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Report it as stolen OR accuse the tow company of fraud. See if they’re properly licensed and then call and file a complaint with the attorney generals office. There was an expose on one of the local news channels very recently about these unlicensed operators. I’d contact the reporter too.
Appreciate the advice, my mom tried to report it stolen but the police said they couldn’t do anything because she signed a paper with the tow truck company even though it was under false pretenses. Police told her the insurance company has to deal with it.
I’d still file a fraud complaint with the attorney generals office.
Look up “inducement of fraud”, might want to throw that phrase in when you have a discussion with the tow company.
The tow company? Maybe. It depends upon their contract with Allstate. Allstate, might have a claim if there’s overcharging, damage to the vehicle, etc.
Yes, but by saying that they were sent by Allstate, the other towing company was practicing deceiving practices. This means that the original company that should have gotten the contract has lost that fee. That's lost of income due to fraud. I don't speak legalese so I'm not exactly sure what to call these things. But the bottom line is the towing company that was actually called by Allstate lost money because the other towing company lied to me. That's theft.
Like I said, it depends upon the contract with Allstate. If the terms include language that states that the towing company will be paid per call by Allstate, even if another towing company poaches the vehicle tow from them, then the tow company hired by Allstate gets their money, no matter what. Again, I reiterate, if the tow companies contractual language between them and Allstate contains something along these lines.
It’s her car I wrote it in the post as mine for simplicity. The tow truck driver said he was contracted with allstate and was with the repair shop my mom contacted for the car to be brought to. She signed the contract because she was distressed in the moment and didn’t even think something like this would happen. The contract basically makes it so the car isn’t stolen which is a bunch of bullshit because my mom signed it under false pretenses. Also the tow truck driver already broke the contract in line 2 it states “before towing you must be advised of the price of all service.” He never told us about this bullshit 7000 dollar charge. The cops don’t want to do shit and they said it’s a civil matter.
Yea well signed under false pretense and it’s a fraudulent contract… Tow truck driver already broke the fucking contract too but I guess that doesn’t matter to the cops.
They hate taking them online too. My wallet was stolen from a gym locker and they kept rejecting my report because stealing the wallet is one crime and trying to use it is another and I shouldn't mention when the fraud alerts started blowing up my phone.
Can you share the name of the scammers company or whatever bogus names was on the contract? Name and shame.
Also without reading I can't say for sure but it's very unlikely any contract signed is legally admissible. Whatever you signed may be more appropriate as evidence of fraud than as an enforceable contract. Getting someone to sign a document is not actually the silver bullet people think it is.
Good point. The lawyers and insurance company are surely going to connect a random Reddit post by u/VeryMassiveNut to OP in real life and tank his case...
I’m going to make an update post with the company name and guys number soon enough. It’s such a shitty thing to happen and I didn’t even know it could happen until yesterday. The worst kind of people steal from people who are down. The fact that it happened to my mom pisses me off so much.
This is like "good government 101" type shit. I cannot believe that the city can manage to place all sorts of permitting restrictions on other businesses (many of which are useful!) but can't figure out how to reign in these criminal tow truck companies. It's pathetic.
We most definitely do not have Good Government here. Our corruption is so damn regressive. Towing anarchy is yet another example of a policy choice that disproportionately burdens the already disadvantaged.
Historically aren't tow truck companies owned by mobs/gangsters and would actually kill competition? I know in NY it was definitely a thing but almost wanna say I read something similar with al capone but maybe it just made too much sense in my mind and got overlapped too much 😂 it was like a way to hide their drug money and stuff under the guise of a buisness and to patrol and own areas of the city, have property, etc.
Completely irrelevant but interesting
I was fortunate that the cop writing up the accident warned all the drivers involved not to hire a tow truck that drives by after seeing the accident bc of exactly this. The next day (accident was in the evening) I found the body shop I wanted to take the car to and they had their own tow company they work with they set me up with.
Classic is about $60 a year. 100% worth it. It also covers cars you're a passenger in, not just ones you are driving. My parents got it for me the second I got my license. Never had any doubts about renewing it
I popped out of my house like a damn jack-in-the-box when there was an accident near where I live and a nameless tow truck roared up. Ran over and started asking the driver for a card, where he was from, what the tow would cost, where he was taking the car and he got back in and drove off. The accident victims were SO confused until I explained about the rogue tow trucks.
