There’s a fight heating up between U-Haul and Chicago-area towing companies, with the former accusing the latter in a new lawsuit of fraudulently hauling away its trucks and trailers and then making the company pay thousands in fees to get the vehicles back. [More]
towing
U-Haul Accuses Chicago Towing Companies Of Hauling Away Perfectly Fine Vehicles To Rake In Cash
By 10.23.15
Owners Of Wrecked Boat Out $20K Because AAA Tow Driver Used Personal Vehicle
By 3.11.15
Common sense would tell you that if your vehicle is wrecked while in the care of a AAA tow truck driver, either that driver’s insurance or AAA would be responsible for making you whole again. But if the tow driver is using their own personal truck at the time of the collision, you could be stuck holding the bill. [More]
Use The Abandoned Kmart Parking Lot, Get Your Car Towed
By 6.9.14
The signs in the parking lot warned that it was only for Kmart customers and employees. If the Kmart store had long since closed, does that mean that it’s OK to park there? The $200 towing bills that four friends each received after leaving their cars there say “no.” [More]
Tow Company Employee Comes Out In Favor Of Price Caps
By 12.28.12
Yesterday, we told you how private towing companies in the Seattle area are suing the city to stop it from enforcing a new law that caps towing rates at $183 for the first hour and $150/hour thereafter. But one tow company employee tells Consumerist that these businesses need to quit complaining. [More]
Towing Companies Sue Seattle For Right To Charge More Than $183/Hour
By 12.27.12
The city of Seattle recently enacted an ordinance that would put a cap on towing an impound fees, but apparently $183 for the first hour of a tow followed by $130/hour after that is not enough for the tow companies of the King City, which have filed suit to stop the city from enforcing the cap. [More]
I Fought A Sleazy Towing Company And Won
By 8.24.11
The bad news was that Anne’s car was illegally towed from the parking lot of her friend’s apartment complex while she was visiting him. The good news: this friend is a lawyer, who researched the situation and determined precisely why the tow was illegal. [More]
Horses Pull Tanker Out Of Snow In Pennsylvania
By 2.25.11
Luckily for the driver of a tanker stuck in the snow in Pennsylvania, an Amish man driving a team of horses happened by and offered the vehicle a tow. [More]
Towing Co. Loses Half Its Accounts After Suing Over Facebook Page
By 5.25.10
Surely some of you remember the item we posted last month about a towing company in Michigan that had filed a $750,000 slander and libel lawsuit against a college student because he’d created a Facebook page for people to voice their complaints about the company. Well, that move appears to have backfired for the towing company, which has since lost a good chunk of business. [More]
Towing Company Sues Student Over Facebook Page
By 4.13.10
T&J Towing of Kalamazoo, MI wants to send a message to anyone in the town who feels like complaining about the company online. They’ve filed a $750,000 defamation lawsuit against a Western Michigan University student for starting a Facebook page about them. [More]
Chicago Impounds Your Car As Part Of "Investigation," Holds It Hostage
By 9.29.09
A class action lawsuit has been filed against the City of Chicago on behalf of people whose cars were impounded as part of a police investigation — and then charged outrageous fees to get their vehicles back. The lawsuit covers 15,000 people whose cars were impounded by the city over a five year period.
8800 Penny Prank Takes Paying In Cash To Extremes
By 8.4.09
What do you do with your pennies? Consumer Reports suggests saving them and depositing them in your bank, or exchanging them for a full-value gift certificate in a Coinstar machine. But Jordan had a much better idea. He tried to use them to pay the impound fee after his car was towed. Video inside. Remember: it’s not a real prank until the cops show up.
By 2.3.09
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White Castle has apologized and donated $5,000 to the National Guard after having 25 guardsmen’s (and their family’s) cars towed while they attended a welcome home ceremony at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The manager had given permission for the cars to be parked there, but White Castle had them towed anyway. [Chicago Tribune]
Oregon To Consider Predatory Towing Ban After Meals-On-Wheels Is Almost Towed During Delivery
By 2.1.09
Remember Andrew? His car was towed from Starbucks while he was inside sipping a latte. He isn’t alone. In mid-August, a predatory tow-truck driver set up shop outside a retirement community and waited for local meals-on-wheels driver Marie Phillippi to leave her car. As she made her deliveries, the tow-truck driver latched on and prepared to tow. He was stopped only when a retiree ran out and splayed herself across the car’s hood until the Marie could return. The tow-truck driver’s actions were entirely legal under Oregon law, although that may soon change…
Towing Chicago-Style: Put Up A Sign After Hundreds Of Cars Have Already Parked
By 8.12.08
If you’re from Chicago and have ever parked an automobile, this has probably already happened to you 6 times and you’ll be wondering why this story is even newsworthy. Feel free to go get a sandwich. For the rest of the country… The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that hundreds of people who drove to the 79th annual Bud Billiken Parade got a nasty surprise when they found that a towing company had posted a notice after the parade started and towed all of their cars.
Confessions Of A Tow Truck Driver
By 12.12.07
CNN interviews a former tow truck driver to get the dirt on how the business works. There’s not a lot of new info here, but it may be useful to know that just because you see some un-towed cars in a towing zone, it doesn’t mean it’s safe—usually, drivers leave some cars alone to entice fresh…
Predatory Tow Trucks Steal, Sell Cars To Junk Yards
By 10.6.07
Predatory Tow trucks are prowling about Florida, looking to gin up extra cash by hauling perfectly good cars to salvage yards. The tow truck operators make up to $100,000 each year by preying on seemingly abandoned cars. By the time the rightful owners start asking questions, their cars are already cubes.
Investigators say salvage yards aren’t held responsible as long as they get the proper paperwork.
Woman Googles Way Out Of Illegal $600 Tow
By 9.26.07
After this woman’s car got towed (from what looks like what might be her driveway), she did some Googling and found the towing company didn’t have a moving license at the time she was towed. She also found the company hadn’t notified the city of the tow, as required by law. After complaining to the Texas Department of Transportation, the consumer got her car back, and the $600 the company had charged her. Now that’s using your noodle!
