Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:19/02/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My car was in a fender ****** accident (no injuries). The police called a towing company called North Algonquin towing. (Not my choice). I instructed the tow truck operator to bring my vehicle to the body shop of my choice. Instead, they towed it to their own lot, and thats where it went awry. After the weekend I ccalled my body shop to keep tabs on repairs being done. They told me that the car was not released to them because of a charging dispute with the insurance company and that they were holding my car as ******* in a financial dispute with my insurance company I was also told that this dispute could go on for weeks and that I had to wait for a settlement before my car is made available for repair. I feel that if the towing company cant agree with my insurance company they should be able to settle it without holding my car as hostage. I do not have loss of use coverage so, I am told that because of this dispute, I am to do without my vehicle for a long time because these companies cant agree.

  Business Response

  Date: 27/02/2025

  On the day of Mr. ********** accident, at the time of his direction to tow to the body shop, we explained that if he had valid collision insurance that he should have his vehicle towed to our yard to begin the process of his insurance claim and that by towing it direct to the body shop he would have to pay out-of-pocket for our invoice for towing and risk not receiving a reimbursement from his insurance company, he elected to have it towed to our yard. 

  On February 19, the date this complaint was received, was the first day that we had been contacted by ********************************* This correspondence was met with an "offer" for our towing services for which an invoice had not yet been presented. The process is that an insurance company contacts us, requests a payout, and then we provide our invoice for payment, the vehicle is then moved as directed by the registered owner and upon release of the vehicle to insurance as directed by the insurance company. On the same day, we were requested to provide a payout to *** (Impact Auto Auctions). The invoice was promptly rendered to the insurance company (*************) and a request for clarification was made as to whether the same invoice should be provided to ***. Mr. ******** was included on this correspondence (the e-mail was re-forwarded to him after noticing a spelling error in his email address) such that he was privy to the fact that North Algonquin Towing was not the delay in the matter, rather that his insurance and agents thereof had not yet even reached out in regards to payment of the invoice for towing or movement of the vehicle to the body shop of his choice. 

  On February 21st, *** reached out again to request a payout (invoice), we responded, with Mr. ******** in copy, that an invoice had been provided to Belair Direct two days ago providing the same information that was being requested again.  We provided the invoice for a second time, via e-mail and our Towbook (dispatching and invoicing program) and emphasized the clients frustration. 

  On February 24th, we fielded yet another phone call regarding the payout on this vehicle, which we provided, with the client in copy. 

  On February 25th, we were contracted to tow the vehicle by IAA Stock #******** to Rem's Autobody. 

  We want to clarify that at no point was there any back and forth on the price or payment of our invoice, we were not holding the client's vehicle hostage to negotiate a higher price or add storage to the invoice. The issue here that is largely misunderstood is the insurance companies neglect in acting promptly in the request of the invoice for our service, and acting upon it the first time it was sent. The second issue at hand is what we can only assume to be presumptions made by the body shop passed along incorrectly to the client leaving him with the perception that we were involved in harmful practices leaving the client at a loss by not having their vehicle moved and the repair claim furthered.  The pressure here should have been applied to the insurance company who regretfully make this a routine practice and then point the finger at the towing company, while there are some companies in the industry that may seek to prosper as we are being accused of, we deny this allegation. 

  We trust that this resolves the matter. Again, please examine the timeline and it will become apparent we did not cause any delay, nor was there even a negotiation of our bill. Once the insurance company came to the forefront after the third communication, the bill was paid and the vehicle was moved.