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:08/18/2023

  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.

  This is a comlaint against All Terrain Towing's practices dating from September 2022 until today. I called to have my vehicle towed here for repairs when the shop agreed to find a replacement engine. A deposit was taken over the phone on 10/31/2022 for the amount of $2000. I had to book a nearby hotel room for months as I waited for them to obtain the part and complete the repair and am still here with a wait bill upwards of $23,000 and counting. After months of no phone calls from the company I was notified via letter that they had the car impounded to another lot unreasonably far from where it was parked on their shop. The employees went from committing themselves to repair to having it relocated without my permission. From there I paid $1490 on 8/4/23 to release the vehicle to another repair shop. It is another month later and after paying more than $3500 and more than I had planned to have the vehicle repaired it is still not fixed, the company has not offered any further direction to get my vehicle road ready again, return any of the charges and even told me over the phone to get a lawyer. I am writing now to inform others of this company's predatory towing practices, attempt at financial fraud, and singling out people like me to finance goods and services that were undelivered when there were dozens of other customers who got their vehicles repaired in a matter of days. I am writing today to the BBB to mediate these claims because a ****** public business review did not motivate them to take any additional action. A week later I also sent the company a demand letter to reimburse me for these expenses. I hope this to be the last message I have to send to have the matter resolved BBB. -*****************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2023

  Speedworx LLC is an auto and boat dealership. We do not provide any auto repair or towing services. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/30/2023

  In response to the company's rebuttal:
  
  Speedworx is the tow company's immediate superior who oversees the financial workings of the company. I also attached a bank statement that includes the tow to the repair shop with the same company name. If the BBB would contact All Terrain Towing off the pacific coast you will find my complaints factually accurate between the employees and manager. Because of the respondent's attempt to deflect admission I will also contact the bank directly to report these fraudulent charges and have them personally reversed. This is something I never thought I'd have to do in the 25 years I've had the account. The ******************** has my permission to verify these debits with the bank regarding the tow company's response.    

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2023

  On 9-28-2022 ******* contacted us to tow his vehicle into our shop as it had an mechanical issue while being driven. On 9-30-22 we diagnosed his vehicle with a bad engine and prepared several replacement option quotes. It took us till 10-31-22 to finally reach ******* to explain his options, on that date he chose a used engine as the repair and a deposit of $2000 was received. Finding an used engine for his vehicle proved difficult as not many used options were available at the time. We ordered an engine and when it arrived upon inspection we rejected it due to condition and ordered another rejecting that one as well. We continued to look for an used engine till 1-**** when we attempted to contact ******* to advise him we were not going to be able to help him with the repair. Several more phone attempts were made between then aprox **** when ******* stopped in to retrieve belongings from him vehicle and was told he needed to take it elsewhere as we couldn't help him any longer. He called several weeks later and again was told we couldn't find an engine. In **** we received notice from the property owner of our shop that the *********** vehicle (as well and 2 others) had been here for a very long time and requested we have them removed as we were in violation of our lease agreement. On 7-19-23 we called the towing company that has an impound agreement with the property and had his vehicle removed. With over 50yrs in the automotive business we have never had a customer just leave their vehicle for ********************** without regular communication on the status of the repairs. We would be happy to refund ******* his original deposit of $2000 minus the diagnostic and towing fees.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/25/2023

   
  Complaint: 20481699
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  For any reasonable property owner to wait 11 months to have my and all other inoperable vehicles towed from the property would be an absurd oversight but lets entertain your explanation. For even the most unusual owner, I'm willing to guess the observed (and probably biased) report of the vehicle being overparked differs chronologically from how long the vehicle was actually on the property. That amount of time differs still between when the owner finally decided to bring this up with you. That leads me to question whether the owner is present enough on a regular basis on the company to **** off trespassers let alone run a repair shop on it. Many months after the owner first noticed it, the order between you and the owner submitted to the OTHER tow shop for the supposed long standing property violation claim was done in an untimely manner, and cannot be categorized as any normal parking violation as he claims. The window of time to remove any vehicle on that basis has long passed by the time the vehicle was actually moved and runs contrary to the reason (as stated on the invoice) between your shop and the OTHER tow company owing to property abandonment thus invalidating the owner's misrepresented report.
  
  The claim that the car was moved because of complications between the property owner and shop owner is a separate issue, independent of the customer who was not made privy to these property agreements prior to the repair job and I am certainly uninterested in being involved with that. Your lease agreement is no more important than and does not override the pre-existing commitment to repairing the vehicle. Do you intend for me to believe that the turover time for my vehicle was so long that it violated an entire lease agreement? My ******* phone history from January and on does not reflect any incoming communication from this owner or mechanic regarding this property disagreement yet it was moved without personal permissions. Please feel free to upload records of any successfully outgoing calls to my phone so we can establish what was understood between us. I've uploaded every phone call I could find this year from my bills and you might be surprised that I don't use it very often. When I went to retrieve some fabrics from the car it was still not repaired and we were no closer to getting back on the road. Sending letters to a registered address that I did not give out makes no sense as it is a mere 3 mile walk to the shop. To this day I still do not yet have access to these letters you sent and the car is now being repaired in another shop nearby. In my experience, when a mechanic is finished with a vehicle they return them to their owners. Having it moved 20 miles away instead of 3 miles back to me also makes no sense physically speaking. 
  
  When it comes to company policy regarding vehicles deemed irreparable, does the shop tow and impound all the vehicles it cannot save or do you advise for owners to have it repaired at the next shop? I do not understand from the mechanic's perspective what value the car would stand to gain by having it taken to an impound and towing it to a wrecking yard is certainly not in the car's better interest.  A shop that makes debits to a customer account without adding any tangible value to the car is an unacceptable deviation from what was agreed upon. It complicates funds that could have been used at a more modern shop completed in a fraction of the time. The customer ought to be reimbursed for all debits made on the vehicle's behalf from the shop's practices. They ought to reevaluate its employee's contributions to their customer's vehicles and not hold the customer financially responsible for any disagreements with the ******. Cars were made to be driven on the road and drivers are eager to drive them, even well after they break down and require repairs. They are out of place sitting sedentarily in some impound lot and should be reunited with their owners. 
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************