that there is a bill that is accruing daily storage on the vehicle and will continue to do so until the bill is paid or goes to collections. On 9/28/22, Mr. ****** called our office and told our answering service he had insurance through a State Farm agency and they would be paying. We have no idea if that is true, and no way to check his insurance coverage. The same day, an insurance company called on his behalf and told us that they would only cover the towing charges with no storage fees being covered. on 10/3/22 Mr ****** came into the office and signed over his vehicle title to us to dispose of the car. It was made clear to him both in the letter and in person that we do not accept signing over a wrecked vehicle as payment of service and that if the insurance did not pay, that he would be responsible for the fees. We never received anything further from the insurance company and were never paid for our service. Policy is to hold all vehicles for 30 days to give owners time to get personal items out and take care of their bills before the bill is sent to collections and the vehicle is send to a salvage yard. This vehicle was kept the 30 days and when we never got paid, we sent the bill to our collection agency and then the vehicle was scrapped on 10/6/022. The collection agency sent multiple notices to Mr. ****** and after 2 years, he called our office questioning why he had been turned over. Stating that because he gave us the title that we cannot go after him for non payment. The office attempted to reason and explain the situation to Mr. ****** 3 different times and eventually had to hang up on Mr. ****** every time due to his abusive demeanor with them . He would scream and curse at us over the phone. Mr. ****** was responsible for the fees on the towing and storage of his vehicle after an accident. It was his responsibility to follow up and make sure that his insurance paid for his bill and we do not charge anything that is outside the state laws and the same as every other towing company in the nation. We feel that we are rightfully due the payment for the services rendered same as every other business and that being a bully and slandering a company for not giving you your way is ridiculous.

  Customer response

  10/07/2024

   
  Complaint: 22382811
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  the vehicle was relinquished on 10/3/2022. I am 100% willing to play storage fees from 10/27/2022 and 10/3/2022. And insurance is willing to the tow. 1600$ for storing after I relinquished the car on 10/3/2022 is abusive. I provided the company with my insurance card. Apparently they did not keep it. I have used them a couple of times over the course of 15 years. This is my only terrible experience with them.

  On 10/3/2022 I retrieved my belongings from the vehicle and Signed the title to them for scrap. As of 10/3/2022 it is their vehicle to scrap at a time that is convenient to them.

  I admit that I have never been more angry with anyone in my life as I am in this situation. Because my insurance dropped the ball they found an excuse to hold on to my former vehicle further and charge me exorbitant extra fees for a vehicle I relinquished. 
  
  Again I am not upset about collections. It is duly warranted. The extra amount of storage fees after signing the title to scrap is taking advance of a customer.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ******

  Customer response

  10/22/2024

  Evening of 9/25/24-reached after hours person asked to leave message for call back

  afternoon 9/26/24 reached regular staff asked again to talk to manager

  ****** of 9/27/25 talked to manager

  Business response

  11/04/2024

  unsure what the claimant is responding to in this case, every call or note is input and date/ timestamped in our computer system and this is what we went by.

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Saturday night the 4/22/23 I had a car towed to this facility in hopes that I could easily get it out the next day. I called the business and left an email and was told I was not able to get my car due to it being a Sunday 4/23/23 After calling the number ************ listed on their website. I was informed that I was unable to grab car and wasn't given any information on what I would need to get my car back. I camr in on the next following day Monday 4/24, was told I didn't have the paper work i needed. I had to work during their hours of operations and was not able to get there before close. Came in the next morning at open 4/25. I didn't have transportation due to my keys and wallet being in the car they said they took 1 day off but only lowered the cost about 70$ so if it was that price I day why is my bill over 450? The whole thing seems fishy and feel like they are taking advantage of a poor situation I happen to be in and is very poor business practice and I want this to be documented at the very least. Thank you any help would be greatly appreciated.

  Business response

  04/26/2023

  On Saturday 4/22/23,  at 9:32pm, we were called by the ************************** to impound a **** ****** Camry White in color because the driver of the vehicle was being arrested. Our driver responded and brought the vehicle to our storage facility. This is a typical situation that we respond to frequently. The vehicle owner then has to come to the office, provide proof of vehicle ownership, and a valid photo I.D. in order to retrieve the vehicle. Vehicle owners also are responsible for paying tow fees associated with the impounding of their vehicle. The same rates are used for every impound. There is a standard tow fee, a fuel surcharge, a fee to run the **** and plate through the ***********, which we pay and pass on, and a daily storage fee. The daily rate is the same across the board. On Monday 4/24/23, 9:23am, **************** came into the office to retrieve his vehicle from impound. He was not able to retrieve the vehicle at that time because his name was not the name listed as the owner of the vehicle through the ***********. I asked him for proof of ownership and I.D., he stated that he did not have the vehicle registered in his name yet but did have a notarized bill of sale at his home. I told him that if he brought that in, we could verify and release at that time, and we would be able to do that anytime that day until the yard closed at 4:30pm. He argued about the bill, I explained all fees. He claimed to have called on Sunday 4/23/23 to our after hours answering service and said he was told that he could not retrieve the vehicle. We have looked back in our records and cannot see any proof of this call, but in good faith, I removed a day of storage costs anyways. (note: all our calls and interactions with persons regarding impounds are date and time stamped). On 4/25/23, **************** came back into the office at 8:26am, again arguing the bill and saying that he did not have the money to pick up the vehicle. I explained that I had given the discount but would not be able to remove any more fees and that it was not our fault the vehicle was impounded. I then explained that we do not do payment plans, but if he wanted to put money down on his bill today that I would hold any more accruing storage costs until Saturday 4/29/23, to give him time to come up with the balance. This added to the first discount on his bill,  for a total discount of $250. **************** paid $100 down on his bill and agreed to the plan and left. Later that day, **************** called the office and asked for a manager, not knowing it was me who had previously helped him. **************** again argued his bill and wanted to try and speak to someone over my head about discounting the bill further. I told him that I was the manager and I handle these things for our business and he would be responsible for the remainder of the plan we agreed upon, which was $357.50 by Saturday. Today, 4/26/23, I came in and learn of this complaint to the BBB, with inaccurate details. We feel that we have made every effort to assist **************** in retrieving his vehicle while still abiding by the law and our company policies, that we have offered significant discounts to him, and that perhaps if he did not make choices that get him arrested by the police, he would easily avoid such situations in the future.

• Initial Complaint

  02/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Reds towed my daughters car from Her apartment complex as she left to come home from UM for winter break. She left around mid December 2022. The apartment complex confirmed that they did not authorize the tow. Because she was gone for a month and we werent notified of the tow we had to pay $2000 to retrieve her car when we arrived back in town with her on *********** Shame on this company for taking advantage of out of ************* students

  Customer response

  03/22/2023

  She is 20 years old. The car is owned in my name. I did pay the towing service

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