Always Towing & Recovery, Inc.

Review: This company is absolutely horrible. I recently moved into a new complex on Saturday 5/2 and my vehicle was towed from my assigned parking space at 6am on 5/5. I went to the place with my lease to show that I was legally parked in my parking space and was shrugged off with an, "oh well, you need a permit" I had to pay $410 to get my vehicle back. My vehicle was towed at 6am on 5/5 and I picked my vehicle up at 9am on 5/6 because they were already closed when I called them on 5/5. They have a bullet proof one way glass up inside of the place and you can't even see who you are talking to. Even with my lease showing that I was legally parked they did not budge with the price. I cannot believe that my car was even towed and then having to pay $410 to get the vehicle back. Lawsuit pending.

Business

Response:

On 5/05/2015, we removed the vehicle in question for being parked contrary to the rules of the complex.

This is by far the worst company I have ever dealt with and the rudest people I have ever encountered. My 2015 Nissan Rogue was towed from my apartment complex, where I live, where I am on the lease, where I have a parking sticker for said vehicle. My sticker was visible, it's bright green and shiny and was clipped to my drivers side visor that was flipped down. Now usually it would be right above the VIN but on this day I had just had my truck detailed and it was just dropped off at 2:30pm. They came at 3:30pm and towed it. My question is why was my truck towed when you could clearly see my sticker? When I asked this question at the office I was told "they didn't see it" and "it was in the wrong spot" I said "but you can see it" This guy said "my guys look in one spot and aren't out there with flashlights looking all around for stickers" (Of course they aren't out there with flashlights because they are towing during the day, but they do have EYES) Seriously....you could see it and that's a load of crap all they wanted was that $350. They do not care if you have a sticker or not because they can lie and say they didn't see it and you still have to pay to get your vehicle out. I just found out another tenants car was towed this morning. This company is a scam maybe I should call Fox 6....

Review: On Sunday night my car was towed out of my parking lot. In order to park in my parking lot you must have a permit, which I indeed had. Its a red sticker with a number on it, which I know for sure was in my window because I was in my car prior to it getting towed. Monday morning I go to pick my car up only to discover that my parking permit was sitting in my passenger seat. One of the workers who walked me to my car also seen that the sticker was on my seat. Mind you it was in the windshield right above the driver seat visor. To anyone who has a parking permit, we all know that they don't just suddenly fall off. Once I get back to the counter to let [redacted] (the owner supposedly) know that my sticker was in fact in my car I still had to pay $303 dollars plus a $40 ticket from the city of Milwaukee to get my car back. I had my landlord write letters stating that I did have permission to park my car in the lot, I went up there numerous of times with my proof only to get treated like an animal. [redacted] and most of his workers were the most horrible people I met in my life. I never met people like that in my life. [redacted] was very unprofessional at all times. He was only present when it was time to receive payments, but when I go there to try to receive my refund on 3 occasions [redacted] WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!!! The first day a rude worker stated that [redacted] was not there and didn't know when he would be back, same thing happened a second time. Third time I go up there [redacted] is still not there so I had to get transferred over to him. I talked to him very calm stating how I spent my rent and bill money to get my car out of tow that shouldn't of been there anyway. He had no sympathy at all. I pray for everyone that has to go up there and deal with a percentage of what they have put me through. HORRIBLE TERRIBLE UNPROFESSIONAL UNTRUSTWORTHY BAD BUSINESS BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE OVERALL ---------FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFDesired Settlement: The only thing I desire is to get my refund so I can pay my rent and bills.

