Bar Towing Inc

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: The response is false On 1/13/Bar Towing was contracted by our insurance company tow dispatch to tow our vehicle from the scene of the accident to our repair shop I checked with the Bend Police Department to check the accuracy of MrL***'s response and found that the police did not call Bar Towing at all regarding this incident I also called *** *** *** to check if they told MrL*** to keep our car, they did not*** *** *** is the tow dispatch service that our insurance company contracts with, since they are only a dispatch service, they do not have any authorization powers over my vehicle and thus could not authorize Bar Towing to store our vehicle After the accident, we immediately called our insurance company and arranged tow service, we then called our mechanic at *** and arranged to have our car towed there to have the airbags inspectedThe service manager at *** was ready to accept our car but it never arrivedBar Towing was hired to tow our car to *** and that is all, they did not complete that serviceBar Towing was not authorized to make any decisions regarding which repair shops for us to use, what condition our car was in, whether our car was to be deemed a total loss by the insurance company or anything else
For the record, our car sustained no engine damage, there were no windows broken and only suffered very minimal body damageThe car was and is completely drivableThe only service required was on the side airbagsSean L*** of Bar Towing acted on his on behalf and illegally took our vehicle from the accident to his storage facility and kept it there for eleven days with out any authorization This is effectively a theft
Furthermore, Sean L*** called our home on the evening of Sunday, 1/22/to offer to buy our car, indicating that the insurance company would not give us a fair price for it but he would That is when we found out that he still had the car in his possessionWe informed him that we planned on retaining our vehicle and demanded that he complete the service he was originally hired for: take our car to the repair shop He agreed, acknowledged that he did not have authorization to keep the car, explaining that "it had been a crazy work day for him and he probably wasn't making the best decisions" and apologized
Since MrL*** was never given authorization to keep our car in the first place, he was not owed any storage feesNever the less, on 1/23/MrL*** dropped our car at the shop and tricked the shop into paying storage fees, claiming that they would be reimbursed by insurance Furhermore, our car was damaged while in MrL***'s care The Bend Police Department and Oregon Department of Justice are both investigating MrL*** regarding this incident I have attached pictures that show the car immediately after the accident and after MrL*** dropped it off at the shop These pictures very clearly show the damage our car received while in MrL***'s carePlease note that the photos also show that there are not any broken windows on the car, as MrL*** claims in his response
Sincerely,
*** ***Sincerely,*** ***

On January 13th, 2017, we were contracted to do a TOW for a couple of milesEn-route to the scene, Bend police called to ask us to hurry since the ACCIDENT was blocking trafficWe re-prioritized the accident and arrived on sceneit was a ROLLOVER ACCIDENT and the side impact airbags had
deployed
I spoke with the after hours supervisor at *** *** *** who AUTHORIZED the vehicle to come to our shop for weekend storage because Athe *** store had no body shop, B*** is very busy and leaving a potentially totaled vehicle clogging up one of their parking spots for a number of days would be rude and inconsiderate, Cwhen multiple airbags are deployed and there is potential engine damage many cars will exceed their retail value resulting in a total loss declarationDwe, and EVERY OTHER TOWING COMPANY IN BEND OREGON were operating under emergency road conditions; we were busy, extremely busy, overwhelmed with people having accidents, slide outs, and other minor and major emergencies.Dother vehicles were waiting on the side of the road and decisions had to be made quickly and effectivelyand finally, Ethe vehicle COULD NOT BE SECURED, the window was broken and so having it at our locked secure, video monitored storage facility would be a better option than an unsecured lot
***, indicated that the customer should contact the claims department to move the claim forwardThey indicated they had communicated the destination to their customer*** indicated the storage and retow bill would be manage by *** ***'s Claims department the following week. We received a call on Monday or Tuesday from *** ***, they asked for and were given a summary total of the billCC, indicated they were going to take the vehicle to Eugene to *** for evaluationWe did not get a call from them or a transport company the remainder of the weekMy assumption was that NO transport was available and that was why we had not been contactedAgain, it is for a delay during the worst snow storm in TWENTY YEARS to cause delay
Sunday night, the 22nd of January, I contacted Mrs*** to ask her if she was going to retain salvage if the vehicle totaledShe expressed surprise that the vehicle was still at our storage facility and dismay that she was not more in control of the processi spend about minutes on the phone explaining her best avenues to move forward; trying to be of service to her and her husband
Following my suggestions Mrs*** contacted her insurance company and The next week her vehicle was brought, after being AUTHORIZED by her insurance company, to *** *** *** ***
Since then she and her husband have demanded that I not charge industry standard storage, hazmat and towing fees for assisting them
Mrs*** was in two back to back accidents, the day after wrecking her car, her husband totaled his truckI am sorry for their loss, confusion and stress
AT NO TIME WAS *** *** *** OR *** *** UNAWARE OF OUR ACTIONS OR THE LOCATION OF THE VEHICLE
Bar Towing Incand *** *** *** did nothing wrong, everything we did was authorized by her insurance company and only after conference with her insurance company representatives; we are not going to work for free
For the record, we have done somewhere around 18,tows and never had any customer react in this manner

