QuestionOur vehicle was towed to my home. The tow driver convinced
me to return the vehicle to the place where I purchased it.
He asked that I sign his tow receipt as agreement that he
was to take the vehicle there. He assured me that I would
not pay anything for the tow and that he would have an
attorney contact me to place a lemon law complaint on the
dealer. The dealer did not accept the vehicle and no
attorney will take the case. This tow driver left the
vehicle at a storage lot and did not advise me of this. When
I finally contacted him he told me that he had left the
vehicle at a lot and gave me the number to call. When I
called I was told I owed $1500. I was told the tow driver
was not affiliated with the lot and therefore I had to pay
to retrieve the vehicle. Am I out of luck? What remedy can
I take to retrieve the car other than the obvious?
Thank you for your help!
AnswerWell it sounds like some of the acts which happen in Philadelphia, Houston, or Chicago where the towers do tend to try and mislead customers.
Now I hate to say it, but it sounds like you are faced with going to small claims court where you can try to recover any of the money you will spend getting the vehicle back.
Yes, it will be expensive and you will have a big battle in court since you "did sign" an authorization form for towing. The misleading part of where it went is the key here.
You did fall for the ruse that most dishonest towers (there are not that many in all reality) use to get tows.
A tower has no rights or obligation to get a lawyer for the case, and as to going to the dealer and getting them to pay. Well a lot of dealers issue Purchase Orders for tows, but that means that the truck truck driver would have to wait for his money (20 to 50 days or so) from the dealer. In most of these cases they want the fast cash, and since that can not be cancelled or disputed that is what they want.
Sorry that this happened, but remember not all of the tow trucks are dishonest.
