ComplaintsforJim's Northgate Towing

• Initial Complaint

  01/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Jim's Northgate Towing towed my vehicle. There was damage to the vehicle caused by the towing event. ***'s Towing charged excessive fees. They cited an afterhours fee yet one of their tow truck operators was onsite at the property when we arrived. They also charged a storage fee and placed the onus on us to locate our vehicle. Communication was terrible. When asked about the fees, they blamed it on the city and said the *************** regulated the fees and forced them to charge the fees. A call to the *************** confirmed this was not the case.

  Business response

  02/15/2024

  We never received record of this case/complaint as the previous owner's information is still listed on this complaint and we never received any notification, hence the no response.

  **************** towing fees are set by regulation and established law. The *************** chose to create their own fee schedule, trumping the state set rates. In this case, this was a benefit to ****** as the ********************'s rates are cheaper than anywhere else in the state. If a vehicle is not redeemed during regular business hours of Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm, excluding holidays, there is an enforced afterhours fee. In *******, it is $100 and for King ****** Sheriff it is $132, and for WSP and all other private impounds (outside of *******) it is $127. ******** claim that our driver was present at the location is true - called there to be onsite to release the vehicle in question, as required afterhours. Customer calls to say the vehicle is missing or has been impounded (typically by using the information posted at the location with our company name and phone number AND serving as a warning to anyone parking there that unauthorized vehicles will be impounded 24 hours a day, at the owner's expense), we confirm whether we have the vehicle and then the arrangements are made to pick the vehicle up during business hours OR "call us 30 minutes in advance of your arrival, so we can send a driver there to meet you and release the vehicle". The latter was chosen, we sent a driver to the tow yard, and ****** (and son) came to retrieve the vehicle they got impounded by failing to have authorization to be parked where they were. 

  To say we burdened him with locating his vehicle is comical. We do not know who owns these vehicles without confirmation from the police agency or DOL which is obtained after completing an impound and awaiting information from the local police in the jurisdiction or from DOL during regular business hours. Even then, we receive a name and address and send a letter by standard mail. We do not have some magic insight to know the owner's information or a phone number to call and say we have a vehicle. Again, this process is also set by state law/regulation. And again, stop saying we burdened you. Is ****** so entitled that he would expect us to drive to his house and knock on the door to let him know we impounded his vehicle?Did he expect us just to deliver it to his driveway free of charge? Or does he just feel *********** some special treatment above the law and regulated processes everyone else falls under, somehow the standard regulated process does not apply to him? You parked the car, you ignored the warning signs/tow signs, and you made this situation. When a person's vehicle is missing, they can always call the police to discover if it is impounded as all towing companies are required to report those impounds, which we do as soon as the vehicle arrives at the tow yard. 

  Storage fees apply as you can see in the *************** pricing and are charged at $39.88 each 12 hours; meaning one minute to 11 hours and 59 minutes is $39.88 and 12 hours to 23 hours and 59 minutes is $79.76. A storage fee applies to ALL vehicles that cross into the tow lot and storage rates vary per agency or reason for the impound.

  The vehicle was impounded as an unauthorized vehicle. The stringent regulated processes were followed, and the vehicle was brought to our tow yard. The fees charged were accurate according to our state DOL filing and the ***************'s regulated rates for private impounds.

  Here is the information directly from the ***************'s website:

  The *************** limits the amount that towing companies can charge to tow a vehicle from private property in *******. The City also has authority to ensure that you are not overcharged for private impound services.
  Maximum charges for private impounds:
  It is against the law for towing companies to charge above the maximum allowable fee listed below or to charge a fee for any service besides those listed:
  Service Maximum allowable fee:
  First hour of towing $284.74
  Towing service (each subsequent hour per 15-minute period) $50.80 per 15-minute period ($203.21 per hour)
  Storage fee $39.88 per 12-hour increment
  After-hours release fee $100
  *************** impound fee $15 (fee applied after tax)
  Uncompleted tow fee $71.19 per 15-minute period
  All fees shown above effective April 24, 2023.

  The customer is upset because they asked us to waive the afterhours fee and have pity on his student son who had improperly parked the vehicle. When his request was not granted at the time of release, he followed up with me, the Operations Manager, during regular business hours. I gave him the same facts and he again, did not like the answer he received and became hostile and made threats to file this complaint and force the property where the vehicle was impounded from to stop doing business with us immediately. I told him to do what he feels is necessary and expressed that this is a typical way people in his shoes behave when we do not fold to their threats and do as they are demanding. He then hung up on me and that was the end of that. 

  We did no damage to the vehicle and are not surprised at this claim as they will throw any stone they can. It can be said with confidence that if there had been damage to the vehicle, someone as entitled as ****** would certainly have approached that issue with us, rather than us becoming aware of that claim via a BBB complaint. I will not shutter at his threats or approach. Everyone is charged the regulated rates so there is never a chance of being accused of favoritism or hatred, on the other end of the spectrum. If he doesn't like it, too bad - take responsibility for how the vehicle got impounded in the first place and learn a valuable ****** so you don't have to bear these expenses again, because I promise you, inside the ***************, it will be the same rates and no one else is going to waive regulated fees either. 

  The impound was valid and the charges were correct, and we have no requirement to give in to demands like those ****** made. If we would make those accommodations for some, it would not before someone who behaved the way ****** did following a mistake that only they were responsible for. We do not canvas lots (by law), we are called when an unauthorized vehicle needs to be removed, and we do not choose which vehicles to tow. ****** can make this an "us" problem, but we are not the responsible party - whoever parked that vehicle there is. Take some ownership! We do not accept threats as payment, and we do not negotiate with bullies!

  These claims have no merit. End of story. 

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