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: It is false The vent window was not opened when we rolled, we had the window open prior to the accidentAny snow that came in the window was removed by me before the car was towed awayMrL*** did not aid us with special equipment from his shopThe battery was dead, but the sunroof was fully operational My husband closed the sunroof to make sure that the interior of the car was not damaged I checked with the Bend Police Department, they informed me that none of their officers called MrL***I asked MrL*** to provide record of the call from the police department, he does not have record of that call because the Bend Police Deptdid not contact MrL*** at all They were on scene to help direct traffic, onlyI also asked MrL*** to provide proof that my insurance company called him and authorized him to store my car, he does not have record of that call because my insurance company did not authorize MrL*** to keep my car at his storage, they do not have the authority to do so I have attached the email from my insurance company in which they state that California Casualty did not authorize MrL*** to keep my car, because they do not own the vehicle and only the owner has the authority to give those directions MrL*** acted on his own behalf in keeping my car He contacted me days later and tried to talk me into selling him my car That was not only illegal but it was highly unethical behaviorPeople trust MrL*** with their cars, to safely provide tow service On Friday, January 13th I slid on ice into a snowbank This was a traumatic eventBar towing was hired and trusted to deliver my car to the repair shopInstead of completing the service that he was hired to complete, MrL*** betrayed my trust and effectively stole my car causing even more stress to an already incredibly stressful event When I refused to sell him my car and demanded he take it to the shop as he was hired to do or I would call the police, he then charged storage fees and damaged my car I ask that he refund us the storage fees he charged our repair shop upon delivery of our car They didn't know that he had kept the car illegally and thus paid him on our behalf He tricked them MrL*** is currently being investigated by the Oregon Department of Justice and the Bend Police Department for his unethical and illegal behavior His tow license is also under review due to the fact that when he solicited the repair shop to pay storage fees he violated ORS.822.215. I apologize, my initial comment was incorrect, the back passenger side window was open, NOT brokenMrFlanagan and I cleaned out the snow, closed the back window and used shop power to close the sun roof.”Sincerely,*** ***

Addendum to response.Ms. [redacted] is lying about our interactions and the sequence of events.I have reviewed my phone log. I did speak to Bend Police Dept. Officer [redacted] at 4:02 pm the day of the accident. He is the one who informed me the vehicle was in a rollover accident.We called [redacted]-xxxx at 4:05pm and got voicemail. At 4:06pm I called [redacted] and was on the call for 8 minutes. [redacted], the after-hours claims manager for [redacted], speaking through [redacted]; an agent of [redacted], authorized the vehicle to go to our shop .  [redacted] and [redacted] had apparent authority to set tow destinations and in 11 years I have had no reason to question such authorization.Mrs. [redacted] did not return my call from 619 number until 2:58 pm the 14th.  At 6:04 pm I received a call from the [redacted]’s other cell phone (redacted), we spoke for 8 minutes and made arrangements to  meet at the shop. I met with [redacted] at the shop the night of the accident.The [redacted]’s did not then or ever request me to remove the vehicle from our location and take it to [redacted].I made and received 38 phone calls from 3pm and 5pm. In all, I fielded about 203 phone calls that day. it was very busy. As Mr. and Mrs. [redacted] are aware, the roads were dangerous and everyone was doing their best.On January 18th, I had a three way call with [redacted], [redacted] and myself. The call was recorded. Mrs. [redacted] released the vehicle to her insurance company. At no time during that call did Mrs. [redacted] indicate she wanted the vehicle taken to [redacted]. Additional correspondence indicates her satisfaction with our care and help.

I would like to make a factual correction. [redacted] and I cleaned snow out of the interior of the [redacted] the night of the accident; the Passenger side rear vent window opened during the rollover accident and allowed snow into the vehicle.  The sunroof was also open and not operational until we used equipment from my shop to close the window. I was confusing the [redacted]’s vehicle with another wrecked vehicle when I was writing my initial response. The last sentence in my initial response, (“E. the vehicle COULD NOT BE SECURED, the window was broken and so having it at our locked secure, video monitored storage facility would be a better option than an unsecured lot.”). was incorrect.The police officer on scene called us from his cell phone. The notes on the file from [redacted] indicate multiple tow to destinations and authorization from the after-hours supervisor to store the vehicle at our location. Ms. [redacted]’s insurance company paid the accident, storage and towing charges making her claims moot.  The passenger side front door was damaged during the rollover accident. We exercised all due care and consideration when retrieving from the rollover, transporting and, storing her [redacted].