Complaints

This profile includes complaints for The Auto Barn, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  The Auto Barn, Inc.

  2930 James St. Baltimore, MD 21230-1407

• 

  The Auto Barn, Inc.

  2125 W Lafayette Ave Baltimore, MD 21217-1037

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:06/20/2024

  Type:Customer Service 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.

  On Friday, May 31, 2024 at around 4pm I parked in the ******* ******** ****** located at **** ********** ******, Baltimore, Md. I then proceeded to walk into the ********* ******** ******. My husband was getting his dialysis treatment at that time and I went in to see if he was done. As I was in the process of picking my husband up, the security guard of the medical center told me that someone is towing my car. I then proceeded to go outside to try to figure out what was going on. I then approached a gentleman who then told me that I was parked illegally. I immediately pointed to the 5 or 6 yellow parking slabs on the ground and showed him that is why I believed it was legal to park there. He then pointed to a "no parking" sign that was 3 poles down. The sign was not visible and was not in my spot nor the one next to me. He then towed my vehicle. Despite my many requests to release my car. I even offered to pay what ever the “let down” fee was. He refused and continued to get my car ready to tow. After watching my car being towed away, I then went back into the dialysis center to get my husband so we could go retrieve my vehicle.
  I then had to travel with my husband to go get my car back using an ****. The cost to release my car was $460.00. I filled out an incident report while I was there explaining why I believed this tow was unjustified. I still have not been contacted. I have gone back on June 7, 2024 and no one would talk to me. I called on June 13,2024 no one would talk to me. The person who answered said the manager was on vacation. It has been several weeks and I have yet to hear from anyone regarding this situation. I would like to receive my money back. In the photos below, my vehicle is the Grey, ****** ******* parked in the first spot.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/21/2024

  hank you for reaching out to us. I apologize that you feel as if we have not responded to your incident report in a timely manner. As you were told, the General Manager, who handles all customer complaints has been on vacation. As you also should  have been told (and is listed at the bottom of your receipt that you received), incident reports are are "typically" addressed within 5-7 business days. Business days are considered all Mondays thru Fridays that the General Manager is scheduled (excluding all major holidays and/or vacation days). Seeing that you reclaimed your vehicle at 7:06pm on a Friday evening, after the General Manager had already left for the day, your "Day1" started Monday June 3rd. He began his vacation on Friday June 7th, which stopped your response time. He returned to the office Monday June 17th, which began your "Day 5". Ideally he would have responded by June 19th, but being that he was out of the office he is running behind schedule. we apologize that we have exceed the typical response time by 2 days. I have reprinted your ticket and placed it back in his office as a reminder for him to touch base with you, however all information he would be providing will be covered in this response.

  As far as your impounded vehicle goes. Our driver entered the ******* ******** ***** on May 31st just before 6pm during routine monitoring. We currently hold a contract with this property to monitor and remove all vehicles left unattended in the fire lanes . It is well known in the state of MD that a fire lane is indicated by a yellow or red curb. Our driver began to remove the vehicles parked in the fire lane, starting with the first spot, which happened to be yours. A drop fee is required to offered but we are only required to wait 15minutes from the start of service for the vehicle owner to provide it, and we only accept payment in the form of cash for these drop fees. Once you approached our driver and offered to pay the drop fee, he started his ticket within our system. That ticket was started at 5:55pm. Our driver did not leave the shopping center property until 6:14pm, over 15minutes from the start of service and at that time you had not provided payment for the drop.

  Your own photo evidence (Car Tow 6) shows that there is a sign posted two poles away from you. Zooming into that photo you can clearly see that it says "Fire Lane No Parking Tow Away Zone" with arrows pointing is both directions, clearly indicating parking was not allowed in this area. You can also clearly see the yellow curb, both in front of you and to the side, marking that area as a fire lane even if you did miss the sign. Additionally, multiple photos you provided (Ex: Car Tow 4 & Car Tow 7) do show the yellow parking buffers that you described, however it also shows that they are not spaced evenly, pushed up against each other, overlapping and some even upside down, appearing to be more of a drop site as opposed to actual parking spaces.

