Complaint Review: Allstate Roadside - Internet

A couple of years ago I operated a towing company that was the polar opposite of the operation you described.  One truck, one driver (me), no GPS, no sophisticated software.  I landed a contract to tow for another national auto club, Cross Country.  Like you, I got screwed, too.

Cross Country refused to take me on unless I had a million-dollar liability policy, and that alone ran me a thousand dollars a month.  Then I had to agree to a rate that was actually below my cost.  They called me during the day maybe two times a week on average because, incredibly, they had other contractors who agreed to do the job for even less!  

I did, however, receive a lot of middle-of-the-night calls and found that they called me only after at least four others had turned them down.  They wanted me to go out in the middle of the night for the same price as a weekday tow.

To make matters a little worse, their dispatchers did not know east from west.  I got one call from Cross County where the client was said to be broken down at 6700 West Camelback.  I went there and found no one there.  I called the client directly and found that they were actually at 6700 East Camelback, some 15 miles away.  Of course, I was supposed to eat that expense as Cross Country would not pay the mileage to the start of the tow.

After a few months of this nonsense, I just stopped answering calls from Cross Country and ended the bleeding.

My point is that the auto clubs screw towing companies over backwards.  Allstate did it by just simply not paying the OP.  Cross Country did it to me by imposing unreasonable terms and conditions.  Since there is always one more sucker with a tow truck waiting in the wings, companies like Allstate and Cross Country will never run out of victims.

Really? So I take it you did not do this "little web research" before you took the business? Or do you expect that the people who you are supposedly going to file liens against (I don't think you will) should have?

There is something fishy about this story. If it is true, then file suit against Allstate and/or with your state's insurance commission. If you think going after individuals who are not to blame is going to be good for your business, I think you will be in for a bit of a surprise. 

While I do understand your situation.  The first thing I would wonder is how in the world you let them get to 90K in arrears?

Next, while you may legally be allowed to place a "Mechanics Lien" on the vehicles this tactic will backfire. 

Now, you did mention going after $100,000 car owners...while I don't know the economic climate of Colorado..exactly how many cars worth $100,000 did you end up towing?   Generally people that use Roadside assistance are people that are driving "clunkers" and  may be worth a couple thousand dollars at best.  So you are not going to take the expense of filing the lien, and taking them to court.  If you get the car you are now going to have to sell the car..more expense.  If all of this still doesn't cover the bill then what?  It seems as if you are doing this as some sort of "revenge", but it is revenge against the wrong group. 

Because the people you will be doing this too won't see it as an Allstate issue, they will see it as an issue with your company.  So you may get media attention, but not the attention you want.  It just takes you doing this to one person who relies on their car to get to work and because you "took it", they got fired and are now homeless.  The media would eat a story like that up and you will be seen as the bad guy.  Tow truck companies probably are liked about as much as Banks and Used Car dealers, and this would not help people's opinion.  Unfair to you...perhaps but something you need think about. 

Even if I were to win, I'd lose.....
- Not necessarily because not only would you be awarded your "arrears", the courts would probably also assess Interest on the back amount and award you your court and legal fees.  If you have as solid as a case as you think, it would seem like a pretty easy case to get a lawyer to take your case on contingency.

I am sorry to disagree with you but the facts remain. If you used Allstate Roadside to procure a tow for your disabled car and Allstate Roadside does not honor their guarantee to pay the tower for the service, then you as the person that initiated the tow are still liable for the payment to the tow contractor.

It's the same as if you hired a general contractor to re-roof your house and that general contractor uses a sub-contractor for part of the work and does not pay them. You, as the homeowner, are now liable and must pay that sub contractor EVEN IF you have already paid the general contractor for the work.

Allstate has been doing this for some time now. This is nothing new and a little web research will show you that. They have done so much damage to my small company because of their 'designed to fail' bookkeeping practices that I am at risk of losing everything! The 90k they didn't pay in a timely fashion has cost me valuable employees, many thousands of dollars in added tax liabilities and the utter destruction of my own and my companies reputation.

Large corporations in this country are taking us all to the bank in this same fashion. They have garnered such power politically and legally that they are essentially free to screw the public with utter impunity. In other words, there is NO WAY I can defend myself in a court of law because I do not have the money to pay for a legal frontal assault against a team of lawyers with literally billions of dollars backing them. Even if I were to win, I'd lose.....

My only other recourse is to do exactly what I am doing. What would you do?

I feel for your plight, but we both know you're targeting the wrong people for revenge.

What I see coming out of any high profile action as you have threatened, is a push for legislation to OUTLAW third party mechanic liens.

I can understand such liens against a primary direct contracting customer, someone who did business directly with you without any middleman connecting y'all, but nobody should be able to go after someone who's only business tie to you was that the company THEY contracted with in turn contracted out the work to you. Same with a subcontractor who's screwed by a general contractor; yes, they can place mechanic liens against the property they worked on, but they ought NOT be allowed to do so.

Your beef, whether you feel you can resolve it on your own or not, is with Allstate, and I hope any suits you file against Allstate's customers get tossed out summarily.

I am sorry to hear of your problems with Allstate Motor Club. That  why we no longer tow for them.Most times they dispute the  bill and when they  pay, they take 3 months.