Hook N Go Towing

Review: Hook and Go, LLC was called by my [redacted] Roadside Assistance to pick up my show car which was unable to move on its own. From start to finish the whole process from the initial call by the tow company calling me to confirm that they are coming, to the off loading up my car took over 5 hours. The drivers of the tow trucks were unprofessional towards each other, displayed a severe lack of working knowledge of their tow trucks and transported me in his truck without an operational seat belt as stated by the driver. When I called in the next day to explain what happened the initial response was cheerful as it cleared up the inconsistency in my tow truck driver's story and I was told they were let go as of that morning. This later proved to be a lie as I saw the truck driver working two days later with my own eyes. Once I reported the damage to my vehicle the Shift leader became defensive and blamed it on normal wear and tear of my vehicle and asked me to speak to their claims agent. When I spoke to the claims agent, he started off with a condescending attitude of towards me about my car, claiming his show car had $170,000 in it and a real show car wouldnt have stock paint and is trailored everywhere. He refused to even look at the damage in person claiming it was normal wear and tear and their shop could have never caused it. I have 2 witnesses of the situation and a photos 4 hours prior to the tow and afterwords. In the end the claims agent offered to pay for half of the repair and I stated that wasnt good enough. He told then I had file a claim with my insurance to contact their insurance. I said I would rather speak to their insurance company personally but he wouldnt give me their information. Their severe lack of professionalism, poor customer service, general lack of concern for my vehicle, my safety while in transport and overall lack of taking responsibility of the situation is what is prompting me to write this.Desired Settlement: I just want the damage to my vehicle repaired. There is damage to the driver's side rear splash guard and the passenger rear splash guard had the paint rubbed off of it.

Business

Response:

All of our customers we service is our number one concern. We spoke with this customer multiple times he had declined our first truck for service as if he is a professional tow truck operator. Second off we do not decline anyone our insurance info. This is a simple case of a guy with an eight year old car that sits 3 inches off the ground tryong to claim his splash guards aka mud flaps were in perfect condition and were damaged by a cloth strap. We went over the claim and it was denied for those reasons.

Review: I called for a tow for winching service as my front tires were stuck in the mud. A tow truck operator came, refused my offer of the VW owners manual which described how to attach a hook & chain to a towhook in the front of the car, & did damage to the car when he put the hok & chain around my R front tire. Contacting the manager led to yelling, blaming me, & denial of my claim. No one should be treated that way.

___Description of My Complaint [redacted] On 6-20-14, I pulled my VW Passat station wagon into a long driveway leading to a

garage sale, where cars were to be parked on a long, flat stretch of grass to the right of the driveway. I backed into the spot so I could exit more easily. While I was in the garage, there was a big storm, so the homeowners and people shopping waited it out. When the rain stopped, I went to my car, started it, and found its two front tires were stuck in the mud and the car would not move. Other cars were also stuck in the mud.

I called [redacted] (Roadside Assistance thru my Verizon phone plan) requesting my car

be winched from the mud. The tow truck arrived 95 minutes later, during which time it

had rained again. Others stuck were winched out and my car was the last one parked. I

offered the HookNGo tow truck operator (TTO) the owner's manual to my car so he

could look at the specific instructions about how to tow this car, and how to hook the

chain to the front end of the car to a towing hook. The TTO declined this offer and said,

"I know what I'm doing." [note: the front end of the car was easily accessible; only the

front tires were in the mud] He then tried to put his hook and chain around the left front

tire, then instead wrapped the chain around the right front tire. I waited on the covered

porch with the homeowners as it was still raining watching the TTO at work; one of them commented to me that ''this guy doesn't seem to know what he's doing". Eventually, he pulled my car out, had me sign a form (he didn't give me a copy) which I assumed was

confirming he had completed the job. He then left the property and I left a few minutes

later. Immediately I heard loud noises I had never heard before, coming from under my

car (sounded like metal on metal, rattling). I slowly drove home and called HookNGo.

A woman answered, said there was no manager there, and asked what happened. I told

her and she said this TTO is experienced, knows what he's doing, so it probably

happened when I parked the car. I said, not in this case.

A while later, the manager, [redacted], called me back. He was angry, said it probably

happened when the car was parked, wasn't their fault, and that people always file false

claims. I said I was not one of those people, and that the TTO didn't follow VW's

instructions, refused the owners manual, and did it his way, causing damage to the car. [redacted] said I signed a release of liability, except for negligence, so they aren't

responsible. He then said to take the car to a repair facility/VW dealer and fax an estimate

of repairs needed to him, as well as pictures of the damage. He gave me his fax number,

but no other instructions (even though he said he did at a later time, but I took notes of

what he told me to do).

