The Illinois Commerce Commission, the state agency that regulates the towing industry, launched a months-long investigation, recently ruling that G.C.W. Tow & Recovery broke 10 laws. But the fines for those infractions totaled just $1,000. “It’s a slap in the face,” says Peter DeWitt, owner of Michigan-based DeWitt Barrels. “Anybody in their right mind would pay $1,000 to get a $36,000 return.”
even though there guilty as hell for overcharging this company they will just shut the doors wait awhile and reopen same place and just change their name
So true! I see that with repair places 24/7, & I love the ones that advertise "been in business for 20 years" but they only have 6 months of yelp reviews!
The problem is if you do this to anyone it's an open and shut fraud case against you. I agree in the long run it might have been best but would certainly have caused him more problems and had the tow company suing him, and sadly the facts would have gone for the tow company. Hopefully he could get a judge who considers ALL the facts but sometimes they don't.
Scott Johnson as stated, stopping payment on a check is usually possible anytime before the check has been cashed. Once the check has been cashed by the recipient, you won’t be able to make a stop payment with the bank. In order to stop payment on a check, you should take the following steps: Contact the bank as soon as possible; notify them orally that you wish to stop payment on the check. The bank may often request a written statement; if so, issue them your written request as soon as possible. Make notes in your own accounts regarding the stopped payment. Any bank will stop payment on a check if requested. There will be a small fee.
@@EvilLoynis : Fraud? Against the victim of an extortion racket by a towing company that is breaking the law right, left, and center? No. The victim of the extortion scheme is merely trying to get back their truck that the towing company is illegally holding hostage. Let me ask you this: if your daughter were kidnapped and you paid the ransom by check and then canceled the check after you got your daughter back, do you think you would be guilty of a crime? Do you think the kidnappers could sue you in court for the face value of the check?
Ive death with this towing company in 2002 . My car was towed durung a traffic accident i was hit by a drunken drive i was told by this towing company that i had to get a release for my car at the police deparment which it did . I hired a tow company to two my car to a body shop we went to there yard and was told that they would not allowed another tow company on there property i said that was fine i understood they most likely would not allow it for insurance reasons . So i asked if they could tow my car out of there yard and id pay for them doing so . They said they would do it but not that day because there wasnt a truck avalible i found that to be odd because there was two of there trucks park in the lot . So i go back the next day. They said they would have to charge me an extra day for storage of my vehical since i didnt pick the car up the day before . Then the tell me they can not just just pull my car outside the fence and drop it because that would be abandonment of a vehical eventhough I had a two truck to pick my car up on the spot as soon as they took my car out of there yard . Then i was told no two truck was avalible to tow my car and that they only had a flat bed to transport my car wich would be more money . I was charged 680 dollares to flat bed my car from Harvy to Tinley park. Then when i go into my car to get my belongings at the body shop all my change in the car was gone a cellphone cord and etc . Great people to do business with total con artist .
You would be lookinga tmaybe theft of property 1st even it is your vehicle the tow company owns right now. Also fraud if the d.a want to be an aasshole theft by depection. And negoating a worthless instrument
Should just fill a truck up with hazmat and get it stuck and then call them to retrieve it. Oh?? Guess you'll just keep the truck until I pay right? Well good, cause what's in that trailer costs $50 a pound to dispose of.... Good luck!
Anything labelled medical waste. I'm sure they control where used syringes get disposed of, so it they open a trailer filled with bags labeled "biohazard", even if they were filled with dogshit, it would still be a pretty penny for someone to come out and classify and/or assess it.
Michael G actually anything filled with any kind of medical or hazmat waste tow trucks won't even attempt to touch it so you'd just be shit out of luck
check the bill: 6 hours of recovery time, on 8 trucks, inluding 2 rotators and 1 heavy duty, 2 service trucks, and 3 light duty flatbeds. the truck had to be unloaded on site, onto the flatbeds, and then reloaded at the yard, and delivered to the original dropoff. all of this is burning diesel, plus big time insurance $$$$, plus labor time!
Need a partner?😁I had a accident the was caused by a unknown medical condition It has been a nightmare ever since. Add a 5 month unwanted vacation and you could guess the upcoming mess I have. The money mess sucks. 2 MRI trips really sucked! 2 weeks and back to life!!!?
