Complaint Review: Tennessee Sumner County Towing Company

I would just also like to add that I am aware that many towing companies make a substantial portion of their business income from impounding vehicles. As a matter of fact, I was present at the Davidson County Wrecker Board meeting yesterday, regarding one of my drivers obtaining the necessary wrecker driving permit. This was the first meeting I had ever attended, and I was honestly shocked.

There were complaints brought against several companies for towing vehicles that parked in supposed no parking zones. These vehicles were towed WITHOUT proper authorization. These towing companies actually "cruise" parking lots that they are supposedly contracted to tow from, and they tow cars as soon as they park there. They are not given any notice, the vehicles are not abandoned, and the vehicles do not receive stickers or warnings, and they do NOT obtain proper authorization and signatures PRIOR to towing the vehicles. In addition, they hire unlicensed wrecker drivers. In one complaint, a police officer was present to testify that he had actually caught one of these companies attempting to obtain a signature AFTER the vehicle was towed.

One company in particular had 6 complaints against them on this one day. My company does not patrol ANY parking lots, and we do not tow ANY vehicles unless we receive proper authorization and signatures FIRST. A very small percentage of vehicles that we tow are due to parking violations. Although we are located in Sumner County, our company has the proper Davidson County Wrecker Company Permit, and ALL of my drivers also have driver permits. Many out of county towing companies do NOT obtain this license / permit.

Everything that we do is 100% legal and we follow ALL laws, rules & guidelines to the letter. All of my drivers have clean MVRs, are uniformed, and must pass a background check & drug test. We are really trying to stand out from other companies who operate in a questionable or basically an illegal manner. Just as we had to be very strict with this individual on our policies regarding the vehicle that was towed, we are also very strict regarding all laws, licensing, permits, insurance, guidelines, proceedures, and hiring good respectable drivers. There are MANY good and reputable towing companies, but unfortunately there are also others that give all of us a bad name. For some interesting reading on the complaints I mentioned, do a search for Metropolitan Transportation and Licensing Nashville. Then follow links and click on "Minutes Archives". I am not sure how long it will take for the minutes of the meeting of 9/26 to be posted.

Original post quote, Sumner County Tow Lobby's website outlines a matter distressing a Sumner County resident.

Unfortunately URL's cannot be posted here. But, you can see all the details there. The OP was in hopes readers would find the site. The car was parked over a holiday weekend and the family was not in a position to check the car. It is not like the sticker(s) were discovered and ignored.

The point noted of the boy's mistake leading to all this mess is very much admitted to, agreed with, addressed and apologized for on the site. Still the basic fact still remains the poor customer relations, leading to questioning of operations that rightfully should be validated occurred. It also created charges to the parent that were totally unnecessary. But yes the good news, procedures have been changed for the better.

Does that tell you something was not as is should have been? Never the less, is it not truly special that one's misfortune and bringing big attention to mistakes benefit society?

I find it interesting that the OP left out all the pertinent facts in her original post. There are two sides to every story. If we are to believe the towing company involved, the "boy" parked his vehicle in a no parking zone, partially on the grass. The property management company had previously put a sticker on the vehicle notifying the owner to move the vehicle or it would be towed. The vehicle was not moved and the sticker was removed. The vehicle was then towed. Now comes the disputed part. The OP says they were unable to contact the towing company. The towing company saying they were contacted but not in a timely or proper manner. The OP blames the towing company, the towing company says they were following procedure. The main reason for the problem is the "boy" parking where he wasn't suppose to. Now the good news, it seems some procedures have been modified to keep just such a problem from occuring again. Hopefully, he won't be parking in any no parking zones, again, so they won't be tested.

The company and legal counsel have validated that all of the companies operations are in line with state regulations. I feel laws should be changed. However I have found that people don't care to get involved unless it directly impacts them at the time.

In this case, the main issue is the fact that the owner of the car was stalled in picking up the car due to no fault of their own. That was due to unreturned calls from the property management company and towing company. It's a shame for the consumer to have lost a car that could have been picked up for $125 should both companies involved have been more customer service oriented regarding persistence in returning phone calls and making sure important matters are handled for their clients.

Both companies to this day are ignoring, not admitting to or evading this main issue and don't seem to care that they are doing so.

On a final note, this has been a big learning experience for all involved. I am sure this will result in better practices for all involved. The property management company has posted contact number to claim car should it towed. So all has not been a total loss at the expense of a boy's car

The vehicle in question was towed per authorization of the homeowner's association board, and the property management company. The vehicle was parked in a no parking zone, partially on the grass. The property management company had previously put a sticker on the vehicle, notifying the owner to move the vehicle or it would be towed. The vehicle was not moved, and the sticker was removed - so they contacted us to tow the vehicle.

Several days after the vehicle was towed, someone contacted us to inquire about the charges. This was on the weekend and the office was closed. They were instructed to call back on Monday. They waited several more days, and a lady finally called wanting to redeem the vehicle. She became irate, and subsequently the call was ended. We did not receive another call regarding this vehicle. We received a complaint that had been filed with the Better Business Bureau. We responded to the complaint in a professional manner, and responded to each of the individual's rebuttals.

We cannot and could not lower the charges owing on her vehicle, when all other individuals have been required to pay their charges in full. That would have been unfair and discriminatory to all other customers. It would have basically given any other individual the right to file a complaint that we had treated this individual with preferential treatment, while requiring the others to pay in full. The charges were completely justified. We were given the proper authorization to tow the vehicle prior to removing the vehicle. the individual had been warned via sticker to move the vehicle, which they ignored and even removed the sticker.

The vehicle was towed per a violation of the rules of the homeowner's association board and the property management company. We were contracted by and authorized by those entities to remove the vehicle, and were merely a third party within the dispute they were having with the board and property management company. The individual mentioned Davidson County, however we are in Sumner County. This individual was not overcharged. There was additional equipment used in order to safely remove the vehicle without causing damage, due to it being parked partially on the grass.

It should also be noted that wrecker companies in TN do not receive titles to these vehicles, nor can we apply for a lost title. We must comply with the state's guidelines in order to auction the vehicles. There are substantial costs involved with following those requirements. In addition, we lose a substantial amount of money due to unclaimed vehicles. However, as we explained to this individual, a business simply cannot lower charges or prices for one person, and force all others to pay the full price. Our company is reputable, and we pride ourselves on providing excellent customer service. We regret that this situation could not be resolved with the individual; however we made every effort and went out of our way to explain our policies and the proceedures in great detail.

On a final note, we normally charge personal property handling fees and storage after a certain amount of time elapses. We also dispose of any personal property not redeemed within 60 days. We not only held the property beyond the 60 days, but we also returned it to this individual with no handling fee or storage fees for the property. I would just like to add that at least for our company, we operate 100% within the laws and the guidelines set forth by the state, and we no not operate "unethically" in any way or manner. The charges quoted by the individual were mostly due to storage fees, due to the vehicle not being redeemed in a timely manner. The total charges for towing, including special equipment was $125.00. Everything else was storage.

This has been a hot topic. Come back often to check out the progress.
Sumner County Tow at the com.

One thread complaining about a particular tow company, and now it's back but it's "some companies." What is going on in Tenn? All these tow companies openly committing crimes and no-one to stop it?