RAD Towing

Mr***, There are six main points that it seems you are trying to make and I will address them all individually for you You argue another local towing provider charges less to impound vehicles As I have made you aware of in my last response that is factually wrong The tower you reference in fact charges $and hour more than we do and they also have a higher storage rate You argue that my drivers are incapable of towing your vehicle in a timely fashion and that because we charge by the hour you should not be responsible for their incompetence I assure you that our drivers are properly trained and for that reason you have had your vehicle impounded without damage If we caused damage by having incompetent drivers but kept it under an hour would you be happier with the outcome? You argue that its just a stock car that has not been lowered That is correct, your factory low to the ground sports car may be stock but presents unique loading challenges when keys are not available As previously made clear to you the location of the car also adds time and difficulty to the task of impounding it safelyYour car was not easy to impound, it was difficult, difficult tasks take longer to complete You argue that is was our intent to take advantage of a young girl who works two jobs to get by We did not drive into that complex out of the blue looking for cars we thought would look better in our impound yard Your daughter is responsible for her own actions, she chose to park in a clearly marked car port that belonged to someone else Its called personal responsibly, when you make a conscience decision to violate clear rules there are consequences Think of the chain of events that happened because of the single decision your daughter made She parks and leaves her car in someone else's spot The owner of that spot gets home after a long day of work and now has nowhere to park He then has to wake up maintenance and have them come down and resolve his issue Now maintenance calls us and wakes up a dispatcher who then wakes up a driver to remove this vehicleNow your daughter decision has stopped one person from parking and pulled three others out of bed Now I know you don't care to hear this but that's terrible inconvenient for all parties involved and it would have had the same exact outcome if you chose to park there, or a year old man parked there, if a veteran had parked there, if a doctor parked there or anyone else other than the person who lease that spot parked there We are not picking on your daughter, the pricing is EXACTLY the same for everyone In your case it was hours for the impound fee at $per hour $is our hourly rate for coming out at midnight, business hours would have been less We also charged you for 1/day of storage At $a day that was $So that brings a total charge of $by our company to you The other $that was charged goes straight to Uncle Sam so he can spend it on whatever he wants too So to reiterate that's $to us, $to Uncle Sam and my math says that's a lot closer to $than the $you are claiming we charged you You argue that a tow you had paid for in the past that coved a span of miles cost you less than this impound You cannot use the term tow and impound interchangeable A tow is a tow, when your car is broken you call us to move it and its a tow The legal process of having someone's vehicle removed from private property by the person responsible for that property or a the removal of a vehicle from a public roadway by a police officer is an impound An impound will ALWAYS cost more than a tow There is a lot more to it than towing the car Impounds cannot be completed by some one who drives a big truck and has a trailer It is a legal process and as such is much more complicated than a tow The only similarity is that we use tow trucks to complete each task I hope, but doubt, this resolves you inquiry There will be absolutely no refund issued to you by our company

The price we charge is $per hour for after hours impounds Our competitor actually charges more than us but they failed to tell you it is charged at their rate by the hour just like us Nearly all tows in our area are in fact one hour tows With that being said, yours was not The level of difficulty our driver faces when safely impounding a vehicle will effect the total time it takes to complete the job You were not driving a Honda Civic which will essentially jump on our truck if we ask real nice Your low to the ground Nissan 350z sports car required a great deal more care to tow damage free I know you cannot appreciate the care our driver took with your car but I assure you that you would be much more upset if it was a one hour tow and we damaged your car Our drivers times are not subject to simply what they write on their paperwork It is tracked digitally on our dispatch program As a result of nearly all impounds taking one hour or less, any tow that results in a charge greater than one hour is also verified by checking the GPS on the truck itself The GPS was checked on the truck for your tow as well and it showed him on the property where the car was for nearly a full hour Vehicles in tight spots like carports and without keys also require more effort, yours was also in a carport without keys I understand your frustration It is terribly inconvenient to have your vehicle not waiting where you left it It is also inconvenient to burden the renter of that car port and to have maintenance woken up in the early morning hours because you parked where you shouldn't have

Rad Towing has been great for me. I had a 1976 Ford Van that was always having issues; Rad Towing got to me within a half an hour and it was affordable for such an inconvenience as it was. I have never had any complaints with their drivers or company.

Your vehicle was towed at the request of your apartment complex at the time they designated. GPS data on the truck that towed your car with the addition of dash camera footage, back up camera footage and the documents signed by your complex all indicate that this vehicle was towed after
the 7am time you were given to have it removed. We do not have voice recording on our telephone system but the security camera footage from our offices have the audio of what our employees say while on the phone. I have reviewed everything and I find that our employees were patient and spend more time on the phone with you than was necessaryFurther I find that when all of these fact were provided to you that you refused to accept them. The conversation did end with our employee telling you that there was nothing further he could assist you with and advising you of your right to take this to court if your opinion was that strong. Talking to anyone in the manor that you indicated would not be tolerated and I am pleased to see that it simply wasn't the case here. No one is happy to have their vehicle impounded and I understand that must have been difficult. We were not there targeting your vehicle and we did not tow anything until the complex designated the vehicles to be towed and filled out the proper paperwork. As for the online reviews; we are a tow company, half our customers are thrilled to see us because they are broken down and need a rescue. The other half feel that their car was impounded for no good reason and there is nothing you can do or say to please them