Yeah, this is the problem with our law's. In my state if traffic is blocked YOU ARE FORCED to use the state police's tow company of choice. And boy oh boy do they love commercial driver's, EXP small owner operators like my dad. It's a legal scam and legal theft of the property. They should not be aloud to hold your property ransom. They should have to get a judgment just like everyone else
They don't say how long it was in storage, the place I used to work would own any car that was in storage for over a month.since the rates double daily after a week. This is done so that the owner gets there car out quick.once the bill is more than the car is worth it gets cut in half and scraped.
I can’t stand these types of news stories and reporters, there just sooo pushy and ignorant, like, if the guy wants you to stop filming him and getting up and his face, get out of his face?! While this bill is wrong, the news station only cares about a story, or else they wouldn’t have handled it like this.
3k is fair? Bullshit. Does no one understand the work involved? One truck, possibly 2 to get it out, charge for both on scene. Clean up? Charge for all personnel on scene working. Hooking up? Hourly charge and extra in case extra precautions come to light. Time on scene? Charge for time of all personnel on scene. Towing the vehicle? Hourly and/or mileage. Storage for having tractor/trailer? Hundreds per day. There are so many variables that come into play. They have families too. They can say as they please, charges are no set rates depending situations.
This wasn't just a tow people, while the pricing is way too high, this was also a lot more to it because it hit a bridge. You can't give a good estimate upfront, because the time(6 hours) & equipment is not 100% sure till they start to tear into it. The police/city want it out of the way as soon as possible. The trailer is broken, it has to be unloaded & reload to a new trailer before the truck can be moved. So you have to bring in another truck, trailer, equipment & personal to move it out over to the other trailer, while taking your time for safety, cause the trailer side wall structure is damaged. Then the trailer has to be separated & tow by itself, if not partly torn apart depending on height & width damage . Then you have to store & also unload & reload the contents again from the tow company's trailer & into the wrecked truck companies trailer when they come to get it. Standing in-front of employees who have no control over the bill it plain stupid also, your intentionally interfering with them, when they can do nothing about it & also sticking a camera in their faces, just to make the news story more intense for the report. Deal with the owner. The news crew didn't even let the people watching the story see the full bill to gauge for themselves all that was done to it during the 6 hours. Also who called the tow, the police or the company? Police can not wait hours for a company to figure out who will come clean up the mess. So while the price is real high, this was not a simple tow of just a truck.
I used to own a carrier business transporting cars. For some unspoken reason, tow truck drivers carry tons of cash in their trucks. Some drivers carry over $10,000 cash in their cab. Not even a bolted down safe to hide it. People that get their cars towed usually pay cash. It's just odd that they all seem to take such huge risks carrying so much money in their trucks. Guess they don't trust banks lol
I work for Allstate, they're charging obnoxious amounts of money...Storage on vehicles is $250 per day in some lots in Illinois...for light duty vehicles, For example - Tows, 650, winch $500, $650 extra equipment, 600 yard fee, $650 gate fee, etc...These obnoxious charges, btw wo tf charges $650 to open a gate to let a vehicle out...and gate fee and yard fees are the same, but since insurance companys would rather get the vehicles out quickly than go through lawsuits, those tow company's do what they want...not even registered nurses make that much, that's like $10 hours of work for them...and they make it in 1 hour.
I want to thank the new station the attorneys everyone who assisted this truck driver thank you for getting this man's truck back it means a lot to him I know because I'm a truck driver myself thank you all
Id have to see the full bill to know how "faie" the bill is but to be candid the $1700 " gate fee" seems suspicious right off the bat. Other than that we dont know what was done or how long it took. Cutting off the exhaust for an hour seems excessive. As far as the arbitrary $3000? Just short of $1500 of the bill is storage right off the bat.
The gate fee was $495, there were 3 fees that added up to the $1700 Administration fee & something not seen. Exhaust fee could be rental of the torch set & time doing it. Someone said they don't own equipment, so guessing rental fees & outsourcing some.
I will not defend their bill as I don't what they did to get the truck free and towed to their yard. That said a recovery can easily cost over $3k. If the truck has to be unloaded it takes extra personnel, a trailer to load cargo on to, the semi to haul the trailer, two tow trucks, one to tow the semi and one to tow the damage trailer. Traffic control as required if by state statue. If is a long term recovery, then you are required to bring drinking water and snacks per OSHA requirements, and sometimes even a porti potty. Does 37k seem high to me, yep. A recovery bill should always include a complete narrative and breakdown of charges. The problem with this company is that it seems they were unwilling to explaine the bill and usually people only do that when they have something to hide. They are making harder on the honest companies.
