Big Johns Towing & Recovery Service

Company damaged vehicle during tow and has refused to provide insurance informationThis company was called to tow our vehicle during the recent storms. During the tow, the company damaged our vehicle, which had been recently serviced to perfect working order. Directly following the tow, the electronics ceased working and the vehicle is not drivable. Mechanics will prove that the damage is a direct relation to the tow. We would like to pursue this without litigation, and would be happy to work directly with insurance. However, with no resolution, we are prepared to file litigation.Desired SettlementWe seek tow to [redacted] Motors (immediately) and cost of vehicle repair. If we are made whole, we seek no other damages. Business Response This is a response to case# XXXXXXXX in which John's Inc. is accused of damaging a 2003 Saab we towed at the request of [redacted] Univ. PD on 02-13-14. As with most complaints we receive in regards to towing, people are upset and emotional due to the fact that their car was towed and they have to pay to get it back. I also feel that the entire story should be told, in order to fully understand what happened and if Mrs. [redacted]'s threat of litigation is carried out. And yes, I am aware there are three sides to every situation; A's side, B's side and the truth. As stated earlier, the [redacted] Univ. PD called us on 02-13-14 to tow a Saab that was blocking access to a handicapped parking spot and we towed the Saab back to our secure storage lot. On 02-14-14 I received a call from Mrs. [redacted]'s son asking if the car was at our lot. I told him it was and informed him of what he needed to retrieve the vehicle which is the standard policy of; picture ID, proof of ownership (registration or title) since we are required to release to the owner or have a notarized letter from the owner stating who to release the vehicle to, the amount of the bill and the bill needs to be paid in cash. Believe it or not, in the past people who are irritated because of getting towed dispute credit card charges or stop payment on checks they write us. Mrs. [redacted]'s son tells me that he was on [redacted] Rd. when the storm hit and other vehicles were sliding on the road or were unable to get up the hill on [redacted] Rd. The son said that when he came up to a police officer that was trying to direct traffic, the officer told him to turn into [redacted] Univ. property. The son then said that he had a hard time getting around, so he parked the vehicle and walked the couple of blocks home. He asked me if the car was towed in error, who could he talk to. I gave him the number for [redacted] PD and told him to ask for whomever he needed to talk to about an appeal or towing dispute. I also told him he could request to talk to the Chief if he thought it would help. Mr. [redacted] came across as a nice guy and I felt bad for him. I told him to call me back if he had any more questions. Mr. [redacted] called me again the next week (Monday I believe), and we basically had the same conversation again. This time I informed Mr. [redacted] that it would be cheaper on him to go ahead and pick the vehicle instead of waiting to see what the outcome of the appellate process would be. On Tuesday 02-18-14 Mr. [redacted] came to pick up his vehicle. Mr. [redacted] forgot the part about cash payment and became frustrated. He wasn't rude by any means and considering the circumstances his frustration was understandable. This is why I decided to let Mr. [redacted] pick up the vehicle since he was not the registered owner. Mr. [redacted] had the same last name and address as the owners, and had the vehicle key I decided to not make his frustration worse and released the vehicle to him. Mr. [redacted] paid his bill and after a short conversation about appealing the tow I gave him the name of the Chief and the phone number for [redacted] PD. Mr. [redacted] then drove his vehicle away. On Wednesday 02-25-14 my boss, Mrs. [redacted], received a call from Mrs. [redacted] stating that we damage her vehicle while in tow and wanted us to pay for the repairs. Mrs. [redacted] stated that the vehicle was having electrical issues, as well as there was a problem with the steering column. Mrs. [redacted] said she had already talked to a mechanic at [redacted] Motors and she stated that he told her that the damage was caused from us towing the vehicle. Mrs. [redacted] stated that she had already checked with the Revdex.com and we had a D