Mr. [redacted],
There are six main points that it seems you are trying to make and I will address them all individually for you.
You argue another local towing provider charges less to impound vehicles.  As I have made you aware of in my last response that is factually wrong.  The tower you reference in fact charges $14 and hour more than we do and they also have a higher storage rate.
You argue that my drivers are incapable of towing your vehicle in a timely fashion and that because we charge by the hour you should not be responsible for their incompetence.  I assure you that our drivers are properly trained and for that reason you have had your vehicle impounded without damage.  If we caused damage by having incompetent drivers but kept it under an hour would you be happier with the outcome?
You argue that its just a stock car that has not been lowered.  That is correct, your factory low to the ground sports car may be stock but presents unique loading challenges when keys are not available.  As previously made clear to you the location of the car also adds time and difficulty to the task of impounding it safely. Your car was not easy to impound, it was difficult, difficult tasks take longer to complete.
You argue that is was our intent to take advantage of a young girl who works two jobs to get by.  We did not drive into that complex out of the blue looking for cars we thought would look better in our impound yard.  Your daughter is responsible for her own actions, she chose to park in a clearly marked car port that belonged to someone else.  Its called personal responsibly, when you make a conscience decision to violate clear rules there are consequences.  Think of the chain of events that happened because of the single decision your daughter made.  She parks and leaves her car in someone else's spot.  The owner of that spot gets home after a long day of work and now has nowhere to park.  He then has to wake up maintenance and have them come down and resolve his issue.  Now maintenance calls us and wakes up a dispatcher who then wakes up a driver to remove this vehicle. Now your daughter decision has stopped one person from parking and pulled three others out of bed.  Now I know you don't care to hear this but that's terrible inconvenient for all parties involved and it would have had the same exact outcome if you chose to park there, or a 75 year old man parked there, if a veteran had parked there, if a doctor parked there or anyone else other than the person who lease that spot parked there.  We are not picking on your daughter, the pricing is EXACTLY the same for everyone.  In your case it was 1.5 hours for the impound fee at $240 per hour.  $240 is our hourly rate for coming out at midnight, business hours would have been less.  We also charged you for 1/2 day of storage.  At $50.00 a day that was $25.00. So that brings a total charge of $385.00 by our company to you.  The other $33.11 that was charged goes straight to Uncle Sam so he can spend it on whatever he wants too.  So to reiterate that's $385.00 to us, $33.11 to Uncle Sam and my math says that's a lot closer to $400.00 than the $500 you are claiming we charged you.
You argue that a tow you had paid for in the past that coved a span of 30 miles cost you less than this impound.  You cannot use the term tow and impound interchangeable.  A tow is a tow, when your car is broken you call us to move it and its a tow.  The legal process of having someone's vehicle removed from private property by the person responsible for that property or a the removal of a vehicle from a public roadway by a police officer is an impound.  An impound will ALWAYS cost more than a tow.  There is a lot more to it than towing the car.  Impounds cannot be completed by some one who drives a big truck and has a trailer.  It is a legal process and as such is much more complicated than a tow.  The only similarity is that we use tow trucks to complete each task.
 
I hope, but doubt, this resolves you inquiry.  There will be absolutely no refund issued to you by our company.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I had made a call to another local 
tow company and explained my situation and he told me that I was charged 
double of what they charge and was taken advantage of... 
I am not pulling my numbers out of thin air... For this reason I am going to continue 
to tell other people and friends not to use this company and they take advantage of you 
if they get a chance... I mean come on almost $500 for a 5 mile tow!!! If they hire 
drivers that are not capable of towing a sports car I should not be charged for this... The car was not lowered but stock as it came from the manufacture... They stated that it took them more time due to this... These 
people do this for a living not a fly by night outfit... I gave a car hauler trilor with a winch I have hauled this car many times 
for inspections and repairs it takes me all of 10 mins to get loaded and I have loaded it locked up without keys... The car is 
very light and I don't have all the right equipment as they do and charge me this ridiculous amount... I think they saw 
a chance to take advantage of a young woman that works 2 jobs to make ends meet and I explained that to them and basically was told tough luck... Well I should say they knocked of $50 but was still a ridiculous amount for the tow that was done... I have had a car towed 30 miles and was less than this tow...  I just hope that the word gets out and other people don't get taken advantage of by this company....
 