If the cost was 5 or 7 k, I would understand. But nothing higher than 7k. The truck was still in working order, just the trailer would be an issue, but an easy fix. It doesn't take long to dislodge the truck. Technically speaking, there were no hooking or lifting fees. And it was only 10 mi.
The "gate fee" caught my attention but you are correct that we never see the bill nor do we know what was done. Even if the truck was "drivable" we dont know there was a dewitt driver at the scene. We also dont know if it was a police impound so the truck would have to be towed.
Two Rotator Tow Trucks, a Heavy Duty truck, two service trucks, a dolly trailer, 3 light duty trucks, towing the rig, towing the trailer, the crew to make the trailer safe for towing, four days of storing the rig, and some other charges. This was not Joe the Tow picking up a Toyota Corolla.
@kyle Nissen If they don't own any equipment & have to sub out & rent some equipment, then the cost will go up, more to it then just freeing it & towing, it was a recovery job also to safely remove it. What type load did it have, how was it packaged, was it a mess from the sudden impact stop, what was the weight & then figure out how they had to transfer it from a trailer with damaged side walls and tilted forward. You try rolling stacks of something uphill to then transfer to another trailer & then roll it to the front of that trailer. Its not fast or easy & hard to determine the time it will take for an estimate before beginning. Like Micheal said, it is way high, but since the news station didn't give viewers a good glimpse of the full bill to actually see what they had into it, makes figuring out a real bill hard.
They had different plans. They were charging him the $37.000 hecause they were going to keep the truck so they can add it to their fleet or they wanted that money for a quick way to upgrade the fleet...
This kind of crime happens all over the country , the ONLY WAY TO STOP IT is to take away their Towing License for good . There are many honest towing companies out there .
That's a just cost! Dude hit the 11'8" bridge and was stuck underneath blocking the entire road. Idiot driver is at fault not the guys who cleared the wreck.
Had a minivan run into my semi in Chicago Dec 26th 2009 and that took out the bottom of my radiator so truck was not able to be driven to Volvo for repairs . The truck was not in need of any special recovery just simply hook up and tow .The wrecker company was already on stand by a block away when it happened and Volvo all of 5 miles away, however Volvo was closed so they brought the semi to their yard which was only a few miles from Volvo and tow point origin...they tried to charge over $5,000 . In the state of Illinois there isn't any regulations on how much a company can charge when towing a CMV over 10,000 gvw ...therr are honest tow companies but many tow drivers are just about as honest prison inmates .
I was looking at a news report on corrupt towing comanies in Detroit. One trucking company was charged was just over 10,000 dollars for what other posters in the comment section said was about a 5 mile tow.
This video is old,vut I'm still going to comment. People say things are stupid when they don't understand what goes into doing something. Heavy duty tow trucks aren't cheap. Operating one is very pricey. I'm not saying that that bill wasnt excessive,but it wasn't supposed to be cheap either. The towing industry gets a bad reputation because of bad companies and people lack of knowledge of the industry.
The details on the bill claims that they used 2 rotator trucks, a heavy duty truck, 2 service trucks, 3 light duty trucks for 6 hours each, then 3.5 hours to tow the trailer, then 3.5 hours to tow the truck which they drove, plus cutting a pipe, plus a huge gate fee plus some other charges. $595 per hour for a service truck is insane, especially considering they were probably paying the tech no more than $20 per hour. I really hope that they will face a triple damage lawsuit.
I don't agree with the tow bill but at the same time insurance companies charge tow companies about 600 to 800 a month per truck witch is why the bill is so high if it was not going through insurance it would have bin a different story .😁✌
Most semi rollover accidents where cargo is cleaned up and off loaded whatever the certain wreck may require and setting the truck an trailer back up and towing into the impound and employees helping don't even come close to $37 thousand dollars there's a special place in hell for guys like these with this towing company.
He didn't "miscalculate the bridges height." The sign was right there and he didn't need to calculate anything. He thought the laws of physics didn't apply to his truck. I am not justifying the outrageous charge but it was the driver's fault.
He needs to sue this Owner of the tow company for his money back. Leaving him with a $3,000 dollar bill as quoted. As an owner, I myself find this to be highly irresponsible.
I work in the towing industry... we would have been at $10k to clean that up minimum. They’re not telling you about storage and fees like that either. They’re saying the TOW cost $37k. I have a hard time believing that.
Yeah and the next thing I would have done is canceled payment on the check. Gotten a reasonable estimate and written the check for that amount. If they cash the second check The transaction is complete. If they don't cash the check and try to take you in court, oh I guess that wouldn't work.
