Complaint Review: Tow' and Mo' Towing Company

My friend had his car towed one night from the parking lot of his apartment complex. The next day he found out that it was towed by "Tow and Mo", and was sitting in their lot. After calling them, the women on the phone said that the charge would be $190, even though the car was in the lot for only 10 hours. I drove my friend down there, and we met a tow truck driver at the gate.

After my friend proved that he was the owner of the car, the driver told us that the charge would be $215 and CASH ONLY!!! We complained that the lady on the phone told us that it would be $190, but the driver said that if we had a complaint that we would have to call her again. We went across the street to call her, and she said that if we had a complaint we had to talk to the tow truck driver!!!!

Needing his car for work the next day, we went back to Tow and Mo and my friend agreed to pay the $215, but he had to plead with the driver to get a receipt! While we were waiting to get the car, two other people came to pick up their cars, and were being charged the same amount. One of the persons was a woman who was dropped off by a security guard. The security guard seemed to know the tow driver very well. Before the security guard left he was paid cash by the tow driver!!!

The other person waiting for their car explained to me that they pay the security guard for every car he brings in.

Finally we got our receipt, with a breakdown of questionable charges: tow fee, labor fee, storage fee, gate fee(what the heck is a gate fee?), etc. My friend needed 5 dollars in change, and the driver went through his pockets looking for a five. While he was digging through his pockets, he proceded to pull out a big wad of 100 dollar bills, likely from the people that were ripped of earlier in the day.

We finally got the car back. As were were leaving, the driver also left to go tow another car, leaving the other two people waiting at the gate for their cars, with nobody in the entire place to help them.

As a side note, my friend is an auto parts delivery person for a major auto company. He has delivered parts to Tow and Mo before, and they always pay in CASH. There needs to be a serious investigation into this company!!!

Jim
Anaheim, California