Complaint Review: Bruffy's Tow - Los Angeles CA

Bruffy's Tow held our vehicle in impound for LAPD.  As soon as we learned this (within 6 hours of the vehicle being towed), we contacted Bruffy's (by phone) to determine our next steps.  It was a Friday, and we were not able to retrieve our vehicle until Monday, at which point we would be out of town for 2 weeks.

Rather than incur exorbitant daily charges (the sum of which after two weeks would exceed the value of the vehicle), we asked what our other options were, and whether we could relinquish the vehicle rather than be charged the daily cost of impound.  They confirmed that we could relinquish the vehicle if we came to them in person, right away.  

We were assured that if we paid for the cost of the tow and any charges incurred to that point we would NO LONGER INCUR DAILY CHARGES.  We immediately went to Bruffy's in person, paid the required amount, and signed over the vehicle.

11 DAYS LATER, Bruffy's sent a letter confirming we had relinquished our vehicle.  They claim that in small print there was a statement informing us that we would incur daily charges between the time the vehicle was relinquished and when it was sold on auction.  

We did not notice the small print and only noted that the vehicle was definitely relinquished.  Assuming it was there, the small print informing us of additional charges was in direct contradiction to what we were assured verbally, both over the phone and in person, when we were told WE WOULD NO LONGER INCUR FUTURE CHARGES.  

69 DAYS AFTER THAT NOTICE WAS DATED, we received a phone call from a collection agency, stating that we owed over $1500 to Bruffy's Tow in daily charges for the time between when we relinquished the vehicle and when it was sold on auction.  We were flabbergasted.  

1.  Had we known that the car would continue to incur daily charges, we would not have relinquished it!!  The only reason we relinquished it was to avoid incurring daily charges during the 2 weeks that we were out of town.

2.  We were never billed by Bruffy's, but sent directly to Collections!!  We have no record of any notice from Bruffy's indicating that we owed them anything.

3.  We had no recourse but to pay the "deal" which the collection agency offered us, namely to pay 50% of the charges -- charges which we were assured by Bruffy's we would never have to pay!!

Bruffy's INTENTIONALLY and KNOWINGLY put us in this situation.  MULTIPLE TIMES during our phone conversation, I asked for confirmation that we would no longer owe future charges on the vehicle if we relinquished it.  MULTIPLE TIMES I was assured by the Bruffy representative that we would incur no further charges on the vehicle, once it was relinquished.  

While Bruffy's may enjoy the prestige and privilege of being the LAPD Official Police Garage, they do not behave in a way that merits this honor, and in the process bring LAPD down with them.  In this situation they operated in an unethical, unjust manner, intentionally and stealing money from us.  There is no excuse for this.  Do not patronize their facility, and be very wary of your dealings with them.