  I have double checked your invoice and you were charged correctly. Baltimore City impounds for a vehicle your size have an initial impound fee of $370. If you look at your own photos you provided, you will see that dollies were used to safely transport your vehicle back to the lot, these dollies are an additional $90, bringing your total to $460. No additional taxes or administrative fees were charged.

  For the reasons provided above, we will not be offering a refund at this time.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/21/2024

  
  I am rejecting this response because of several reasons. Some of the details are missing and/or incorrect.

  First, the Auto Barn receipt states the General Manager will "typically" respond to incident reports within "3-5 business days," and not "5-7 . . .", as stated in their response to BBB. That means they should have responded by June 7, 2024. The incident occurred on May 31, 2024 and, as of June 21, 2024 (almost a month's time), neither the General Manager or the business has responded to me.

  In Auto Barn's response to you, it states that "a drop fee is required to be offered." I was never given that option. I offered several times, but the driver refused. He stated, "I was going to offer you a drop fee, but you came out here yelling so now I'm not going to." I repeatedly requested to pay a "drop fee" but was denied each time.  This was all witnessed by the Security Officer of the ******** *******

  Another reason I am rejecting this response is because the "tow sign' that Auto Barn is referring to is posted 3 columns behind me, and appeared to be for the stores behind it. Again, there was no "No Parking" sign near the spot where I parked nor the one next to me.

  Lastly, I am rejecting this response because I parked in front of one of the 5 - 6 side-by-side parking stops along the curb.  The positioning of the curb stops is misleading to drivers, because they appear to be available parking spots. This was obvious to me because several other vehicles were also parked in those spots.  I have never been in any shopping center where parking stops are available but I'm not permitted to park in front of them.
  

  I once again am requesting a full refund of this towing expense totaling $460.00.
  

  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** ***********

  Business Response

  Date: 06/25/2024

  While we once again apologize for a delay in communication with the vehicle owner in regards to their complaint, they were advised at least once, if not multiple times,  prior to filing this complaint that the delay was due to the General Manager being out of the office on vacation. A delay in response is not a valid reason to request a refund, as it has nothing to do with the initial reason for tow and is an entirely different complaint in itself.

  While the vehicle owner advises she was never offered a drop fee (although she offered to pay one), our driver advises he did in fact offer and agree to a drop fee. We can go around in circles regarding whether he did or did not and ultimately get nowhere. The facts remain that once the driver, (or owner) offered the drop fee, no payment was produced despite our driver being on scene past the 15minutes provided for payment to be made. Therefor the vehicle was impounded for being parked in a fire lane, which is illegal in the state of Maryland.

  The vehicle owner again states there were no signs indicating a no parking zone, however then states there was one 3 poles down. Their own photo evidence  would show this sign was 2 poles down and zooming in will show the sign states FIRE LANE NO PARKING TOW AWAY ZONE with arrows pointing in both directions clearly marking the entire area as no parking. Additionally, the same sign is also posted on the driver side of her vehicle directly behind where it was parked, marking the entire corner where they were parked as no parking. While other cars where parked there as well, we are not discussing the other vehicles, rather this one in particular, however this vehicle was not the only vehicle to be impounded for not complying with posted signage and state law regarding fire lanes. As stated in our initial response, we hold a current valid contract with this property to remove all vehicles parked in the fire lanes, which is the exact service that we provided.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/28/2024

  The General Manager reached out the vehicle owner on 6/27 around 815am. During that conversation the vehicle owner admitted that our driver had been on the lot over the 15min time frame to make the drop fee, but stated adamantly that she would have been more than happy to make the payment at that time had been allowed to, however she stands firm on her allegation that our driver never offered it to her. The General Manager, very clearly and with no misunderstanding, explained to her that he would need additional time to  request camera footage of the event (since it happened further back it is not immediately available) and to speak with the driver. At that time he advised that he was willing to consider making a partial refund back to the vehicle owner so that she essentially would only be charged the price of the drop fee since she had stated she had no problem paying it had she been offered. The conversation ended with the vehicle owner satisfied with that answer, and she advised she would be waiting for his call.