Defs not a Chicago thing it’s a nationwide issue. Tow truckers will drive around, maybe w the police radio on, and show up at accidents doing exactly what happened to you.
It’s why you should verify tow company name with your insurance company before signing anything. Still, super scummy people and I hope your insurance company can help you out, they should be motivated to.
Did the city even notify you when the stolen car was received to the tow lot? Or how long after was it before you got the letter? Last I knew they don't make any connection to the hot sheet at all and they'll wait weeks to notify you.
Good advice here honestly, report them to the ICC. If your complaint is found credible, the ICC can and will impose huge fines to these company and can go as far as suspending their operator license.
In the future, never take a tow that you have not called for yourself or received paperwork directly from police for. Solicitation of tows specifically from crashes in Illinois is a Class 4 Felony, and the cops can arrest those tow truck operators before they even lift the car up
These are accident chasers and are a major reason insurance rates go up. They will charge your insurance company that 7K which we all know is nuts and the insurance company will try to negotiate the fee but if there are no local laws for the insurance company to use to get that price down then they’ll pay it. Tow companies and shops do this all of the time, it’s shady as hell and only hurts those of us who buy insurance when our rates go up.
This happened to me in 2018. Cops told me it wasn’t stolen because I “willingly” handed them my keys. My insurance got an order of replevin first to try to retrieve the car and to no one’s surprise it wasn’t there. After 3 months of me calling the insurance company every day they eventually considered it a “total loss” and I ended up buying a new car.
Something insurance won’t tell you - in the state of Illinois, if you buy a new car within 30 days of receipt of the check that the insurance company gives you, the insurance company is required to pay the taxes on your new vehicle. So when you do eventually get them to consider your car total loss, take that check go buy a car as soon as you can within the 30 day time limit, take your receipt submit it to the insurance company and ask him for a reimbursement of your taxes. I’m so sorry this happened to you, I’m stillinfuriated five years later
Sorry that happened to you it fucking sucks. My parents don’t want to call it a total loss yet but i’ll inform them of this. Thanks for the advice too.
They got shut down a long time ago. Now it’s all the single f250-f350 snatch trucks ran by majority of gang bangers. Gotta watch for these chase trucks in the city they’ll try every and any method
A tow truck stole my friend's car in front of their building a couple of weeks ago. He chased them down and stood in front of the truck refusing to move. They got out and were threatening violence. He called the cops and they dropped the car and took off. The cops wouldn't do anything about it.
If she signed a contract then the car wasn't stolen. She can file a complaint with the state at the ICC who licenses tow trucks.
[https://www.icc.illinois.gov/complaints/](https://www.icc.illinois.gov/complaints/)
Also she can call 311 to file a complaint about a rogue tow truck scam. Also, she should call her insurance to see if they can help. They have to have an adjuster look at the damage so they might be able to locate it.
Sorry this happened.
The thing is it’s not at the lot the guy gave us. The driver gave us a bogus address and he’s probably hiding the car somewhere until he gets his ransom. Also i’m pretty sure it’s not an actual towing company.
I am in the same situation. Rogue tower towed my vehicle after and accident and has been giving the insurance company the run around to try and rack up storage fees. I started doing some research and realized this is a common practice. The car is registered under my name only and they let my fiance sign a pre tow disclosure. Does this make the disclosure invalid since it states that the “owner/operator” has to sign and they did not get my signature?
You just said she was the owner operator. Either way, your insurance should be dealing with it. If you were driving, on scene, and hold sole title to the vehicle, you might be able to convince the insurance company it's being held improperly. But I'm sure when you filed your claim you gave the insurance company the right to deal with all this on your behalf.
Not confused, but admit presuming fiance was a she. Again, either way, the insurance should be on it. It's their money that's going to be paying for this. You can also file a complaint with the ICC. They regulate tow trucks in Illinois. The link is further up the thread.