The next day, 6-21 -14, I had the car towed to [redacted], the VW

dealer who does my service. [note: when the car was on the tow truck, I saw the right

bumper and fender were separated-photo included]. At [redacted], they put the car on a lift,

diagnosed the problem, and fixed it while the car was up there. It was a bent backing

plate rubbing on the rotor, and fortunately was easily fixed. [redacted] who helped me, said there was nothing to take a picture of, so no pictures were taken. He did fax the bill ($117.07) to [redacted] and gave me a copy of the fax. He said the damage to the car correlated with my description of events, but since he didn't

witness the incident, he couldn't say for a fact.

A few days later, on 6-26-14, I went to a body shop. Fortunately, the employee there was

able to snap my right front fender and bumper back together at no charge. His opinion

was that the winching job caused the problem. He described what he fixed as a sagging

lower front spoiler which he reattached to the right front bumper. I received no

paperwork, as he did none.

On 7-1-14 I called [redacted] He denied ever getting the fax and was angry because I

took so long getting back to him (only 10 days). He was also upset as I hadn't told him

about the separation of the fender and bumper. I told him that the fax was getting back to

him, but again he said he never received it. He then called [redacted] and spoke to [redacted] who

told him that he had sent the fax about the damage and charges on 6-21-14. I spoke with [redacted] later and he said [redacted] was extremely rude to him and called him a "crook". [redacted] said he planned to notify his superiors at [redacted] not to use this company in the future.

I then spoke to [redacted]. He yelled at me, wouldn't listen to me, blamed me for

waiting so long to notify him of the situation, and said he "refuses to honor the claim."

He disputes the amount of the bill from [redacted] (receipt included), then said there were no

chain marks under the car (which is irrelevant, as I and three other people witnessed the

TTO putting the chain around the tire) and the da[redacted]e was probably caused by the car

being in the mud. I told him the total expense on my part (117.07 plus towing $14.70)

and he got off cheap-it could have been much worse. He again denied any responsibility

and I advised him I'd be calling the Revdex.com. After being yelled at, I then

hung up, very upset at being treated this way.

SUMMARY of IMPORTANT POINTS

1. The da[redacted]e to my car, in my opinion and based on the facts, was caused by the

TTO's negligence-not by rain, or parking on dry grass, or by mud being under

the front tires. The TTO refused to look at the owner's manual, which describes

the recommended method for towing this car. The TTO apparently didn't know

what he was doing since he didn't need the manual (he knew what he was doing,

in his words), didn't use the info in the manual if he knew how to hook up the

tow, and by doing it his was caused damage to the car.

2. [redacted] during all our conversations, was rude, loud, talked over me,

blamed me for the damage (according to what the TTO told him), wouldn't listen

to me when I tried to present my concerns, denied that we faxed him the [redacted] report, said he wanted to see the damage himself (I was at [redacted] late on

Saturday, so there was no time for this, plus the problem was diagnosed and

fixed easily when found, so there was no way he could see the car on the lift).

3. I asked three times for HookNGo's address which he refused to give me, saying

"look it up online". I insisted that I wanted it now. He said they had moved to a

new location two weeks before and gave me the Hudson St. address. [note: I

checked online after this interchange---there was no Hudson St. address listed,

only a prior address in Westerville, and when I checked for the zip code of the

Hudson St. address, it said that was an invalid address.

4. Though he was loud and rude, [redacted] said that even though I had signed

away my rights" he'd do "the right thing if he decided that it was 'negligence by

the TTO. He said "things happen", though he then rejected my claim… .

5. The towing eye in the front of the VW is designed to tow the car from a strong

point on the car, so as to prevent damage to the car. Attempting to tow the car

from a non-recommended area on the car (i.e. the tire) could do serious damage

to the car. The owner's manual describes the location of the towing eye so

anyone doing a tow can follow the procedure correctly. If the TTO knew what he

was doing in this case, as he said he did, why would he have disregarded the

proper procedure? He doesn't know what's under my car, so could have caused

much greater and more expensive damage by his lack of judgment and

negligence.

6. I called [redacted] roadside assistance, [redacted] They said I was

not hated in the manner [redacted] expects, so took a report of the poor service

and verbal attacks which I endured.

Note: I now have three addresses listed for this business – not known which is correct:

*Online address: [redacted]address given to me by [redacted]: [redacted] which may be an invalid address

*Address which [redacted] Roadside Assistance has for HookNGo: [redacted]Desired Settlement: I would like to be reimbursed $131.77 for towing & repair. I have spent 3 days of my time & lots of aggravation to get to this point & think this amount is more than fair.