rating. Mrs. [redacted] then abruptly informed my boss that if she didn't hear back from us by five o'clock she would assume we were not going to do anything and continue on with litigation. My boss told her that she would need to talk to the driver who towed the vehicle and her husband to see if we did in fact damage the vehicle or not. She informed Mrs. [redacted] that we would need to look at the vehicle to determine if we did anything improperly and she would call her back. Later on Mrs. [redacted] called back and I answered the phone. Mrs. [redacted] proceeds to inform me that she was waiting on me to call her back since we damaged her vehicle. I asked her what she was referring to (I had been out of the office) and was unaware of her situation. She said rather sarcastically that she had already called so I should already know what she was referring to. I then asked her what could I do for her and she told me that she wanted us to tow "very carefully" her car to her mechanic since we damaged it previously. At this point, I let my boss talk to Mrs. [redacted]. I heard my boss tell Mrs. [redacted] that if the car went to the mechanic, we would need to be notified so we could examine the vehicle as well. Mrs. [redacted] asked Mrs. [redacted] if it was possible that her son hit a curb or something during the storm, since this is not typical towing damage and Mrs. [redacted] informed her he did not. Mrs. [redacted] also informed my boss that she was a lawyer and was going to have all the students at the [redacted] School work on suing us. On 02-26-14 Mr. [redacted] informed me that we had a complaint from the Revdex.com. Mr. [redacted], who has been a mechanic (among other qualifications in the transportation industry) for approximately 30 years, called [redacted] Motors to see what was said and to see if the vehicle was there. Mr. [redacted] spoke to the service manager and was informed that the vehicle was not there. The service manager also stated that no one had spoken to Mrs. [redacted] or anyone named [redacted] lately and stated, "He doesn't see many of those classic Saab's around anymore". The service manager told Mr. [redacted] that he doesn't see how the problems described could come from towing. My retort to Mrs. [redacted] is that we did not damage her vehicle. The problems she described would not come from us towing the vehicle. If you notice the fact that I did try to help Mr. [redacted] with information and phone numbers that I didn't have to provide on multiple occasions, the fact that Mr. [redacted] drove the vehicle away from our lot, the fact that it was eight days later that we were informed that the 11 year old vehicle was having issues, the appearance that Mrs. [redacted] doesn't want to give us a chance to look at the vehicle, the fact that the service manager said no one had spoken to any [redacted] (this is easily confirmed with a phone call), the fact that at the date of the tow there was a large snow storm going on where we were getting bombarded with a huge amount of calls for service pertaining to motor vehicle accidents as well as winch outs leads us to believe we did not do the damage we are accused of. As I stated earlier, people's emotions seem to be running high when their cars are towed. This may be why Mrs. [redacted] felt the need to inform us of our "D" rating with the Revdex.com. I would like to point out that we are a nonpaying member, and have her consider the following links with all due respect to the Revdex.com:[redacted] Frustration may also be why Mrs. [redacted] is wielding the word litigation like a sword. Mrs. [redacted] has that right and we support her in it. We regret to hear Mr. [redacted] seems to be having a stream of bad luck, but doesn't appear to be any fault of ours and wish him luck.

Big John's Towing refuses to give me my personal items out of my vehicle.On Sept. 18, 2013 Big John's Towing towed my vehicle, a day after he towed my car the bill was stated to be $2040. He stated that with the proper identification he would let me gather my personal items out of my car, and three days later he refused to let me gather them. He has not showed me proper paperwork stating the policies of the company on why I can not receive my items. I also feel that the current bill to get my vehicle is a outrage, he stated that insurance, gas, and labor was the result of the current price.Desired SettlementI would like to receive my personal items out of the car and also see if I could get the bill to be lowered.