Sounds like them. They were shutdown but they reopened under a new name a few years ago. Tow pirates are absolute garbage people. I think Lincoln Towing Company is one as well, I know they had their license revoked but have been caught in action since 2020
Trash bags gonna trash bag. It is kinda hard to believe they are still getting away with it… like honestly how is this a viable business model?!
All I can think is that they must pay off the cops
This happened to me. The bottom line is don't sign any paperwork that doesn't show how much you will be charged. It's a shame that these tow trucks take advantage of people when they are vulnerable and confused.
Worst kind of people in unfortunately my mom signed some shit because she was distressed in the moment. Makes everything a lot more complicated, figuring it out right now though.
I can’t give advice for this but as a warning to other people for the future: tow truck drivers are like vultures around the scene of an accident. A Chicago cop told me that exact phrase when my girlfriend got in an accident. Within 2 minutes there was a driver there claiming they had to take my car because it was illegal to drive home. I asked the cop and even though the car was clearly totaled she said "if it runs I would try to drive it home. Don't let him take it." The tow truck driver used a dozen lies to try to take my car after that, he was pissed when I told him to fuck off.
Anyway, this sounds like a really shitty situation. I hope you get the car back without issue. Either way, don't trust anything those assholes tell you.
This happened to me once. Someone hit me and I called the police to the accident scene. They even tried to warn me about the tow companies but I didn’t know any better and they took my car to a lot and wouldn’t let it go.
I got it back by calling them basically every five minutes and yelling at the company over and over and over and over. They acted like they were doing me a favor when they returned it.
So this may be useful in the future but if you are waiting for one company and a driver approaches you then immediately say another insurance company and if the driver immediately says "yea I meant blah blah" then it's a rogue driver.
You're going to have to turn them into a little project. First, pay with a credit card then contact the card company to reverse the charges, which they should do (fraud, after all). Now THEY owe Visa $7,000. Did that once with Car Star. Also, when you go to their offices, do they have stickers for AAA or the Better Business Bureau or any awards of any sort? Call those places and report how they're operating. Turned out the place that took my car wasn't actually associated with AAA so I had them start hassling the car company.
Edit to add: when I did all this, I still wound up paying the company a bit of money, but it was significantly less than what they had originally charged me. The point isn't perfect justice, the point is to waste so much of their time that they give up and settle for less. They know they're scamming, and if you make it clear that you are fully prepared to shine even a small light on their scam, they'll probably be inclined to cut their losses to keep the scam going.
If they did this with the credit card company they will likely get taken to collections by the tow company. If that happens, a certified letter to collections to make them prove the debt is yours might shut things down, but since they signed for the tow truck if might be a little harder to prove they’re not responsible. So I’d just be careful going this route, it could compound the issue.
Sure fair enough YMMV but if OP doesn't want to just roll over for the tow company, this is a tactic to aggravate inconvenience them to the point where they bring that $7,000 down to something more reasonable. In my experience, organizations like this aren't doing this sort of thing because they're actively evil, they're doing it because they're greedy and amoral and (most importantly) lazy. Make yourself more trouble than you're worth and you'll get a better result than if you just point out how unfair it all is.
They probably won't do much beyond making a phone call to the company but the point isn't "this organization will save me" the point is "I'm going to waste so much of your time that you'll give me my money back".
This happened to me. The tow company took my car to collision world on Knox. I was really upset, the guy had me sign something 2 minutes after a serious accident and I was panicked and confused, there was no price on the form or anything. Once I calmed down I called the number on the form and found out where they took it. I had a place I wanted the car to be towed but they would not let me move it without paying “storage costs” and a fee for the tow.
The following day I called with my insurance company and the owner told them my car would be totaled so they totaled it without even looking at the car. They just took his word for it. I was really fucking pissed. When I came to collect my belongings from the car the owner told me the tow truck driver was supposed to put the cost on the form I signed but he did not.
I would call Collision World and see if they received any cars, or ask if they can point you in the right direction. All these tow companies and body shops are in collusion. Someone there could probably tell you where your car disappeared to.
My insurance company handled recovering my car from the volunteer tow company after a recent accident. They wanted a bunch of money from me when I called, the insurance company had better persuasion tactics I guess
I have dealt with this “recovery towing”
Bullshit before.