Ok. So he bridges his trailer . There is no way that that bill should be that high . That's maybe a 3 hr recovery 4 if you have to unload the unit . . I could see$ 10.000 and that's only worse case long shot.
If its a railroad owned bridge which in chicago it probably is you dont touch the truck until the railroad people arrive and "inspect" the bridge which can take longer than 4 hours alone
That towing company should be shut down and refund the man the extra money that he paid because they way overcharged him because it shouldn't have been $37,000
What good is the commission? Aren't they there to stop such conduct? How many complaints need be filed before criminal charges are handed out?(years worth and still nothing was done until the news shone a light on the criminal activity) Fire the people on the commissioners board!
Unfortunately they get Towing right from Local Town who pay he More money for permit so POlice only Allow to call those Towing Company any accident they right away call that companies before even you figure out what to do , like call your own insurance company to they send their Towing people .
Just use your spare key and take the truck back. Blow through the gate or pull it down with another vehicle to get access to your illegally seized vehicle.
The Illinois Commerce Commission, the state agency that regulates the towing industry, launched a months-long investigation, recently ruling that G.C.W. Tow & Recovery broke 10 laws.
But the fines for those infractions totaled just $1,000.
“It’s a slap in the face,” says Peter DeWitt, owner of Michigan-based DeWitt Barrels. “Anybody in their right mind would pay $1,000 to get a $36,000 return.”
The "Vigilante Justice" in me would have destroyed their trucks one by one.
Never sign a blank tow bill! Ever! I don't care how desperate your situation is. This isn't worth this kind of anxiety!
They should be fined the $37,000 bucks, have their towing license revoked, have their drivers license revoked, and 300 hours community service.
you mistyped 3,700,000$ and a trip to rape town.
Francois Dupont lol
you realize the hours they spend taking care of a job like that? no i don't think you do
Kneecap
And provide refunds
Thieves, nothing less.
anon 39256
That's what I'd do. Screw paying that shit bill
LOOK AT THE INVOICE. 6 hours with 9 trucks! the truck ahd to be unloaded ON SITE! that is why it's so goddamned expensive.
@@joek0617 people think its just pulled and towed away.
180
even though there guilty as hell for overcharging this company they will just shut the doors wait awhile and reopen same place and just change their name
So true! I see that with repair places 24/7, & I love the ones that advertise "been in business for 20 years" but they only have 6 months of yelp reviews!
Abduls camel castration and towing
@@arturovidal5306 to be fair they've been in buisness 20 years..... with approximately 20-30 different names
Give them the check, get your truck, then stop payment.
The problem is if you do this to anyone it's an open and shut fraud case against you. I agree in the long run it might have been best but would certainly have caused him more problems and had the tow company suing him, and sadly the facts would have gone for the tow company. Hopefully he could get a judge who considers ALL the facts but sometimes they don't.
Scott Johnson as stated, stopping payment on a check is usually possible anytime before the check has been cashed. Once the check has been cashed by the recipient, you won’t be able to make a stop payment with the bank. In order to stop payment on a check, you should take the following steps:
Contact the bank as soon as possible; notify them orally that you wish to stop payment on the check.
The bank may often request a written statement; if so, issue them your written request as soon as possible.
Make notes in your own accounts regarding the stopped payment.
Any bank will stop payment on a check if requested. There will be a small fee.
Must be paid by cashiers check not personal check
I never thought of that one!
@@EvilLoynis : Fraud? Against the victim of an extortion racket by a towing company that is breaking the law right, left, and center? No. The victim of the extortion scheme is merely trying to get back their truck that the towing company is illegally holding hostage.
Let me ask you this: if your daughter were kidnapped and you paid the ransom by check and then canceled the check after you got your daughter back, do you think you would be guilty of a crime? Do you think the kidnappers could sue you in court for the face value of the check?
It is amazing what a few friends with baseball bats could accomplish to solve this problem!
Ive death with this towing company in 2002 .
My car was towed durung a traffic accident i was hit by a drunken drive i was told by this towing company that i had to get a release for my car at the police deparment which it did .
I hired a tow company to two my car to a body shop we went to there yard and was told that they would not allowed another tow company on there property i said that was fine i understood they most likely would not allow it for insurance reasons .
So i asked if they could tow my car out of there yard and id pay for them doing so .
They said they would do it but not that day because there wasnt a truck avalible i found that to be odd because there was two of there trucks park in the lot .
So i go back the next day.
They said they would have to charge me an extra day for storage of my vehical since i didnt pick the car up the day before .
