Towing Issues: Tow Truck Charges Unfair, tow truck drivers, tow truck driver

Question
We were in the state of Iowa and managed to get our 4 wheel drive truck stuck in a boggy area near a river.  We called a local tow truck driver and he came with a large tow truck to get us out.  He just pulled into the area with the
large tow truck and got stuck himself.  We managed to help him get unstuck  by using his winch and cables around a tree.  He left the area with the large truck and came back with a regular 4 wheel drive pick up and managed to drive
farther into the boggy area than we were and got that truck stuck.  He then went to a local farmer and had them bring down a farm tractor (it was a large one!)  They got our vehicle out by simply putting a chain on it and pulling it out.
When they backed up to get the tow truck drivers 4 wheel drive pick up out (which was in the boggy area farther than we were) the tractor became stuck!  Since our vehicle was out, we gave the driver our credit card # and went home.  The next day or so the tow driver called and stated the bill would be 2500.00 and he charged it to our credit card.  He said that they had 4-5 vehicles stuck trying to get the farm tractor out and it took until the next day to get all of the vehicles out.  He did send us photos of all the vehicles which were stuck trying to get his vehicle out but never sent an itemized statement which we requested.  We are thinking of taking him to small claims court.  Do you think it is fair for us to pay for the poor judgement of the tow truck driver who pulled farther into the bog  and got his vehicle stuck?  To me this is like breaking down along side the road and him pulling out in front of a semi truck while he was towing our vehicle...would we be liable for that too??  Thank you.

Answer
I think your analogy of the tow truck pulling out in front of a semi and getting hit is right on. In the same light, if I send a tow truck to retrieve a vehicle and the tow truck breaks down while in tow, I don't charge for the second tow truck that has to go out and tow them both in. It's not the car owners fault that my truck broke down. If the poor judgement of the tow operator caused him to get several vehicles stuck, the cost of that poor judgement should not be passed on to you.  

If you take him to small claims he may say, "If not for the customer using poor judgement and getting his vehicle stuck, then we would not have been out there to get all of our vehicles stuck."  However, HE is supposed to be the expert in recovery and be able to size up a situation and determine what special equipment is needed. It sounds like he was just guessing and each guess was wrong and you are paying for his guess work. Also, the tractor he called is most likely not an employee of the tow service and volunteered his services.

The tow truck should have never driven into the bog in the first place. That's like trying to save somebody that is drowning and you can't even swim yourself.   He sould have laid a series of cables and snatch blocks (pulleys) from dry ground and extracted your vehicle.  Making himself a casualty is definetely not your fault and you should never have been charged for it.

This is price gouging at its worst. Take it to small claims and fight the bill.

I hope you know that this type of price gouging is not the norm and is not condoned by professional tow truck operators or any towing association that represents tow companies.

Good luck in your fight. I would like to hear the results.

Vern

vgeiger@earthlink.net