Business

Response:

I have spoken to this customer twice. The first time was day she had problems she negligently pulled off road into yard and got stuck in mud and the dust plate to her brakes was slightly rubbing on her roter and when I asked the gentleman from dealership could this have resulted from her car sinking in mud he said yes. We as a towing and emergency service can not be held responsible for negligence of our customers. Also she signed a release of liability and did not read it that is her responsibility to read what she signs. Second off she did not follow the instructions I gave her the day she had issues she was told to take to repair facility and have them contact us so we could come out and inspect damages. But because the only charged her 90 dollars or so to bend the brakes dust plate back from touching rotors she paid for service and we were never able to inspect. She then waited 3 weeks before contacting us and stated we had been faxed invoice which we had not gotten one by the way from dealer. So there for we denied her claim also based off of the service representative at the dealer also stated damage could have been done by her and not our company that they seen no signs of metal on metal contact. So at this point her claim is denied she failed to contact us at the time car was in repair shop she also negligently pulled her car off the road during a rainy day and she also signed a release of liability for for this very reason right here.

Consumer

Response:

In response to the message from Hook N Go, I reject his conclusion and many of his explanations about the damage to my car by his Tow Truck Operator (TTO) on 6-20-14.

Most reputable businesses believe and act on the premise that "the customer is always right", but it appears that this Hook N Go operates on "the customer is always wrong" given [redacted]) response to my concerns. Both he and the woman who answered the phone at Hook N Go on my first phone contacts with them, immediately said it must have been my fault and stuck to that position, disregarding the facts, without trying to understand what actually happened--prejudging without additional information.I'd like to define the common law concept of Negligence. It is the failure of the duty to use reasonable care, as a reasonable person would in the same situation; ensuring that their actions do not cause harm to others; and if not for the negligence, the damage would not have occurred. [redacted] claim that I was negligent, which he referred to twice in his response, is bogus. It doesn't meet the criteria for negligence, and even tho I parked my car on dry grass and the mud occurred only after two severe rainstorms, this was before I had any contact with Hook N Go, so is irrelevant to any argument he attempted to make. Not only did I not park in in mud, but when the rain and mud came, only the bottom of my two front tires were stuck; the bottom of the car was not buried in mud and was not even touching the ground prior to being towed. The legal definition of Negligence, however, is very relevant to the actions of the TTO, who did not use reasonable care in the towing (winching) of my car. I offered him my owners manual with specific directions for towing my VW, which he refused, saying he "knows what he's doing". Although the tow hook on my VW is on the front of the car, near the headlights, and which would have been easy to get to, the TTO chose to try to figure out his own method, disregarding Manufacturer's instructions, and pulled my car out with the big hook and big chain which he wrapped around my right front wheel. This caused da[redacted]e to my car right after I left the scene as my car was making loud noises --This is when I spoke with ** the first time and he said it must have been my fault.

The next day I had my car towed to [redacted] for the loud noises the car was making; they found what was wrong and fixed it. There was no way of having ** come and look under the car, as ** was busy on that Saturday and I only got in that day due to a cancellation. The car was fixed late afternoon, and the dealership was closing shortly thereafter, and if there were more time that day, they were not about to leave my car on the lift as they had other customers who needed their cars repaired. [redacted] service Rep did fax ** with the cost of repairs (I enclosed the repair and towing info and fax to Revdex.com with my original complaint), and when ** kept saying he never received it, I asked the VW service rep to fax it to him again. My conversation with ** involved his yelling, rude behavior, accusatory manner, and generally not listening to another point of view. When ** called [redacted] service rep himself to find out if the fax was sent and what the costs were (the service rep told him it had been sent), he became outraged, called him a crook, belittled him and [redacted], refused to give his name or phone number, and hung up on him. (This is the same person he refers to in his response to my complaint as "the gentleman from dealership"). In addition, the VW rep told me that he could not say for a fact how the damage was caused as he wasn't a witness to the event, tho he did think it was very likely that the towing caused the problem. Also, I called ** 10 days after the incident, not three weeks as he claims, because I had to go to a body shop to have the damage to my right front fender, which was separated from the bumper, repaired. Note: A few days later I went to Firestone for an oil change and they showed me the da[redacted]e to the right front wheel bearing, which they repaired at a cost of over $150. I do not believe, nor would any reasonable person, think that all these suddenly appearing problems, all involving my right front wheel area, are a coincidence.