Then the tell me they can not just just pull my car outside the fence and drop it because that would be abandonment of a vehical eventhough
I had a two truck to pick my car up on the spot as soon as they took my car out of there yard .
Then i was told no two truck was avalible to tow my car and that they only had a flat bed to transport my car wich would be more money .
I was charged 680 dollares to flat bed my car from Harvy to Tinley park.
Then when i go into my car to get my belongings at the body shop all my change in the car was gone a cellphone cord and etc .
Great people to do business with total con artist .
i would have just cancelled the check once it was out of the gate.
Illegal
Honestly that sounds the best way to go. You’d have a good chance at winning in small claims court if they tried to sue you.
1. That would be a felony. 2. Anything over $5,000 would not go to small claims court. Educate yourself.
You would be lookinga tmaybe theft of property 1st even it is your vehicle the tow company owns right now. Also fraud if the d.a want to be an aasshole theft by depection. And negoating a worthless instrument
J dot Remy so you don't like to pay for services rendered? You are the crook.
Should just fill a truck up with hazmat and get it stuck and then call them to retrieve it.
Oh?? Guess you'll just keep the truck until I pay right? Well good, cause what's in that trailer costs $50 a pound to dispose of.... Good luck!
Michael G Man that's a perfect idea too ! That's exactly what he should do to their @SSES !
Michael G Thats pretty smart, but what hazmat is $50 a pound to dispose of?
Anything labelled medical waste. I'm sure they control where used syringes get disposed of, so it they open a trailer filled with bags labeled "biohazard", even if they were filled with dogshit, it would still be a pretty penny for someone to come out and classify and/or assess it.
Michael G actually anything filled with any kind of medical or hazmat waste tow trucks won't even attempt to touch it so you'd just be shit out of luck
Michael G. I like that !
why not just pay someone to steal the truck from the yard?
That would be grand theft auto.
@@Luvless69Chevy not if it’s your own property dumbfuck
11' 8" strikes again!
Biggest tow bill I've ever had was $10k, but that was because they needed a heavy hauler and crane to get the truck out. The other one was $1200.
check the bill: 6 hours of recovery time, on 8 trucks, inluding 2 rotators and 1 heavy duty, 2 service trucks, and 3 light duty flatbeds. the truck had to be unloaded on site, onto the flatbeds, and then reloaded at the yard, and delivered to the original dropoff. all of this is burning diesel, plus big time insurance $$$$, plus labor time!
Now you know who NOT to call when you need a tow truck
Im going into Insurance & towing...theres money to be made free for all!!
@Kyle Nissen they are all a bunch of clowns sheep and losers. But i agree with yu
Need a partner?😁I had a accident the was caused by a unknown medical condition
It has been a nightmare ever since. Add a 5 month unwanted vacation and you could guess the upcoming mess I have. The money mess sucks. 2 MRI trips really sucked! 2 weeks and back to life!!!?
Notice all the brand new 2017 Chevy Trucks with nice light bars gotta pay somehow people like that give a bad name to the honest ones
Never seen an honest one yet.
Not one of them cost a tenth of the price of that 18 wheeler. What's your point? Thanks - Lumpy
$37,000!!!! Damn im in the wrong business!!!
That blue on the Chevy looks really good!
Okay why hasn't he been shut down and thrown in jail for highway robbery?
37,000.00 SNOW JOB!!!! Criminal!!!!!! Close them down!!!!!!!!
Yeah, this is the problem with our law's. In my state if traffic is blocked YOU ARE FORCED to use the state police's tow company of choice. And boy oh boy do they love commercial driver's, EXP small owner operators like my dad. It's a legal scam and legal theft of the property. They should not be aloud to hold your property ransom. They should have to get a judgment just like everyone else
They got some nice trucks.
At 37-K a tow they bet low life drug dealers
They don't say how long it was in storage, the place I used to work would own any car that was in storage for over a month.since the rates double daily after a week. This is done so that the owner gets there car out quick.once the bill is more than the car is worth it gets cut in half and scraped.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna try and pick up a car that was towed by a company after an accident. I fully expect myself to never get it back at this rate...
So what happened?
did they report them
So what happened after that? Did he sue? Did you do a follow up story? Stay on this tow driver like white on rice until he does the right thing. >:(
Damn tow company should feel like shit for making a crippled old man wondee around like that
I kind of wonder whether a "crippled old man" like that should be driving a big rig on our highways.
+Captain Quirk, silly boy,Mr Dewitt owns the company,thats why he brought a driver with him.
@@scottbrazinsky615 and Shakur Alladin : the news story didn't make that clear.
