‘I have never had a small business owner behave this way’: Local tow company tries to swindle car owner out of $161, he laughs in their face instead

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jan 18, 2025 9:00 AM EST

As winter approaches, so do hazardous road conditions. What does that mean? Well, usually it means that if you can opt to stay home, then you should. If you have to drive, the be very careful. Go below the speed limit, keep your hazard lights on if you need, take it eeeeasy. It's scary and extremely inconvenient if you end up sliding into a ditch or something. And, on top of that inconvenience, you will have to deal with a tow company—which many on the internet deem as the "slimiest" of business. Apparently, in Canada, the tow companies are basically the mafia, so you can imagine where the internet is getting this. Too many people have personal experience where a tow truck company is trying to swindle them out of all kinds of extra fees and payments. 

 

What's the point of having AAA or insurance if they can't handle that for you? Are we crazy for thinking that? Apparently not. Many on the internet would agree—the bvllying coming from tow truck companies needs to stop! But how? Well, this guy on Reddit just laughed in their face when they requested some ridiculous fee he didn't even know about. 

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  • His car had slid into a ditch from his driveway. So he called his insurance and they sent him a tow company that they “triple checked” was covered by them. The tow guy came, pulled his car out, and placed it back in his driveway. The guy said, “that's $36” and the car owner told him what his insurance told him. So the guy went about his day. The tow company then called back in a rage, demanding he pay the $36 or they will send their driver back and put his car back in the ditch… What in tarnation?!?! 

  • 01
    TOXIN ATLANCIC
    via Unsplash+ (and Joshuer)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "Tow truck company threatened to dump my car in a ditch over a $36 payment."

    Due to some recent snow my car slid off my driveway and got stuck in a ditch next to my house. I contacted insurance road side assistance and they picked a random local tow truck company to wench my car out. I carefully checked with insurance before the rescue to verify that it was not an emergency and I verified that it was completely covered by insurance. My insurance sent me a written verification that it was covered. The tow truck driver arrived and got my car unstuck.
    via psl87
  • 03
    After he was complete I asked if he needed anything and he said he needed to check on payments. I told him that I had written statement showing it supposed to be covered by insurance. He got back in his truck and drove away so I assumed everything was good. NOPE!
    via psl87
  • 04
    About 15 minutes later I get a call from the tow company owner demanding that I pay $36 or they weren't going to release my car. I was confused because my car was parked in my driveway and the driver was long gone so I said my insurance says it's covered so please send an invoice and I can send that to them. The owner started screaming at me that "THATS NOT HOW THIS WORKS! YOU MUST PAY THE REMAINDER OR WE AREN'T LEAVING!!!" I was like, uhhhh your driver is gone...
    via psl87
  • 05
    "HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT! HE WILL COME BACK AND BLOCK YOUR DRIVEWAY UNTIL YOU PAY $36. YOU CHEAPSKATES MAKE ME SICK! HE WILL COME BACK AND PUT YOUR CAR BACK IN THE DITCH!" At this point I was kind of stunned and laughed at her and said "Sure you come back and put my car in the ditch" which made her so mad she hung up. A little bit later I got a text with an invoice showing I owed an additional $125 for a waiting fee. I
    via psl87
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    texted her back asking where the driver was waiting because my property was empty. She claimed that GPS and the dash cam proved he was in my driveway. I responded with "well he must be invisible because no one is here" and she stopped responding. My insurance eventually agreed to pay the $36 balance.
    via psl87
  • 07
    I have never had a small business owner behave this way to me. I sent in bad reviews to all the sites I could find and did a complaint to the BBB. Is there anything else I can do as petty revenge? I know reddit LOVES tow truck companies.
    via psl87
  • 08
    LOCK CREE Line Contes
    via Unsplash+ (and Joshuer)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Update:

    edit: the company is responding to the reviews blaming me for not knowing in advance I owed $36 and saying it was a completely professional conversation.
    via psl87
  • 10
    GinormousDinornis Forward all this to your insurance - if your insurer blacklists the tow company it will in them losing revenue. psl87 OP Oh I like that.
    via GinormousDinornis
  • 11
    evilsbirth They should have cleared the balance with you first. A lot of insurance companies will tell you yea we cover it and then go and tell the tow company they will only pay up to a certain dollar amount. At that point they either accept that amount or tell the customer what the balance will be before completing the job. So if insurance may say we will pay up to $125 but the price is $150 then they either accept the $125 or inform customer that the job is $150 and they are responsible for t
    via evilsbirth
  • 12
    psl87 OP Yeah I think it was a miscommunication from the insurance company. They dropped a few providers before locking in one so I think it messed up their system or something. Anyways they never informed me it would be $36 extra and the tow company didn't inform me before freeing my car.
    via psl87
  • 13
    ekquizit23 Don't stop at being petty, this place probably does this to other people in a bind too, please take vengeance for those who have dealt with their BS
    via ekquizit23
  • 14
    Icarsadmin A while back I had a late night flat, so first thing in the morning I start calling tow companies. Most arent open early, so i wait and call back. I get through to one of the places, and have the tow arranged. Nearly two hours later i get a call back from one of the places that didnt answer. He got mad at me for making other arrangements because he didnt answer his phone. Some people just wake up angry.
    via Icarsadmin
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    Cheezburger Image 10455932672
    via Unsplash+ (and Hans Isaacson)
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    firewoodrack I have such personal beef with a towing company that is local to me. Context is required. It was Valentine's Day 2022, I was leaving the gym around 8 pm. The gym I was going to is on the westbound side of a local highway, to get home I needed to go east. There is a jughandle with a stoplight maybe 100 yards down the road (west) from the entrance/exit to the gym. As I'm pulling out of the parking lot, I notice the street lamps are out and a few vehicles are stopped. As I entered the
    via firewoodrack
  • 17
    noticed that a car hit the telephone pole on the inside of said jughandle. A few people were assisting the driver and a cop had just arrived, so I was just sitting at the stop light observing. A semi was passing by when it clipped the lines from the now- lowered telephone pole, taking that pole. and several other stoplight poles down.
    via firewoodrack
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    One of the poles landed in front of my car, missing by a few inches, and several wires were on the ground. I got out of my car thing was, now and got away. The my car was trapped and the police wouldn't let me go back to it. I tried to explain that if nothing else, let me get my wallet out of my door card, but they wouldn't. The car ended up being trapped for something like 8 hours and got towed. away. The towing company stole all the money from my wallet ($151), broke my door handle, and charge
    via firewoodrack
  • 19
    PurpleMangoPopper Tow companies are completely different animals when it comes to sketchy business practices.
    via PurpleMangoPopper

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