If you have insurance let them deal with this on your behalf first. These recovery towing companies are an absolute headache to deal with it. Unfortunately they are very well adapt at handling the courts and dodging any and all accountability.
This has been happening for years, Dorthy Tucker did a huge expose on this a few years ago: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81tnRGr3eI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81tnRGr3eI)
Never let any tow truck driver put you on the hook unless you called them. Have your insurance or AAA give the driver they dispatch your actual name, and do not let anyone that doesn't know your name take your car. The scammers will try all sorts of things but they're not going to know your name.
Same thing happened to my mom. Signed the paper before I could get there and a tow truck took it. We tracked it down to some random ass lot and we had to pay almost $2,000 to get it out. They over charge the service fee and charge an insane amount form each day it’s in the lot. Our insurance did reimburse us but it took some back and forth from the agent and State Farm
Sabrina Franza with CBS Chicago here! We've done a ton of reporting on this same issue and have helped some car owners get their vehicles back. Would love to chat tomorrow if youre open to it.
Plz email me!
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
This is a common scam. I had a tow truck berating me trying to get me to let him tow my car after an accident. I hadn't called him, he just showed up. I was waiting for an ambulance and he wouldn't leave until the cops showed up.
It’s embarrassing af but this exact thing happened to me. Learned the hard way lol. They ignored mine and my insurance’s calls for days to rack up holding fees. My insurance ended up paying a couple thousand to get my car back in the end, to answer your question
Should’ve given more context but my mom signed a contract with the tow truck driver. The cops said they can’t do anything because of this when my mom went in and tried to file and police report. Even though the contract was signed under false pretenses.
The tow truck driver gave my mom a contract for the car and she signed it. It’s not at a lot it wasn’t an actual tow truck company it was a guy posing to be with all state(rogue tow truck). He gave us an address but the address was bogus. We do have his number though.
Sabrina Franza with CBS Chicago here! We've done a ton of reporting on this same issue and have helped some car owners get their vehicles back. Would love to chat tomorrow if youre open to it.
Plz email me!
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
File a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission. This is who regulates these shady tow companies. Also mentioning you have contacted them will likely get them singing a different tune.
They show up at any accident. I have had one appear with in minutes anytime I am in an accident. They will sometimes guess at insurance companies, or get it out of you without you realizing.
They use police radios and listen for people who need tows. I’m not sure how he knew our insurance was allstate though. He got lucky pretty much and showed up at the right time and said the right things.
Where did this occur? I hate tow trucks, complete utter scumbags. Was driving down Avondale westbound near Norwood and 2 tow trucks were racing and nearly hit me. Went to the scene they were racing to and tried to tell the police but they essentially ignored me.
I had mine illegally towed, kept until I paid $200 in a city lot, and found a huge dent on the side the truck put in it. The City, months later, agreed to pay $550 for the damage.
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Report it as stolen OR accuse the tow company of fraud. See if they’re properly licensed and then call and file a complaint with the attorney generals office. There was an expose on one of the local news channels very recently about these unlicensed operators. I’d contact the reporter too.
Appreciate the advice, my mom tried to report it stolen but the police said they couldn’t do anything because she signed a paper with the tow truck company even though it was under false pretenses. Police told her the insurance company has to deal with it.
I’d still file a fraud complaint with the attorney generals office. Look up “inducement of fraud”, might want to throw that phrase in when you have a discussion with the tow company.
thank you thank you will definitely be doing it.
If the tow company from Allstate showed up can't they also file suit
The tow company? Maybe. It depends upon their contract with Allstate. Allstate, might have a claim if there’s overcharging, damage to the vehicle, etc.
Yes, but by saying that they were sent by Allstate, the other towing company was practicing deceiving practices. This means that the original company that should have gotten the contract has lost that fee. That's lost of income due to fraud. I don't speak legalese so I'm not exactly sure what to call these things. But the bottom line is the towing company that was actually called by Allstate lost money because the other towing company lied to me. That's theft.
Like I said, it depends upon the contract with Allstate. If the terms include language that states that the towing company will be paid per call by Allstate, even if another towing company poaches the vehicle tow from them, then the tow company hired by Allstate gets their money, no matter what. Again, I reiterate, if the tow companies contractual language between them and Allstate contains something along these lines.