I can’t stand these types of news stories and reporters, there just sooo pushy and ignorant, like, if the guy wants you to stop filming him and getting up and his face, get out of his face?! While this bill is wrong, the news station only cares about a story, or else they wouldn’t have handled it like this.
how did it end?
3k is fair? Bullshit. Does no one understand the work involved? One truck, possibly 2 to get it out, charge for both on scene. Clean up? Charge for all personnel on scene working. Hooking up? Hourly charge and extra in case extra precautions come to light. Time on scene? Charge for time of all personnel on scene. Towing the vehicle? Hourly and/or mileage. Storage for having tractor/trailer? Hundreds per day. There are so many variables that come into play. They have families too. They can say as they please, charges are no set rates depending situations.
This wasn't just a tow people, while the pricing is way too high, this was also a lot more to it because it hit a bridge. You can't give a good estimate upfront, because the time(6 hours) & equipment is not 100% sure till they start to tear into it. The police/city want it out of the way as soon as possible.
The trailer is broken, it has to be unloaded & reload to a new trailer before the truck can be moved. So you have to bring in another truck, trailer, equipment & personal to move it out over to the other trailer, while taking your time for safety, cause the trailer side wall structure is damaged. Then the trailer has to be separated & tow by itself, if not partly torn apart depending on height & width damage .
Then you have to store & also unload & reload the contents again from the tow company's trailer & into the wrecked truck companies trailer when they come to get it.
Standing in-front of employees who have no control over the bill it plain stupid also, your intentionally interfering with them, when they can do nothing about it & also sticking a camera in their faces, just to make the news story more intense for the report. Deal with the owner.
The news crew didn't even let the people watching the story see the full bill to gauge for themselves all that was done to it during the 6 hours. Also who called the tow, the police or the company? Police can not wait hours for a company to figure out who will come clean up the mess.
So while the price is real high, this was not a simple tow of just a truck.
I used to own a carrier business transporting cars. For some unspoken reason, tow truck drivers carry tons of cash in their trucks. Some drivers carry over $10,000 cash in their cab. Not even a bolted down safe to hide it. People that get their cars towed usually pay cash. It's just odd that they all seem to take such huge risks carrying so much money in their trucks. Guess they don't trust banks lol
If it’s illegal why can’t you forcefully retrieve your property?
I work for Allstate, they're charging obnoxious amounts of money...Storage on vehicles is $250 per day in some lots in Illinois...for light duty vehicles, For example - Tows, 650, winch $500, $650 extra equipment, 600 yard fee, $650 gate fee, etc...These obnoxious charges, btw wo tf charges $650 to open a gate to let a vehicle out...and gate fee and yard fees are the same, but since insurance companys would rather get the vehicles out quickly than go through lawsuits, those tow company's do what they want...not even registered nurses make that much, that's like $10 hours of work for them...and they make it in 1 hour.
Illinois....that tells me all I need to know.
This kind of stuff happens all over AMERICA. Dumb when people try to act like certain states have more scammers than others.
come to upstate NY on i90 and i87 and i81 and ull see what a rip off is I got charged $4700 for a 5 mile tow in Albany NY back in February of 2020
There is no over charge if you pay
I want to thank the new station the attorneys everyone who assisted this truck driver thank you for getting this man's truck back it means a lot to him I know because I'm a truck driver myself thank you all
Id have to see the full bill to know how "faie" the bill is but to be candid the $1700 " gate fee" seems suspicious right off the bat.
Other than that we dont know what was done or how long it took.
Cutting off the exhaust for an hour seems excessive.
As far as the arbitrary $3000? Just short of $1500 of the bill is storage right off the bat.
The gate fee was $495, there were 3 fees that added up to the $1700 Administration fee & something not seen. Exhaust fee could be rental of the torch set & time doing it. Someone said they don't own equipment, so guessing rental fees & outsourcing some.
I will not defend their bill as I don't what they did to get the truck free and towed to their yard. That said a recovery can easily cost over $3k. If the truck has to be unloaded it takes extra personnel, a trailer to load cargo on to, the semi to haul the trailer, two tow trucks, one to tow the semi and one to tow the damage trailer. Traffic control as required if by state statue. If is a long term recovery, then you are required to bring drinking water and snacks per OSHA requirements, and sometimes even a porti potty. Does 37k seem high to me, yep. A recovery bill should always include a complete narrative and breakdown of charges. The problem with this company is that it seems they were unwilling to explaine the bill and usually people only do that when they have something to hide. They are making harder on the honest companies.