  We are still currently waiting for the camera footage from our truck to be released. An attempt was made to contact the driver, however he was unable to be reached prior to the end of the general managers business day. The evening office manager was able to pull the ticket and discuss the call with the driver when he came into the office in the early morning of 6/28. Our driver disputes the claims of the vehicle owner. He advises he enter the lot during standard monitoring and observed multiple cars parked illegally. He began hooking up to the vehicle in question when a woman (the vehicle owner) came running out of the business screaming erratically, and cussing at him. Instead of engaging, he explained why she was being towed and continued to hook up to the vehicle. The vehicle owner then repeatedly tried to insert herself between the driver and the vehicle causing delay in towing. When she realized this would not stop him from performing the tow, she jumped in the front seat of the vehicle (see attached picture) and refused to exit the vehicle. She threatened to call the police and was advised by our driver she was well within her rights to do so if she wished, however they would only tell her to pay the drop fee or be towed. At that time or driver advises she asked how much the drop fee was and was given the amount, to which she responded that she did not have that much money on her and had no way to get to an atm to withdraw it. The driver explained again, that her options were to pay the drop fee or be towed, and continued to prep the vehicle for tow and create his invoice in our system. By the time he was complete, the vehicle owner had exited the vehicle, however she was still screaming and insisting that she did not have the money to pay the drop fee. Our driver was becoming extremely uncomfortable with her increasingly hostile behavior, and the 15min grace period had expired so the vehicle was brought in for impound.

  On 6/28 @ 6:00am, the vehicle owner called the office asking to speak to the General Manager. When advised that he was not in yet, she asked that a message be taken for him. She became increasingly hostile on the phone, and would not let the office manager speak. She stated she would no longer be calling the office and that she expected a full refund delivered to her within 30 days. Her side of the conversation was filled with idle threats of retaliation and lawsuits. She was advised that a message would be left asking the General Manager to contact her, but that her threats would not be passed on, and reminded that she had just spoken with him the day prior about a partial refund pending the camera footage and drivers version of events. She continued screaming that she would accept nothing less than a full refund (although she was fine with a partial refund the day prior) and disconnected the call. 

  Given her erratic behavior while on the phone, as well as the photo clearly showing her in the vehicle, it is hard to believe that her version is 100% accurate. We reserve the right to make judgement on this matter until the camera footage is obtained so we can compare it to her version as well as the driver's version and make a decision based on the facts of the matter.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/03/2024

  The following is my response to the message sent from
  The Auto Barn on June 28, 2024, through the BBB. I am going to respond in order
  to what they stated.
  On June 27, 2024, I heard back from the General Manager
  (“GM”), which was 27 days after the date I attempted to contact him (also, the
  date of the incident). I completed their incident form the day of the incident
  at their place of business in order to make the GM aware that I disagreed with
  their reasoning for towing my vehicle. I believe the only reason the GM finally
  reached out to me was because I sent Auto Barn a Letter of Intent to Sue.
  Auto Barn had earlier stated they had video footage of
  the incident.  As of July 27, 2024, they
  stated they’re still waiting for it to be released.  If it’s their footage, why do they have to
  wait for it to be released?  I believe Auto
  Barn doesn’t want it to be seen because it will prove that I never got in
  between the tow truck driver and my vehicle, and never tried to get in the way
  of what he was doing. However, the video would show that he never offered a “drop
  fee”, despite me asking him several times for that amount.  
  During the phone call on June 27, 2024, the GM stated
  he was willing to consider making a partial refund back to me, and would
  contact me in a few hours. At that time, I was going to accept that offer so
  that I didn’t have to move forward with a lawsuit, and so this issue would get resolved
  quickly. Since the GM didn’t contact me in a few hours, nor in a few days, I went
  ahead and performed some research regarding the rules of towing.  I found that tow truck companies are mandated
  to offer a “drop fee” to vehicle owners who wish to recover the vehicle, even
  if it has already been attached. I found this information in the “Board of
  Licenses for Towing Services Rules and Regulations,” dated October 11, 2012.  After finding this information, I now believe
  I’m entitled to a full refund of my towing fee, since I was not, at any time,
  offered a “drop fee”.
  For the record: 
  I did call the following day, June 28, 2024, at 6:00 a.m., and spoke
  with the “office manager.”  As Auto Barn’s
  message states, I was not hostile, and did not make any threats.  All I stated was, “Please let Ronald (the GM)
  know that I will not continue to call and ask for the return of my money, and, if
  he doesn’t respond, I will have to continue through court.”  That wasn’t a threat, it is what I am intending
  to do if I don’t receive a full refund.
  Auto Barn should not have towed my vehicle.  I should have been offered to pay a “drop fee”,
  and I would have paid it as soon as it was offered . . . even though I believed
  I parked in a legal parking space.  The tow
  truck driver stated in the message to you that I didn’t have that much money on
  me and had no way to get to an ATM to withdraw it.   However, I have proof showing that I had in
  my possession more than enough money to cover the “drop fee.”  I had gone to the ATM earlier that day before
  taking my husband to dialysis. I also have an eye witness (the security officer
  for the dialysis center) who can verify my version of events.
  The reason I reached out to you is because I thought I
  was treated unfairly in many ways, but mainly because I wasn’t offered a “drop
  fee”, as is required. From the get-go, Auto Barn has shown that it is a very
  dishonest company. In their message to you, they even state I was erratic and
  hostile, and that is simply not true.  Of
  course I was upset; my car was getting ready to be towed.  But I, in no way, slandered or threatened any
  representative of the company, including the tow truck driver.  Auto Barn has stated many untruths in their messages
  to the BBB.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/16/2024