Sincerely,[redacted]

The price we charge is $240 per hour for after hours impounds.  Our competitor actually charges more than us but they failed to tell you it is charged at their rate by the hour just like us.  Nearly all tows in our area are in fact one hour tows.  With that being said, yours was...

not.  The level of difficulty our driver faces when safely impounding a vehicle will effect the total time it takes to complete the job.  You were not driving a 1992 Honda Civic which will essentially jump on our truck if we ask real nice.  Your low to the ground Nissan 350z sports car required a great deal more care to tow damage free.  I know you cannot appreciate the care our driver took with your car but I assure you that you would be much more upset if it was a one hour tow and we damaged your car.  Our drivers times are not subject to simply what they write on their paperwork.  It is tracked digitally on our dispatch program.  As a result of nearly all impounds taking one hour or less, any tow that results in a charge greater than one hour is also verified by checking the GPS on the truck itself.  The GPS was checked on the truck for your tow as well and it showed him on the property where the car was for nearly a full hour.  Vehicles in tight spots like carports and without keys also require more effort, yours was also in a carport without keys.  I understand your frustration.  It is terribly inconvenient to have your vehicle not waiting where you left it.  It is also inconvenient to burden the renter of that car port and to have maintenance woken up in the early morning hours because you parked where you shouldn't have.

Review: he towed my supposed expired plates car which has never been without tagssince new (2000) I showed him proof. charged me $200 cash only if I had the money NOW!!! saidhe would tear up paper work and not report it, REPORT WHAT!!!!!!!!!!. IE cash non traceable transaction. total hostage [redacted] this company needs to be watched.Desired Settlement: I would love my money back but tow companies seem to have rules of their own. since I had to pay cash I will bet no paper trail. I do have more info.JUST watch these people. $200 to recover a legal car is robbery

Business

Response:

Please provide me with an invoice number so that I can look into this matter. As it is, I do not have enough information to help you. If your vehicle was towed from private property it seems to me your grievance is with the property owner who had the vehicle towed. In Washington state your vehicle cannot be impounded without written authorization from either the owner/custodian of a piece of private property or an agent acting on behalf of a police agency. In my experience no one is ever pleased to have their vehicle impounded and I do understand that towing charges can seem steep at first glance. However it sounds to me like what you say you paid is actually less than what a typical impound would be for our area. Your standard impound fees in Washington State are set by the state patrol and are as follows for a light duty impound. Class A Towing is $181 per hour with a one hour minimum, storage is at $46 per day and if your vehicle is released on a weekend or after 5PM you are also charged $91 for an after hours fee, all of these fees are also taxed at 8.3% sales tax rate. It should also be noted that private property impounds can be charged up to 135% of the rates set by the state patrol. I hope that this information helps you, should you have any further questions about towing, impounds or the rate structure please feel free to call us at any time. ###-###-####.

Review: My husband and I were in a motor vehicle accident on Monday, 6/16/2014, in which our Buick Park Ave was totaled. The officer called RAD Towing to collect the vehicle. The tow truck driver told us we could collect the vehicle if we wanted to, but since it was obviously not repairable they would just sell it (auction it) and that it would cover the towing and other fees. He also initially asked my husband (who was driving) to fill out some paperwork, but then told him not to. The tow driver made it clear that the auction would cover any costs.On 6/25/14 we received a certified notification, saying that we now owe for towing and storage, and will be liable for charges not covered by the sale. If we would have been told up front about these charges and not told by the driver that all charges would be covered by the sale, we would have just had the vehicle taken to a junk yard. Under the circumstances we dont feel we should be liable.My husband called RAD towing, and the dispatcher said the driver denied what he told us. In addition, he asked to have the manager/owner phone him so he could discuss the issue, and the dispatcher either did not pass along the message or they refused to return his call.We feel we were misled by the driver. He indicated the sale (auction) would "cover the charges" but DID NOT tell us that we would be responsible for what they would not recoup from the sale of the vehicle. This was extremely misleading and bad business.Desired Settlement: If we have been able to remove the car and pay the accumulated "fees" by the time this reaches the company (in order to avoid further storage charges) we would like our money refunded, since your driver assured us that the sale of the vehicle (through auction) would COVER those charges and we wouldn't have to worry about it. If we have not been able to make arrangements to remove the car we would like charges cancelled, since your driver told us the auction would take care of things.

Business

Response:

I am sorry that you had a bad experiance. I did review the file on your vehicle and the form given to us by the police that authorized the impound. At this point I cannot speculate on why you were led to believe that there would be no charge for towing your vehicle. When an accident occurs and the police call us out to respond we do our best to clean up the roadway and remove the vehicles. However this is not a free service and ultimately the price of towing and storage is the reponsibilty of the registered owner. In the event that no insurace company pays for the tow bill and the registered owner does not redeem their vehicle we do auction the abandoned vehicle. This auction rarely covers the cost associated with the actual towing and storage of a vehicle but is merely a means to dispose of it. Most vehicles that are involved in an accident and go to our impound yard are eventually paid for and redeemed by body shops or insurance companies. There is no way for us to know what type of insurance you have or if you are covered. In my experiance when you ask someone who has just been involved in an accident if they have insurance to cover towing they say yes or dont know at all. This is the primary reason that the police would call out the tow compay instead of having the vehicle owner do it. If you've just been in an accident it can be difficult to take in everything that that is going on and what may have been said to you at that time. Again I am sorry that you felt mislead but when its hot, and when your vehicle has just been wrecked there always exists the possibilty of confusion or misunderstanding. We do the best we can to explain your options with the information that we have on hand, but our primary objective when dealing with a call originated by the police is to clear the roadway.