Consumer

Response:

I have a 2011 Kia Optima plate reads [redacted]

Review: This tow company ha unfortunately has a contract set up with my apartment complex to tow vehicles in our parking lot. I do live in this complex and have a lease with my vehicle that I own on my lease. However my hanging tag was not properly viewed in my vehicle so I guess I have to eat the 380$ charge but my vehicle was towed around Saturday early am and I discovered the vehicle missing around 9am. I looked on there website which clearly states they are a 24hour service so I called them to come get the vehicle around 1pm the same Saturday and said they closed at noon and not open on Sundays which means a 30 dollars a day charge will begin even if they are closed. That just doesn't seem right.Desired Settlement: I do not want them to charge a fee daily if they are closed. It should be charged on pen business hours only. That's only right. They should also make that clear on the website since it is misleading

Review: On July 3rd my car was towed from a lot on Oregon St. in Milwaukee, WI. My friend lives in the apartment building across the street from the parking lot and she told me to park there, as I was only running into her building for a couple minutes. She parks in the same parking lot on a regular basis and has never had issues; in fact, so many of the building residents park there that she thought the lot was owned by her apartment complex. When pulling into the lot, I looked for "Private Parking" signs, but didn't see any so I thought the lot was available. Upon later review, there is one sign by one of the two driveways but it's so covered in graffiti and stickers that you can't tell what it says. The only other signs, which are no bigger than cereal boxes, are four rows back, in the back of the parking lot. The light posts they're on face another direction, so the signs are not readable, let alone noticeable.

I was inside my friend's apartment for no more than 10 minutes when I realized the tow trucks were clearing out the lot. The multiple tow trucks were handling cars very rough, dragging them flat across the ground or lifting them up and letting them fall back to the ground. I went outside to move my car as one of the tow truck drivers began hooking up my car to be towed. As I crossed the street, my car was no more than a couple inches from the ground, and I had the keys in hand, ready to claim it and drive it away.

The tow truck driver told me I was too late, even though my car was not hooked up to the tow truck yet. I asked him what was going on, where my car was going and when I could pick it up. He replied sarcastically, saying, "Well ma'am, you can pick it up on Saturday (July 5th) from our lot. Happy 4th of July, hu?" Beyond that, he wouldn't answer any of my additional questions, even after I told him I'd never had a car towed and that I am not from the Milwaukee area. He not only swore at me, but he wouldn't give me his name, his company's name or their phone number. The only way I knew to call the office's phone number was because I got it off the back of his shirt.

As I was standing in the lot, trying to get simple questions answered, we realized he'd hit another car with his tow truck and/or a car he was towing. The owner of that car, who happened to be a paralegal, said he was illegally taking my car if it wasn't hooked up to the tow truck when I came to the scene. When he realized his wrongdoing, he immediately stopped talking to other customers, put the chains from his truck on my car and finished raising it onto the truck. He threatened to send me and my friends to jail if we touched the car after that. At that point I decided to call the Milwaukee Police Department to make sure this was a legitimate tow.

While waiting for the police to come, I tried to call the towing company's office for information about when and where I could retrieve my car. I talked with Mike, who wouldn't stop yelling and swearing at me. He told me my car would be at Wells St. but refused to give me directions or a frame of reference for how to get there. Again, I'm new to Milwaukee and don't know where many things are. The first time I called Mike, he hung up on me after I asked further questions. The second time I called, he put me on hold for 10 minutes and then hung up the phone. During the third phone call I told him the police were coming and he told me he wouldn't talk to me anymore unless I was a Milwaukee Police Officer.

Two Milwaukee police officers arrived at the scene and talked with myself and the tow truck driver. They told me there was nothing they could do but they were able to give me directions to the tow lot. The tow truck driver wouldn't even give the police officers his name or contact information. He'd only tell them he was from Truck #15. He drove away with my car a few minutes later and even cut off another car as he was exiting the lot.