The negligence was totally the fault of the TTO, and ** made no reference to any of this in his response. If the TTO refuses to find out the correct way of hooking up the car from manufacturer instructions and chooses to do it his own way, then the company is clearly responsible for harm to others. In addition, the TTO did not give me a copy of the signed release of liability, which I would like a copy of, as I'm pretty sure it does not include a release of liability for negligence, explaining why ** does not reference this and is trying to blame me for negligence.

I would like a signed by me copy of the release of liability. I am also interested In knowing TTO's description of events of that day, which has never been mentioned. I also mentioned in my complaint that ** gave me a false address for the business. I would like to know if the company's owner, [redacted], even knows about this complaint, and what is his position on assuming that the customer is always wrong. I also want to know what position ** has with this company. I am willing to negotiate the charges and am willing to accept the $132 that I spent on the original problems, even tho more occurred later on.

Business

Response:

When we spoke with the customer originally she was given the instructions to resolving this issue. She failed to contact us when the vehicle was in the shop and able for us to inspect. So when we were contacted three weeks later after car had been done since next day I called and spoke with the service writer and he said that the damage could have been cause from it sinking in the mud prior to us giving her service and that they saw no metal one talk contact under her car. That's what we based are decision on was the statements of the repair facility. Also let it be known she never paid hook n go a dime she paid [redacted] to bend her brakes dust plate back from her rotor and paid someone else for a tow and then told us three different prices. Also it is not negligence of the driver to walk around the car to plan what he is going to do next. Plain and simple the only negligence that went on that day was her driving her car off the road.

Consumer

Response:

[redacted] (**) states I was given instructions to resolving this issue. Though he had already blamed me for the da[redacted]e to my car, plus was yelling at me, interrupting me, and being totally inappropriate in his behavior, the instructions he gave me were to have the car towed and have an estimate of the cost of repair faxed to him. There was no expectation of him coming to see the car when it was up on the lift. the service rep. from [redacted] did fax him the bill, which he claims he didn't receive. The rep sent him another fax of the bill when he claimed he didn't receive the first one. This fax was also provided to Revdex.com.

He also says he expected to inspect the vehicle at [redacted]. This was not possible under any circumstances as I only got the car in due to a cancellation and they fixed it quickly. It was late In the day on a Saturday, so there would not have been time for this inspection to occur. Additionally, since he was sent the fax, which I would naturally assume he received, I proceeded to get the car to a body shop to have the bumper and fender reconnected, also a result of the botched winching job. I sent pictures of this damage to Revdex.com in my first letter. It took me 10days to call ** back, not three weeks as he claims.

Because of **'s petulant behavior toward me, I took notes of the things he said and did, so am not just speaking from a faulty memory, as ** is doing.

The decision he made to reject my claim was based on the statements of [redacted], the service rep. I have talked with [redacted] several times since my car was repaired, and he said he could not give a definite answer about the cause of the damage because he wasn't there to witness it, but it was likely that it was caused by the bad winching job. He also said that ** called him a liar and crook, yelled at him, refused to give him his name or phone number, and hung up on him. He also confirmed sending him the fax (plus a second fax when he found out ** claimed to have not received the first one). [redacted] said [redacted] is not interested in any further business with Hook and Go due to the angry and hostile behavior of **.

Why does ** "let it be known that she never paid hook n go a dime?" He knows Hook n Go was contacted by my Roadside Assistance plan, so they were paid by them. And of course I paid [redacted] and for the tow, as these were a result of the negligence of his driver. The three prices were only a few dollars apart, and changed only because I got a reduction in cost on the tow, so that reduced the bill a bit. As it turns out, there was additional damage to my car, requiring replacement of my right front wheel bearing at a cost of $260.14, in addition to the original cost of $131. This new damage was found when I went in for an oil change shortly after this incident.

** is correct that it is not negligence for the driver to walk around the car to plan what he is going to do next. The negligence occurred when he refused my offer of towing instructions from the owners manual and proceeded to do it his way, claiming he knew what he was doing. This was clearly not the case, as I've talked with a manager at [redacted], plus managers at my roadside assistance company and an attorney. They all confirmed that VW's are not built like many other cars and that the driver took a big risk putting the winch around the wheel (which clearly didn't work out correctly) because the front wheels of VW's are connected to other vital systems in the car, such as transmission and drive shaft, so great damage can be done to the car by using the driver's method instead of the clearly specified method in the owners manual. Also, I cannot be negligent re: this claim, only Hook n Go can be negligent for not providing me with the duty of care which I fully described in my last letter to Revdex.com and did not receive.

