GreyWolf3000's Journal: GreyWolf3000 is in trouble!!! Please help!!!

Ok guys, I'm in a real jam.

Here's the deal. I was delivering a pizza to some redneck ol shabby house right off of a 4 lane highway. The somewhat narrow, topographically "unique" (read: one boulder shy of an offroad racing track) and unkept driveway turned inward from the road on a blind corner. I could not reverse back onto the road normally, being that the cars could easily hit me going 45 mph and not see me. I had to swing around in the limited space and turn my car around. However, the driveway was somewhat narrow and my right front wheel fell into a ditch hidden by a tree. I could not get out.

I called PJ's and got another driver to take me back to the store so I could clock out (I was definately through for the night), and find a towing service to bail me out. It was 10 PM, and not many places were open. I found a shop in the Yellow Pages, called Pronto Towing service (looking back now, the name itself should have been a red light that this may not be a great business to go with). I called them, and the guy that picked up spoke fast and rushed me through the process.

Me: "Where you guys at?"

Them: "All over...where you at?"

"I need a vehicle pulled out of the ditch...over at 360 and 2222."

"Ok, great, where you at? We'll send someone right over..."

"Wait...it's a particularly narrow driveway I'm stuck in, and I need to make sure you guys can send a small truck...also, how mu--"

"We got big trucks, small trucks, anything you need. We'll be there soon."

"Actually, I need to know how much it would cost."

"It depends on how hard it is to get it out and how long it takes."

Here's my first big mistake:

"Ok, I work for Papa John's, can you pick me up at Far West and Mesa?"

"Sure, we'll be right there."

Let me explain this little error here, so there's no confusion. Last week my battery died during the day and I got it towed and the towing was 50$. They only needed to pull my vehicle about 10 feet from where it sat. Couldn't be much more...so wrong. So, so wrong.

Oh God, so wrong.

Ok, so I cash out (give Papa John's their money I collected, and find out how I did in tips. On a side note, I did horribly), and wait for the tow truck. It was a Mexican fellow, about 40, and his girlfriend. They were pretty cool, and we went back to the scene.

It took about 5 mintes to pull the truck out. I asked him how much it was, and he went to the truck and looked at a chart, and replied "one hundred and fifty dollars." At the time, I didn't have that kind of money. I asked him when a check would get cashed (I get paid friday), and he said "tomorrow." He then asked me to sign a piece of paper that basically was an agreement that if my check bounces, then they'll repo my car.

I took the check I had written back, and asked about other payment options. I didn't have the cash, and I hope to never have a credit card, so they took my truck home with them, which added another 100$. Of course, if they repossessed it, it would cost 400$. I'm sure this tally will run up daily, however.

I asked the fellow why it costs 150$ to move a truck 10 feet out of a ditch and he said "my boss sets the price the same for every pull-out to be fair..some take as long as 3 hours." But wait...didn't they say the price varied based on how hard it was to pull it out? Liars! Of course, I only realized this until after I had some time to cool off.

Thus, they took my truck away, and I'm out of the delivery business until I can get it back. At my current salary without driving, that'll be 2 weeks, except the cost to keep it there will be more than I can make.

I got swindled. I'm going to contact them tomorrow, and if nothing changes I will contact the Better Business Bureau.

Of course, I doubt this could hold water in court, because of several errors on my part, but I think the fact that they said the price would vary based on the difficulty and time spent on the task, and the fact that it did not would help my case.

I need advice...anyone have similar horror stories that they can relate? Anyone else I could talk to?

Did they give you a quote

[isorox]

Shouldnt they have to give you a quote before commencing work? Find out what other companies in the area charge too, if they are well above that thats probably dodgy. Of course thats all based on the UK, I have no idea about he U.S.

You could always try to loan some money off your boss?

Re:Did they give you a quote

[GreyWolf3000]

That's just it...they said the price varies based on how hard it was to pull the vehicle out.

Funny that when it came down to it, they had a "flat" rate.

My boss would never do such a thing :(

Re:Did they give you a quote

[isorox]

Even so, I'm pretty sure they should give you an official quote before work starts, and if it will cost more they should tell you before starting

Perhaps I'm equating morality with buisness

Not really advice,

[Outland Traveller]

Towing a real shady business sometimes, whether it is in the city or out in redneck country. Now that they have your car they will not give you the keys until you pay up.

Next time around try doing one or more of the following:

- Get a price up-front. If you don't have a lot of cash on you, tell them that you will not pay more than x$, and if they are going to charge you more than that they shouldn not even show up. If they consent you can claim this was a verbal contract. If they refuse, then have a friend

Re:Not really advice,

[GreyWolf3000]

I'm looking into AAA now.

Re:Not really advice,

[Outland Traveller]

I broke down on the Mass. Turnpike once and got a free tow to 80 miles away. That one incident payed for the AAA-plus membership for more than 7 years. It pays for itself. It's a no-brainer if you don't have roadside assistance through your car dealership or through your auto insurance policy.