I went to the Always Towing office at Wells St. on the morning of Saturday, July 5th with my mother, who's name is on the car's title. We made a point to be exceptionally polite while dealing with the man at the front desk, but it didn't seem to help with the company's customer service. We asked to talk to a manager regarding the incident in the parking lot and he instructed us that the manager was busy but would come out to the office when he was available. In the mean time, we were asked to sign a piece of paper agreeing that the car was in the exact same condition when we picked it up as it was before it was towed. We refused to sign the piece of paper until we were able to see the car, simply because we thought my car might have been the one to hit the car in the parking lot. My mother and I walked around to the entrance of the lot and found out that I wasn't allowed on the lot because my name isn't on the title. She was only allowed to glance at the car with an employee and wasn't sure where on the car to look for damages. She wasn't able to find anything but did, in fact, miss the large dent in the front quarter panel. We didn't notice the dent in the front until we were able to see the car without cars surrounding it on the lot and then the Always Towing employees told us there was nothing they could do.

In the end, we were required to pay $338.00 for the towing and one day of storage, which is more than half of what the Milwaukee Co. lot charges. I feel this company takes advantage of drivers and charges outrageous fees for services that are less than satisfactory. We never were able to talk to the manager on Saturday morning, which makes me wonder if he was even there or even exists. All in all, I was demoralized by the lack of respect and customer service this company offered.Desired Settlement: I would like the charge refunded, as I believe my car wrongly towed in the first place. The dent in my car does not harm it's driving abilities, but it is unfortunate the the company wouldn't do anything for us after we noticed the car was damaged. It is a 10 year old car but was in very great shape before the towing incident happened.

Business

Response:

On July 3, 2014 the vehicle in question was impounded for being parked illegally on private property. The lot is properly posted as private property. The vehicle was towed in accordance with Wisconsin state statutes.

Damage was done to my car(specifically my tire)by Always Towing Company while it was being towed to Milwaukee's county lot from a local campus. Furthermore, when I went to pick up my car, I heard an obvious "thumping" and "knocking" noise. When I got out of my car to see what it was, I looked at my tire and realize that not only was a chunk of my tire tread missing but also torn. I assume the noise came from pieces of torn tread hitting the bottom of my car. I notified the city tow lot workers and was instructed to file a complaint with the tow lot service since they were contracted not employees of the tow lot itself.

When I called Always Towing Company to do what I was instructed by the city tow lot workers, I was greeted with blunt disrespect and ignorance. They (Always Towing) right off the back denied any damages done to the car but informed me that I can still file a complaint with them but it will do me no justice. The following day I went to Always Towing to file a formal complaint, when I went inside the building there were several other people inside waiting to file complaints for damage and illegal towing issues. When one of the workers(General Manager [redacted]) came to look at my car, he stated "I know this was not caused by us because I've worked in the towing business for a couple years and have never seen nothing like this before." He didn't even attempt to take any pictures of my tire without me telling him to do so. He(with an attitude) told me I can file a complaint but he doubt if it gets approved seeing that he is the GM and has a say so in the matter at the end of day.

After writing the complaint and asking for a copy of it for my personal records, I realized I made a mistake on the form and requested to make a change. He([redacted]) returned with a copy of the original form and not the actual copy. When I pointed this out to him and went and returned with the original and shoved it to me. After I made my changes, I once again asked for a copy for my personal records. He([redacted])told me no and that I was being "difficult". When I calmly asked how am I being "difficult", he([redacted]) told me that I don't need a copy and if I wanted one that I can go to the Kinkos up the street and get one and turned his back and walked away from the counter with the complaint I had just made changes to. I was infuriated!! I've never had to deal with such blunted disrespect and lack of customer service especially by a "general manager" when I was being a cooperative customer.

WARNING, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY FOR ANY SERVICES!!!!!! THEY DAMAGE PERSONAL PROPERTY AND TREAT CUSTOMERS LIKE [redacted]. STAY AWAY FROM ALWAYS TOWING COMPANY LOCATED AT 3700 W. WELLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Review: This morning a young friend of mine had his car towed by Always Towing. He had parked for a few minutes in a lot on which no signs were posted, with his car running let off his buddy and went in to visit for a little. His car alarm went off and he rushed out to see what was going on. The towing company was getting ready to hook up his car. He protested, noting other cars in the lot. But they refused to release the car. They told him where he could call but when he did no one answered the phone. He finally got through sometime in the morning., but whoever he talked to was rude and impatient. This car is one he lives in. He has no job and it is his only protection from the cold. There was no way he could pay the towing bill. I got in involved when they charged him $385 for a normally $150 tow. I paid the full price. When I contacted the business the person I talked to was surly and uncooperative. It was finally released at about 4 pm.Desired Settlement: It would be ideal for the full $385 to be returned, and barring that the difference between $150 and $385.