Big Johns Towing was called out to tow a vehicle by Town of [redacted] and they charged an unordinarily high tow and storage fee.Big Johns was called out by city of [redacted] to tow one of our vehicles that jack knifed after hitting ice. Based on the information we have, they were called out around 12:00 am, they had the vehicle towed out and back to their storage yard in Durham by 4:30 am. We were charged $4200 for the tow and we are now be charged $150 a day storage for the vehicle. Big Johns would not accept credit card payment, [redacted] was required to pay by [redacted] for the services. Our customer had goods on the trailer that had to be delivered, we could not have the goods off the trailer without paying for the towing of the trailer portion of the tow. We understand the $600 hr for heavy truck tow, but not the bill for 7 hrs, when it should have been no more than four hours. A $595 recovery fee, $600 towing heavy tractor fee.Desired SettlementWe would like to be able to get a refund for our customer in the amount of $2995. That would be a removal of 3 hrs at $600 hr, a $595 recovery fee, and the additional $600 heavy tow fee.At a minimum, please justify the charges. This unit was not damaged badly and was not over turned. If two wreckers were used, I could see the 3.5 hrs $600 x2= $4200, but the fees beyond that are a reach.Big Johns being on rotation with a municipality, there should be guidelines as to what they can charge for towing and storage, but we have learned from Town of [redacted], that is not the case.Business Response This is a response to the complaint filed on my company, Revdex.com case # XXXXXXXX. On 03-18-14 the [redacted] Police department called us out (approximately 01:45 according to our driver) to an accident involving a [redacted] tractor and trailer on XX-XXX near [redacted] Dr. The tractor trailer had lost control due to icy roads and had ran off of the road, went down a 10 to 15 foot embankment and jack knifed. You have to walk the area around the truck to see what may or may not be the best way to winch out a vehicle to keep damage to a minimum. You also have to inspect the damage on the vehicle, to see whether you can run airlines to air up the truck or you have to cage the brakes on just the tractor or both units. In this case, he had to cage two on the tractor and four on the trailer. Our driver had to position his truck in order to first pull up a signpost in order to get his rigging in the proper place. After that, he had to position his truck to winch the trailer around to align the trailer straight with the tractor. Then he repositioned his truck to winch the entire unit up the embankment. This may sound simple but keep in mind the wrecker being used is 38 feet long, the chains/ cable used is much heavier and more difficult to deal with than most people know. Unlike small wrecker equipment, rigging may take three times longer. Once he winched out the entire unit, you have to reposition the wrecker again to hook up to the tractor. You have to get out the appropriate forks, adjust the fork holders, and get your safety chains placed. Lastly, you have to remove the axle. Once you get this done, then you can tow the unit. My driver then towed the entire unit in to our shop. Once at our shop then you have the process of storing the unit. Between opening gates, maneuvering the unit in a space, chocking the unit, unhooking the truck, putting the axle back in and cleaning the mud/debris from the equipment used. We keep up with the total time involved when we are called to the time we finish everything involving the job. Our driver had approximately seven hours involved in this call. We did not use two wreckers since the driver on call is highly experienced and could handle the job himself. Most towing services would have sent at least two wreckers (possibly more) out for an accident like this. If we had done this, using the four-hour time given by the complainant, the bill for towing and recovery would have been 4800.00 instead of 4200.00. Due to the icy conditions of the roads and the total distance driven (approximately 40 miles) there was more time involved. Driving a commercial vehicle in icy conditions is dicey at best, so our driver drove an appropriate speed to ensure his safety as well as for the care of the vehicles. You have to remember that when you are dealing with heady duty towing, the vehicle size (in tow length is over 100 feet long) plus in climate weather conditions make towing slower and will make route selection more difficult. On any law enforcement related calls, just about all towing companies require payment in cash or in the case of trucking companies [redacted] check, [redacted] et. As far as the rate and storage cost, we charge what is standard in Durham for rotation rates. In regards to swapping out the load, we informed [redacted] that our insurance will have cover other companies employees if something happens to them on our property, which we do not want the liability. We could do the cargo swap, or they could pay the bill and pick up the trailer. In an effort to compromise, my company has discounted the bill on the tractor, which has been picked up, 1885.00 off of recovery of the unit. I hope this alleviates the complaint, since we have made concessions and we feel we have charged what the other towing services in Durham would have charged.