I wonder why ** is being so difficult about admitting responsibility for all this damage--doesn't Hook n Go have insurance for just this type of problem? He has blamed me from the start, tho his arguments have no relationship to the clear negligence of the driver, which was confirmed by my attorney. ** 's final sentence, that "the only negligence that went on that day was her driving off the road" is laughable ( go back to the first paragraph and prior correspondence for this). The duty of care for the business began when the driver tried to do his job, but failed in this case.

Let me also repeat that I did not receive a copy of the form ** claims I signed, and that I would like the owner of this Hook n Go be involved in this situation, as it is a small company with only 2 to 4 employees (as it states in their website). ** seemed to be avoiding responding to the actual concerns I've brought up , lied to me about the address of the company, and has made any attempt to resolve this matter in a reasonable manner, instead of just blaming me for something that was totally the fault of the tow truck driver.

Consumer

Response:

Yes, the letter I wrote on Nov. 3rd is the response to the comments by ** from late Oct. My total request now is $391.14, as that is what my repairs cost.

I still don't understand what you are talking about when you reference my contract with HooknGo. The contact with the company and myself was at the location of the towing, as they were contacted by my roadside assistance plan. At this time, the "contract" was that my car be winched from the mud, without causing da[redacted]e to the car. This did not occur. ** told me that he'd do the right thing re: my situation, but his intention from the first moment we had phone contact was to blame me for things that make no sense (e.g. that I was the one who was negligent even tho it was before I ever had any contact with HooknGo). If my car were in a pond, and his driver caused da[redacted]e to my vehicle due to clear negligence when winching it out, would he blame me for my car being in the pond?

If they won't reimburse me for the $131 I originally requested, then why should I expect more since the additional da[redacted]e was located and fixed at a repair facility after the original request. However, the actual total at this time is the $391.14. If the company has any interest in a resolution, they will have to admit responsibility for the da[redacted]e and make a payment to me. I will provide the other receipt for repairs when HooknGo provides the document ** claims I signed which absolves them of liability (unless it was from negligence)... It seems that he wants to pretend that I was somehow negligent before they came to tow my car, rather than his driver. Since he knew what the job entailed when HooknGo was contacted by roadside assistance, why didn't they turn it down if they felt I had been negligent, so as not to da[redacted]e the car of a negligent person (this all makes no sense as I did nothing that was negligent).

Business

Response:

I don't know if we are on same page here. I spoke with customer and have replied multiple times. This customer was sunk in mud the so called da[redacted]e was to her dust plate to her brakes of which is impossible for use to hook equipment to and it was bent from being stuck in mud. Again this is part was not even replaced rather bent back away from rubbing on her brakes of which we can not be held liable for do to the fact we did not da[redacted]e it the customers poor decision to park in a yard she was unfamiliar with during a storm and getting her car stuck resulted in the da[redacted]e.

Review: on sat 12/01/2012 at 12:52 am I called hook n tow towing agency because my 94 acura legend had stalled out due to a bad battery. they arrived around 1:47 am. they towed my car to my home 1.3 miles away. they scraped the court and my driveway up when pulling in my car to drop it. they backed it into my driveway. began to drop the car but didnt release it dragging it one foot before stopping and then finish dropping my vehichle. when pulling there tow bar out from under my car it was not to the ground totally and began hearing a pulling of plastic sound then a loud pop. I looked down and seen my bumper had been pulled half way off the car. I looked at him and he was wide eyed. he said im so sorry. then he called someone one. when he got off the phone with the tow truck driver said his boss said not to charge for the tow and said thats what insurance is for(therefore not getting a reciept) and that his boss would conact me in the morning. I attempted to contact the company at 7:37 am, 10:20 am, 11:35am and no responce. at 12:31 pm I finally spoke to a person giving me a run around I contacted my lawyer and the columbus p.d, making a report case number ([redacted]). at 3:30pm the mgr contacted me and told me it sounded bogus that he was infact the person that the tow truck driver talked to when the incident happend. and that I would be better off putting the incident on my insurance because, 95 percent of all claims reported are in fact no good. they werent paying for anything and good luck in court, and then disconnected our call leaving me hanging with no proffesional solution. I do not believe this is good buisness management and do not see how this person can get away with this type of deception. I am turning to the Revdex.com to maybe help in a solution. Myself, my roomate, my insurance agent and my mechanic are all witnesses to the condition of the vehichle hours before the tow.Desired Settlement: I am expecting my bumper replaced and full damages if any other caused by bumper being damaged.

Business

Response:

Revdex.com called business to follow up on this complaint and spoke to operations manager, who responded verbally. He said that they have spoken to this consumer multiple times and that his insurance company had investigated it and determined that the towing company was not at fault. He also said the consumer refused to pay for the tow and has been turned over to collections.