Business

Response:

The vehicle in question was identified as being parked illegally on private property without a permit. The claim that there are not signs posted on the lot is an interesting, yet entirely false statement. Photos were taken of the vehicle parked on the lot before towing and posted on the building behind the vehicle a "NO PARKING PRIVATE PROPERTY, VIOLATORS WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TOWED" sign can be seen. Parking isn't allowed for any amount of time without being registered with the property owner, visitors must park on the street or elsewhere.All fees are in accordance with allowable charges governed by the State of Wisconsin.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], this resolution is not satisfactory but I will not pursue it any further.

Regards,

Review: Close to 10:00 pm on Friday, November 22, 2013, I parked my car in the parking lot of Fed Ex, Mega Media Exchange, and other business by the intersection of Farwell Ave & Brady St. I planned on being a patron of Rochambo's Irish Coffee House just down the street and did not plan on staying down there long. Around 11:10 pm, I left Rochambo's and proceeded to walk back to my car that was parked in the parking lot. When I arrived at the parking lot, I discovered my car was gone so I called the police to verify whether it had been towed or stolen. The Milwaukee Police Department verified that it had been towed by a private towing company called Always Towing & Recovery, Inc. I called them that same night to see why my car had been towed and they told me it had been towed because it was on private property and refused to give me more details until their office opened up at 8:00 am the next day. When I called the next morning, they first quoted me a charge of 606.00 to retrieve my car; obviously I was upset and asked to speak to a manager. I talked to the manager and he informed that the price to retrieve was actually 342.00 dollars. He could not give a reason why the price was different and the previous person had quoted me a different price. He said they were charging me for storage of my car for two business days; November 22nd & November 23rd. I felt this was unfair because they did not pick my car until 11:00 pm and did not possess the car for a full business day either of those days seeing as I had my mother pick up my car around 10:00am, Saturday, November 23rd, 2013. I got into a argument with the manager and he promptly hung up the phone on me. When I received my car, I noticed the City of Milwaukee Parking Citation I had been issued was not given until 10:53 pm on the 22nd; I thought it was strange that seven minutes later they decided to tow my car and FedEx, the business that supposedly called the towing company, didn't close until 11:00 pm that night. That means there had to be a tow truck already waiting before the business even closed to tow my car because based off of where the tow company is located (3700 W Wells Ave), there is no way that they could have been there prior to my car receiving a ticket. I believe they waited until my car was issued a parking ticket and towed it immediately afterwards before the business even closed. Also, the fact that they charged me such a hefty fee to retrieve my car is outrageous to me. They also made me pay in cash because I could not physically pick up the car seeing as I had to work from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm that same day and I had to have my mother pick it up for me. They claimed that I could dispute any credit or debit charges but even if I did come in person and paid in person with a card, I could still dispute the charges so I saw no logic behind that reasoning. They also required that if someone other than me picked up the car, they would have to have a notarized document saying I gave permission for that person to get my car and they would have to show a title saying I owned the car. The information that they told me the night my car got towed and the morning did not accurately match. I researched this business and I am just one of many people who have complained about the business practices of this towing company.Desired Settlement: I would like a formal investigation into their business practices and if possible, a full refund of my charges (342.00). If not, I would at least appreciate a refund of my storage charges (78.00) because they acquired my car after their own business hours on Friday and I picked up my car within three hours of them opening on Saturday so I cannot fathom why I was charged with two business days of storage.

