ComplaintsforAndersen's Sales & Salvage Inc

• Initial Complaint

  06/17/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My vehicle was stolen and I reported it to the Police. The police found it at Andersens Salvage and gave me a call to go pick the vehicle up & all I need is the case number, my title and drivers license. When I got there a man told me I had to pay the costs they paid the the thief who stole my car to get their costs back. I informed the man that the officer told me differently I said the car is stolen you have to file the report to get the money back not me. I said I was going to call the officer to clarify this. My husband went into the building after me and asked for the manager he said you are holding stolen property and I am going to call the Police to get back my property. The manager told him to calm down that she would make his day and supposedly dropped the fees and told him to send me back in there with my documents. When I went back in there the lady took the documents, told me the fees were dropped and mentioned she might have killed my title. This seems like a scam!

  

  Business response

  07/09/2021

  ***** ***** ********* ****************************** *** ************************ ************************ ***** *** ** ***** ***** ** ******** ******* ** ********

  Hello *****,
  
  To discuss the complaint received here are the facts of the case:
  
  The stolen vehicle process is very complicated and requires quite a few steps. After the vehicle is reported stolen, it must be entered into a state and national database. When we purchase a vehicle legally on a Bill of Sale, we run the VIN through both the state and national databases of stolen vehicles. If a vehicle comes up stolen we contact our assigned Law Enforcement Agent, who determines the jurisdiction of the stolen vehicle and either contacts that jurisdiction or comes out themselves to inspect the vehicle. If it is a local jurisdiction we usually have contact with a Police Officer, who will inform us of the status of the vehicle and try to get in touch with the registered owner (who reported the theft). We then have to wait for further direction from Law Enforcement before we can proceed. They tell us who the registered owners are, so that we can work with the legal owners (or their representatives) and proceed with next steps. Because we have already paid for the vehicle, but are not actually victims of a crime in order for us to seek restitution we need to be named as victims in the case, the only way for that to happen is for formal charges to be filed in the case. If formal charges are not filed, we are not able to seek restitution if the legal owner takes possession of the vehicle. Because of this, we require the legal owner to reimburse the cost we paid for the vehicle in order to get the vehicle back. Then the owner can determine if they would like to press formal charges and seek restitution and we are completely out of the case. If the owner refuses to reimburse us for the costs, we cannot release the vehicle until we know that we can seek restitution from the individual who sold the vehicle to us. The most expedient way for the owner to get the vehicle back is to simply reimburse the salvage cost of the vehicle. During this process we also submit VINs to the national title database, which officially “kills” the VIN preventing further registration of a junked car. In order to make sure the title isn’t killed, we need to resubmit the VIN to the national database and make sure the VIN is clear. All in all, the stolen vehicle process is extremely complicated and far more involved than anyone would imagine. It is not as simple as one would hope.
  
  Thanks!
  
  Sarah W********
  Andersen’s Sales & Salvage, Inc.
  **** ** *** ****** ******** ** ***** ************************    *********************** ******* ************ **** ***
  

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