If the cost was 5 or 7 k, I would understand. But nothing higher than 7k. The truck was still in working order, just the trailer would be an issue, but an easy fix. It doesn't take long to dislodge the truck. Technically speaking, there were no hooking or lifting fees. And it was only 10 mi.
The "gate fee" caught my attention but you are correct that we never see the bill nor do we know what was done.
Even if the truck was "drivable" we dont know there was a dewitt driver at the scene.
We also dont know if it was a police impound so the truck would have to be towed.
Two Rotator Tow Trucks, a Heavy Duty truck, two service trucks, a dolly trailer, 3 light duty trucks, towing the rig, towing the trailer, the crew to make the trailer safe for towing, four days of storing the rig, and some other charges. This was not Joe the Tow picking up a Toyota Corolla.
Still...
@kyle Nissen If they don't own any equipment & have to sub out & rent some equipment, then the cost will go up, more to it then just freeing it & towing, it was a recovery job also to safely remove it. What type load did it have, how was it packaged, was it a mess from the sudden impact stop, what was the weight & then figure out how they had to transfer it from a trailer with damaged side walls and tilted forward. You try rolling stacks of something uphill to then transfer to another trailer & then roll it to the front of that trailer. Its not fast or easy & hard to determine the time it will take for an estimate before beginning.
Like Micheal said, it is way high, but since the news station didn't give viewers a good glimpse of the full bill to actually see what they had into it, makes figuring out a real bill hard.
Did he call the bank and issue a stop payment on the check? That's what I would have done.
WHY DID HE PAY THEM?!?! A JUDGE COULD HAVE ORDERED THEM TO RETURN THE MAN'S TRUCK! 😡😡😡😠😠😠
Put the owner in prison NOW
This is when I bring my 1/2 impact and start taking your truck apart
21 complaints and nothing was done? Politicians at work.
They had different plans. They were charging him the $37.000 hecause they were going to keep the truck so they can add it to their fleet or they wanted that money for a quick way to upgrade the fleet...
So they still got the check in full???
This kind of crime happens all over the country , the ONLY WAY TO STOP IT is to take away their Towing License for good . There are many honest towing companies out there .
That's a just cost! Dude hit the 11'8" bridge and was stuck underneath blocking the entire road. Idiot driver is at fault not the guys who cleared the wreck.
lol! u must own a tow truck company.
Its the end of western civilization. Personal responsibility is literal raycism and huwhite supremacy. Dont expect the NPCs to see it
Prison time! The U.S. justice system doesn't work!
Biggest tow bill I ever seen is about $10000 that took a Crain to pick the unit out of the water and 2 divers an 2 days to clean up the mess.
Just stop payment on the check!
The big question is why was the tractor towed in the first place? The tractor was fine and drivable it did not need to be towed.
Hope that tow company gets robbed
Companies like this towing company should immediately be shut down and the owner barred from having any further licenses
I'm curious as to any updates on the this story and to any legal action and outcome there of....
I would have just got my truck and left. Not many fences can stop a big rig.
Dirty thieves that need to be taught a lesson
Such a bill most or some of the time would cause owner to forfeit the vehicle. This is a scam to keep the car.
That’s a normal tow bill in NJ. Unfortunately
Had a minivan run into my semi in Chicago Dec 26th 2009 and that took out the bottom of my radiator so truck was not able to be driven to Volvo for repairs . The truck was not in need of any special recovery just simply hook up and tow .The wrecker company was already on stand by a block away when it happened and Volvo all of 5 miles away, however Volvo was closed so they brought the semi to their yard which was only a few miles from Volvo and tow point origin...they tried to charge over $5,000 . In the state of Illinois there isn't any regulations on how much a company can charge when towing a CMV over 10,000 gvw ...therr are honest tow companies but many tow drivers are just about as honest prison inmates .
And he wrote them a bounce check.
I would have said just keep the truck S.O.B.s
I was looking at a news report on corrupt towing comanies in Detroit. One trucking company was charged was just over 10,000 dollars for what other posters in the comment section said was about a 5 mile tow.
Hand over check, get truck, stop payment on the check, let them sue you.
all that and they are probably still in business and probably screwed someone else since.
I hope the towing company gets shut down and not allowed to reopen again. That is just outrageous.
This video is old,vut I'm still going to comment. People say things are stupid when they don't understand what goes into doing something. Heavy duty tow trucks aren't cheap. Operating one is very pricey. I'm not saying that that bill wasnt excessive,but it wasn't supposed to be cheap either. The towing industry gets a bad reputation because of bad companies and people lack of knowledge of the industry.
