Towing Issues: Sons car towed and stored after accident, tow truck operator, tow truck company

Question
My son ( who is 16 1/2) car was in an accident a month or more ago. The tow truck company, who responded to the state police call, was asked by my son to tow it about 5 miles to our local repair shop. The repair shop was closed and my son did not have money on him, so the tow truck operator said he would take it back to his place for the weekend and then return it to the shop when it opened on Monday.
The repair shop had trouble finding parts, but said they would not charge us storage. When we finally found someone to look at the car, we were told that the repair shop that had the car had paid the tow truck company for the tow and their storage which was almost $600 !!  I am floored ! I called the tow truck company and they are unwilling to lower the rate, said that we called to late, etc ( we did not even know the body shop had paid the bill or what the amount was ! )
Do we have ANY recourse? Can I take him to small claims court? He said he had to wait at the scene, had to tow it multiple places and times, etc. Shouldn't he have just dropped it off? He also said he did not want to leave it at the shop for fear of not getting paid, although it looks like he has some sort of deal with the body shop as they paid the bill to him in advance !
Thanks for your help !

Answer
Well this sounds like standard practices here, as tow companies do bill body shops and repair shops for the towing fees involved including when it is towed, stored and then retowed to the repair - body shop.

Now the fee, well I can not comment on that, as I was not there and do not know what was done or used. Sorry about that part.

But as a rule, towing is a C.O.D. business and like I said earlier it sounds legal to me, even if you had some kind of understanding with the tow company about when to deliver it.  A month or so is a long time to wait for payment if the tow company does not have possession of the vehicle.  So the body shop would pay the towing fees and hold the vehicle till either you or the insurance company have paid all the repair costs, towing fees, storage fees (if any) and any other fees.

Suing the tow company in small claims court, would most likely get you laughed out of the court as it would appear that you are trying to get the tow done for free.  Sorry but that is how it will look and I think the judge would agree on that.