Business

Response:

At 9:45pm on 11-22-2013 the lot located @ 1703 N. Farwell ave. was monitored for any unauthorized vehicles parked on the property. This is a private lot, for customers and employees' only. Nothing is allowed to park on the lot after business hours unless it is on an approved list. There is a "no parking, private property" sign on every parking space in this lot. There is absolutely no reason the owner of this vehicle should have been trespass parking on the lot while patronizing a business in the near vicinity. We are contracted to perform this service. Furthermore by Mr. [redacted]'s own admission he was NOT patronizing the businesses located on the property, nor did he have permission to park there.

Review: On July 3rd 2014 my vehicle was towed from the private property located on [redacted] by a private towing company called Always Towing & Recovery, Inc.. The property that the vehicle was parked on did not have a proper signage. There was a one not legible sign by the street side which is completely covered in graffiti and stickers. Shouldn't the private property have clearly visible signage at their property same way as the city does. How are we suppose to know that it was not a private lot.

The law states that no vehicle involved in trespass parking on a private parking lot or facility shall be removed without the permission of the vehicle owner except upon the issuance of a repossession judgment or upon formal complaint and a citation for illegal parking issued by a traffic or police officer. My vehicle was never ticketed for them to be allowed to tow it. The same tow truck would leave and come back within 10-15 minutes which makes me believe that the vehicles that were being towed were not taken to the storage lot right away. Which makes me wonder if that is legal thing to do. The drivers would hook 3 cars together to try and take as many cars at the same time as they could so the owners of the vehicles wouldn't have a chance to even move them.

Saturday July 5th was the day when I went to pick up my vehicle. When I called them they were not very friendly nor were they giving out any needed information such as:

- the person on the title could only pick up the vehicle

- if paying with the credit card it has to be the credit card that is on the title of the vehicle

It took me almost 3 hours to recover my vehicle because of the unprofessional customer service. I also noticed that they were giving different total amounts to people that were towed from the same place and time. when I asked why that is their answer was "it is a different circumstance".

All of the rates were double than the City of Milwaukee rates. For the 3 days I paid $416 which is just insane.Desired Settlement: I would like to receive the refund for the amount of $416 due to improper signage of the private property and law stated above.

Business

Response:

On July 3, 2014 a complaint was filed regarding unauthorized vehicles parked at a private lot located at [redacted]. The vehicles were removed and impounded in accordance with the new Wisconsin state statute that allows for a property owner to have unauthorized vehicles removed immediately. Please refer to Wisconsin state statute 349.13 (b), (c).

Review: On Easter Sunday 4/20/14, my car was illegally towed from my assigned parking spot (#102) of my apartment parking lot. When we found out that Always Towing had our car, we called them and were told that our vehicle was towed because it was illegally parked on private property! I was given permit number #0609 from SAC Investments, LLC and was assigned my parking spot that coincides with my apartment number. The clerk from Always Towing stated that there she could see the adhesive in the lower windshield, but that there was no permit. I don't believe that and they should have a roster of vehicle make, model, color, and plate numbers that we were required to give to SAC Investments in order to receive a permit. Upon further investigation into this matter, I learned that their tow truck driver called the complaint in to have the vehicle ticketed so that he could tow it and gain the commission off of the tow. The property management company tried calling to get my car back from this company and they were unsuccessful. I was told that I would have to pay over $400 to get my car back, and we're on a fixed income so I cannot afford to pay to get my car that they stole out of my parking space!Desired Settlement: I am requesting that Always Towing bring my car back and place it in back in parking stall #102 where they stole it from for their gain, apologize, and reimburse me for gas money that we have been having to pay other people to take us around all week, and for the frustration we had when we did not get to go to church on Easter Sunday.

