Off Road Pictures
off road pictures question by : Is this towing company ripping me off?
I recently went on a “business” trip that invovled going 126 miles out of town to take pictures of a foreclosed property. I was given the wrong direction by the person who hired me for the job and I soon found my truck burried a foot deep in drift sand from surrounding farms, five miles down an abandoned farm road. I called a towing company and they sent a wrecker out. he showed up about an hour later, and got himself stuck in the dirt also. I spent 3 hours shoveling dirt out from under his wrecker before he called for help. the company sent a second wrecker of the same size to help. this wrecker arrives an hour later and get stuck a quarter mile down the road.
Finally the towing company gets there wits about them and send out this truck they called the monster. it was an old military truck with wheels as taller than me. it shows up an 2 hour later takes an hour hauling the wrecker closest (less than half a mile) from the road out, then arrive at my location, load my truck on the other stuck wrecker, and use the moster to pull the wrecker out.
the whole ordeal took approx 10 hours, and alot of work on my part. I’m think that had a hired a different towing company that they would have know better than to get 1, let alone 2, wreckers stuck.
But regardless they charged me $ 600 ($ 300/hr for the monster) and when I didn’t have the funds to pay they dropped me off at a truck stop in the town where they were stationed 25 miles away (100 miles from my home) and told me good luck before they drove off with my truck still on the wrecker.
now they are charging me $ 35 a day for storage, and considering that I didn’t complete the job, therefore did not get paid, adding to the fact that I nolonger have a work vehicle, I won’t be able to pay to get it release for atleast a few months.
Is any of this worth contacting the BBB, or am I just being a sour puss?
any other useful advice would be appreciated.
off road pictures best answer:
Answer by Vipassana
“or am I just being a sour puss?”
Actually, you’re just being a poor consumer.
1. You didn’t get an estimate prior to the work.
2. Without having any idea what it would cost, you agreed to the work. Which means, you accepted ANY cost they charged you.
3. You are now complaining about the cost, even though you did absolutely nothing to figure out what it would be.
4. It ended up taking them 10 hours, and you think $ 600 is too much money?
I’ve had tows take less than 20 minutes, and cost me $ 150.
Oh, and yes…if you can’t pay for the services at the time of completion: they take your car.
Just like if you get a car fixed at a repair shop, and you can’t pay. No money = no goods.
Go ahead and contact the BBB……if anything, you’ll get sued by the towing company for libel. And they’ll win.
I will call the police tomorrow..just in case.