The details on the bill claims that they used 2 rotator trucks, a heavy duty truck, 2 service trucks, 3 light duty trucks for 6 hours each, then 3.5 hours to tow the trailer, then 3.5 hours to tow the truck which they drove, plus cutting a pipe, plus a huge gate fee plus some other charges.
$595 per hour for a service truck is insane, especially considering they were probably paying the tech no more than $20 per hour.
I really hope that they will face a triple damage lawsuit.
That's a very popular bridge for accidents for drivers that do not know the height of their vehicle
What now? Their still operating
I don't agree with the tow bill but at the same time insurance companies charge tow companies about 600 to 800 a month per truck witch is why the bill is so high if it was not going through insurance it would have bin a different story .😁✌
holy cow! $37,000 what is he paying for all there back expense's at the towing place or what?
Have someone tow the towing company's towing trucks, they should be equally eager to get _those_ back. Then send a hefty bill......
The state must setup fixed price for towing
Gosh.... I didn't know people had big rigs towed from Alaska to the midwest. That's the only way my mind can comprehend a $37K bill!
Most semi rollover accidents where cargo is cleaned up and off loaded whatever the certain wreck may require and setting the truck an trailer back up and towing into the impound and employees helping don't even come close to $37 thousand dollars there's a special place in hell for guys like these with this towing company.
Trying to pay for their new trucks 💩👎 they need to be shut down and put in jail
Void the check immediately. Stop payment
He didn't "miscalculate the bridges height." The sign was right there and he didn't need to calculate anything. He thought the laws of physics didn't apply to his truck. I am not justifying the outrageous charge but it was the driver's fault.
He needs to sue this Owner of the tow company for his money back. Leaving him with a $3,000 dollar bill as quoted. As an owner, I myself find this to be highly irresponsible.
The towing co. didn't quote any dollar amount. That made the tow illegal. So I don't think the towing co. can charge for it.
Ok but heavy tows this is normal for this type of clean up !!
On the video, they said a normal charge for this would be around $3k!
Wyoming Cowboy a lawyer for the company says so. That doesnt make it so
I work in the towing industry... we would have been at $10k to clean that up minimum. They’re not telling you about storage and fees like that either. They’re saying the TOW cost $37k. I have a hard time believing that.
The whole bill was $37k, including 4 days of storage at $350 per. If you pause at 0:36 and 0:37, you can just make out most of the bill.
they sure be jailed for fraud & get there license removed & banned from towing anything the old guy sure never pay that much
What would happened if the owner just got in the truck and drive it off? Take action!!
That’s crazy and not right ... it cost all of us on stupid bills like this , and we wonder why are insurance is sky high
Yeah and the next thing I would have done is canceled payment on the check. Gotten a reasonable estimate and written the check for that amount. If they cash the second check
The transaction is complete. If they don't cash the check and try to take you in court, oh I guess that wouldn't work.
They should be arrested for fraud.
Put a stop on the cheque since it was towed illegal
that's the price of a new rig. they thought they would just give them the truck
Their licensees should be revoked, STAT...
And I thought being charged $750 was a lot for a tow.
Not All Towing Services In 'Chicago -Land ' Are Like This .
Ok. So he bridges his trailer . There is no way that that bill should be that high . That's maybe a 3 hr recovery 4 if you have to unload the unit . . I could see$ 10.000 and that's only worse case long shot.
If its a railroad owned bridge which in chicago it probably is you dont touch the truck until the railroad people arrive and "inspect" the bridge which can take longer than 4 hours alone
That towing company should be shut down and refund the man the extra money that he paid because they way overcharged him because it shouldn't have been $37,000
i want to be a tow truck driver but i don't want to deal with criminals
If this was 3000 years ago, the community would throw these tow truck drivers down a well
What good is the commission?
Aren't they there to stop such conduct?
How many complaints need be filed before criminal charges are handed out?(years worth and still nothing was done until the news shone a light on the criminal activity) Fire the people on the commissioners board!
these guys are scum bags who give good towing companies a bad reputation because they have shady practices
*_Are there_* any "good towing companies"?
Unfortunately they get Towing right from Local Town who pay he More money for permit so POlice only Allow to call those Towing Company any accident they right away call that companies before even you figure out what to do , like call your own insurance company to they send their Towing people .
Just use your spare key and take the truck back. Blow through the gate or pull it down with another vehicle to get access to your illegally seized vehicle.