Business

Response:

On 4/19/2014, this vehicle was ticketed and towed for being parked on private property contrary to the requirements of the parking rules. All vehicles are required to display a parking permit for the property. Tenants are issued permits and sign a parking addendum. We are contracted to monitor the property for unauthorized vehicles, a vehicle is identified as unauthorized if it doesn't display the permit for the property. At that point a complaint is filed with the city of Milwaukee parking enforcement to have the vehicle ticketed as required under the state statute,as the legal "parking agent" for the property who is contracted to monitor the parking lot.

I was indeed illegally parked in a private lot near downtown Milwaukee. I acknowledge and understand I am 100% at fault for parking in an empty lot however my experience of retrieving my car from the lot has horrendous. I parked in the lot at about 11pm and when I came to pick get my car 30 minutes later, clearly , it was gone and either towed or stolen. I called the police and notified me it was towed and game me the number to always towing. I called and called and called on hold for at least 20 minutes. When someone finally picked up the phone I could barely understand the persons voice and then they hung up on me. When I called back I was on the phone I was on hold for another 20 minutes. He informed me that my car was towed and the reasoning and that they are closed Sundays and I could pick it up Monday starting at 8. I went right at 8 and no one was available. I waited for about an hour before someone came to the door and opened it. There was about 5 people in line behind me at this point. The person that opened the door let us in and went to is desk to chat on the phone for about 30 minutes before he came to help us retrieve our cars.

First of all, there was only one person in the office to help 20 some people get there cars and answer all of the phones. Second, there was only one person retrieving the cars from the lot which makes a grand total of 2 people working in this facility on a busy Monday morning. When you are charging $416.00 for a tow....the service better be phenomenal. That's right, 416 dollars for a tow. They also charged me 3 days worth when my car was in the facility only for 30 minutes TOPS on Saturday night, Sunday which the facility was CLOSED and Monday morning. This is 4X the cost that the state would charge if towed by WI. How are they getting away with these charges? How is this happening? Or if you are going to charge almost 500 dollars you better be open Sundays and have a full, trained, efficient and respectful staff none of which we're present.

I am blessed enough to be able to afford a tow like this, but I feel so sad for those who are just started out, students in the area, etc. who cannot afford this ridiculous price. I have been towed in other cities before and by the state when traveling for business and the most I have ever paid is 200 dollars. 416 dollars for a tow and a car that was in the facility for 30 hours is not only a rip-off but seems like a scam. Someone please look into thus. Awful awful awful.

Review: This company Illegally towed my car from my apartment building parking lot which is on Private property and I am legally allowed to park there per my lease agreement because one of my neighbors decided they did not want my car there. I spoke with the manager of the building and the owner and she did not have permission to have it towed and they did not have permission from either the manager or owner to be on private property. I explained to them the reason and they said they don't care if they get a call they pick it up regardless of who calls. I had to pay 303.00 to get my car without any consideration, plus they would not provide me with the information of the person who called so I can take them to small claims court.Desired Settlement: I would like my money refunded and for them to provide me with information on the complaint.

Business

Response:

this vehicle was impounded for being parked illegally on private property based upon a citizen complaint. This citizen filed a written complaint, with a parking enforcement officer and had the vehicle ticketed as illegally parked on private property. Then independently contacted a towing company to have the vehicle removed. In order to have a vehicle ticketed you have to provide proof of being an agent of the property.

Review: I mistakenly parked some where that I shouldn't have. Although I realize I made a mistake, I feel like I am being extorted by a private company to get my property back. I was stuck with a $350 bill to get MY property for being parked somewhere I shouldn't have for 15mins. The prices are more than double of what the city tow lot charges. This is completely unreasonable. In addition to this I will be contacting my local representative regarding future legislation about this.Desired Settlement: I would like to be charge a fair priced.

Business

Response:

Customer vehicle was ticketed/towed for trespassing on private property in accordance with Wisconsin state statute 346.55 (4) Please find 2 attachments:

Waited for a tow over 3yrs only to be told it could be another hour they don't know for sure my call was not a priority very unprofessional. Warning! [redacted]DON'T USE THIS COMPANY[redacted] If you value your time,money and patience.