Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/29/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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 review from ****** (below) sums it up… Had the unfortunate situation of a family vehicle in an accident. ****** Police contacted this business to move the vehicle without contacting me (the owner) since it was a teenager driving. The vehicle wasn’t worth fixing and they don’t tow to the junk yard. Convinced me to sell the vehicle to them for “scrap” and wanted cash to settle the bill with a “discount” since they were charging daily for “storage”. Only other option was to hire another towing company to come pick up the vehicle to take to junk yard. Was told they would adjust the bill and provide a copy after signing over the title and paying the cash. After dropping off cash and title, they couldn’t provide a copy of the invoice on the spot so I contacted them 5+ times to get a copy of the invoice with the same response “I’ll have to contact the owner to get that sent to you” which is grandpa who is a full time truck driver from my understanding. I also gave them ample time to respond and respected that I was contacting them approximately weekly during the Thanksgiving and Xmas holiday season. Incompetence at its greatest and should be cautious if utilizing this business for insurance purposes where paperwork is needed. Office was like a bar in the 70’s filled with cigarette smoke and no ventilation. Cash with no paperwork and as long as it’s very profitable to them seems to be their M.O. as the junk yard I contacted said the vehicle was worth closer to a grand, bill was about half that. Just a warning… be careful!

  Business Response

  Date: 03/18/2024

  To Whom it may concern:
  
  Mr. *****’ s son was involved in an accident in ****** on 11/08/2023, we were next up on rotation and was called by the police department to tow the car from the accident.  (This is common practice and as far as we know, there are no police departments that call the owner of the vehicle to ask where they want it towed.)
  
  We towed it to our lot, after a significant amount of time, he contacted us and asked what the bill was at the time.  He then stated he would get back with us.  He then contacted us again a few weeks later and ask about making a “deal” to release from the liability of the bill which at this time was $170.00 for the tow and 44 days of storage at $35.00 a day.  Total bill was $1710.00.  At no time did he ask for us to tow it to a junk/scrap yard.
  
  We told him if he would bring us $200 to cover the tow and processing fee and the title, we would wipe out the rest of the money owed.   On 12/21/2023 he brought the $200 and the title and we release him of any other obligations.
  
  As far as providing him with a receipt for the $200 and the title, the office was not notified, and if so it would have been sent.
  
  We feel we did his gentleman a huge favor by taking the totaled car off his hands and relinquishing the $1500.00 that he actually owed us.
  
  If he would like a receipt for the $200.00 so that he can submit it to his insurance so they will pay him back, I will be happy to provide it.
  
  If he wanted it sent to a salvage yard, he had every opportunity to pay the charges owed and have another tow company tow it out.   He never ask for that option.
  As far as the atmosphere in our office….it is a tow company, we do not normally have the public in the office unless they are there to pay and get their vehicle.
  
  We do not feel that his complaint is justified in any way and are not happy that he wrote a ****** review about our company when all we did was do him a huge favor.  If you would check with any other tow company you would find the majority of them do NOT give the customer the option to forgo the storage charges and would normally ask for the total amount to be paid before releasing the car. 
  
  In closing we have no intention of returning his $200.00  since he essentially owed us $1710.00 to begin with.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******
  President/Owner
  Burton’s Towing & Recovery Inc.
  ************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/24/2024

  For the record, I’m a honorably discharged disabled veteran, previous local business owner and operator, as well as a person that holds factual information and the truth in high regard. 

  That being said, I’m not entirely sure there’s any more information that I can provide, other than call records etc. for establishing the fact that I didn’t mislead anyone regarding contacting this establishment multiple times to get an invoice so that I could submit it to my insurance. That was somewhat accomplished finally after contacting the BBB and having to file a complaint, due to approximately 6-8 attempts to contact them telephonically and in person. Again, I could go through the trouble and search for the businesses number in my call records with time stamps, but not sure it’s necessary at this point other than to establish that their rebuttal wasn’t as truthful as he’d like to make.

  Other facts regarding the case that needs clarification, when we verbally agreed over the phone on the $200 Cash and title for the vehicle, the total bill was approximately $650 due to the daily costs of $35/day and the towing charge/cleanup etc. I remember specifically asking if I needed to rush and provide the payment and deliver the title. They seemed to indicate that there was no rush, especially due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I also indicated to them that their location was out of the way from where I lived and it might take a few days to locate the title. Again they seemed to indicate that there wasn’t a rush and get it to them when able. When I took the cash and title on the 21st of December 2023, I had business over in that area and planned that it would just make sense to accomplish the 2 birds with one stone.

  All in all, he remembers as he remembers the transaction but I only ever dealt with him over the phone. I spoke with his female family member multiple times (I vaguely recall her calling him grandpa but could be wrong) over the phone and in person when dropping off the cash and title asking about a copy of the invoice. I called multiple times after that day to simply make sure they had the right e-mail address to send the invoice to, always checked the junk mail folder, used the search function etc. I also remember specifically the office lady calling the owner, stating that he was driving his semi (main job) to ask him about the invoice when I dropped off the cash and title. She stated that he needed to make adjustments to it, took down my email again, I confirmed it was correct and they would email it, along with the other times I called and had the same conversation.

  All in all, I have received “an” invoice finally which he attached to this file, it is just unfortunate that I had to file a complaint with the BBB, that he didn‘t tell the complete truth (whether due to the office not passing information etc) and that the entire transaction wasn’t very professional. I am very thankful for his “generous” position but also feel that whether this industry has a standard practice in doing this or this is how it has always been done, but forcing an individual that was in an accident with a non-driveable vehicle (stated that it was drive-able in the invoice) to have to hire another company to come and pick up the vehicle to take it to the junk yard is just crazy in my mind. But again, maybe that is done on purpose with the intention on wanting the title to either fix or junk the car for a profit. Either way, I originally spoke to the owner because I couldn’t believe they didn’t take vehicles to the junk yard, hence where he came up with the idea to “call his buddy” and see what the car was worth. Ultimately, if he would have sent an invoice like any normal business, I wouldn’t be airing out all the “dirty laundry” of either this businesses practices or the common practices of all towing companies, but it is more for principle at this point. Regardless, I would want other patrons to understand that this business isn’t quite as professional as they should be in the service industry and people should know.

  Thanks you for your time and attention, close the case if you wish as I don’t really require any more assistance regarding this matter but definitely not a happy customer regarding this entire transaction and process.