  Our response is no response at this time. We have addressed each and every possible complaint that the vehicle owner has made. We offered a potential partial refund which was accepted and then rejected. If the general manager has any additional information for the vehicle owner he will touch base, but until then we have nothing else to add to this conversation.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/22/2024

  Update:

  As of July 22, 2024, The Auto Barn has not reached back out to me. I am requesting the manager to please contact me to discuss this matter and try to come up with a solution that is suitable for both parties. However, if I do not hear from the company I will have no other option but to pursue it in court. I am making a honest effort here to get this resolved without any courts but I need to be contacted for that to happen. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/17/2024

  Type:Product 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.

  I was in a commercial vehicle (bobtail - a semi truck without a trailer). I went to take a shower at a planet fitness. Was in for 10 minutes. Came out and there was a tow truck hooked up to my truck. Driver was very rude and said if I give him $400, he will release vehicle. Called police. Driver said poster signs about no commercial vehicles. State of Maryland law states property owner needs to request tow. It was predatory towing practices.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/13/2024

      IN response to complaint the rates are set by baltimore city. ticket #***** was charged  $1383.00 with a 4% fee of 55.32

                                                                                                      ticket #***** was charged  $1383.00 with a 4% fee of 55.32

      That is set for each piece.

     

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/14/2024

   
  Complaint: 21586048
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I was charged $400 while I was using the local establishment of **************. I was given no ticket #. I was in the facility for no more than 15 minutes showering when the tow truck was waiting to hook up to my truck when I excited my truck. This is still predatory business practices that directly contradict Maryland state law. I will continue to pursue this matter with the local corporations and government as well until there is a resolution. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/26/2024

  Type:Billing 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.

  Parked my trailer in an abandoned ***** parking lot for a couple of hours. Trailer was towed. My problem. I find the signage that contains the number for Auto Barn and where to collect your property. The sign says "Towing charges not to exceed $500.00". "Storage charges not to exceed $30.00". "Vehicles may be reclaimed 24 hours a day 7 days a week". I call The AUTO BARN and ask them how much is it to get my trailer from their yard and they say it's $900.00. Then immediately says it's $800.00. I replied that sign says not to exceed $500.00 and the secretary says "$800 sir and that you need to pay it now.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/05/2024

                    On 3/26/24 while monitoring the security mall.  The auto barn   noticed a trailer park in the back of the ***** parking lot area 30 witch is  for passenger vehicle signs are posted spaces are marked for those vehicle.

  no commerical vehicle are allowed over night  unless making deliveries. those areas are for passenger vehicles only. the price on the signs are for small vehicles. baltimore county prices for commercial vehicle are  $800