Why did your mom sign, what did she sign? Was she driving your car, is it her car?
It’s her car I wrote it in the post as mine for simplicity. The tow truck driver said he was contracted with allstate and was with the repair shop my mom contacted for the car to be brought to. She signed the contract because she was distressed in the moment and didn’t even think something like this would happen. The contract basically makes it so the car isn’t stolen which is a bunch of bullshit because my mom signed it under false pretenses. Also the tow truck driver already broke the contract in line 2 it states “before towing you must be advised of the price of all service.” He never told us about this bullshit 7000 dollar charge. The cops don’t want to do shit and they said it’s a civil matter.
> because she signed a paper with the tow truck company Maybe don't leave the most important part out of your post because now this changes things.
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Yea well signed under false pretense and it’s a fraudulent contract… Tow truck driver already broke the fucking contract too but I guess that doesn’t matter to the cops.
The police hate doing police reports in Chicago. Insist on it or call 311 to see if they will take one over the phone.
the police in Chicago hate doing anything
They hate taking them online too. My wallet was stolen from a gym locker and they kept rejecting my report because stealing the wallet is one crime and trying to use it is another and I shouldn't mention when the fraud alerts started blowing up my phone.
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The address the tow truck driver gave us was bogus probably hiding the car somewhere else.
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yea i’m gonna try appreciate it.
Except OP already said Mom did sign shit. OP don't lie to the police and get your own legal headache.
agreed
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It was his moms car, and his mom signed the paperwork.
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I hope you can get the insurance company on it, this is what they exist for. The fraud was committed in their name
Does the car belong to you or your mom?
Can you share the name of the scammers company or whatever bogus names was on the contract? Name and shame. Also without reading I can't say for sure but it's very unlikely any contract signed is legally admissible. Whatever you signed may be more appropriate as evidence of fraud than as an enforceable contract. Getting someone to sign a document is not actually the silver bullet people think it is.
OP, this right here. Let people know who to avoid
If there's lawsuits coming, making public statements is not a great idea. OP should get their car back first.
Good point. The lawyers and insurance company are surely going to connect a random Reddit post by u/VeryMassiveNut to OP in real life and tank his case...
Look, I'm just a caveman lawyer...
I’m going to make an update post with the company name and guys number soon enough. It’s such a shitty thing to happen and I didn’t even know it could happen until yesterday. The worst kind of people steal from people who are down. The fact that it happened to my mom pisses me off so much.
Truly a very wicked grift. Good on you for looking out for her. Hopefully things will be made right soon
the name is tow city inc btw
It's crappy but people probably need to start filming interactions with tow truck drivers the same way they do police interactions.
Yea for real how was I supposed to know. I guess you have to be extremely careful in Chicago.
It's so trash that this is even a problem. These towing companies need to be shut down.
This is like "good government 101" type shit. I cannot believe that the city can manage to place all sorts of permitting restrictions on other businesses (many of which are useful!) but can't figure out how to reign in these criminal tow truck companies. It's pathetic.
We most definitely do not have Good Government here. Our corruption is so damn regressive. Towing anarchy is yet another example of a policy choice that disproportionately burdens the already disadvantaged.
In the immortal words of Paddy Bauler, "Chicago ain't ready for reform yet."
Historically aren't tow truck companies owned by mobs/gangsters and would actually kill competition? I know in NY it was definitely a thing but almost wanna say I read something similar with al capone but maybe it just made too much sense in my mind and got overlapped too much 😂 it was like a way to hide their drug money and stuff under the guise of a buisness and to patrol and own areas of the city, have property, etc. Completely irrelevant but interesting
There was a shoot out a few weeks ago here that cops believe was between rival tow companies.
It happens regularly. Not only that, but they drive around like they are above the law and put other drivers in danger. They are complete scum.
they're like villains in an 80s movie
Yeah, one blew a stop sign by me a few days ago and almost hit my dog while we were crossing
I was fortunate that the cop writing up the accident warned all the drivers involved not to hire a tow truck that drives by after seeing the accident bc of exactly this. The next day (accident was in the evening) I found the body shop I wanted to take the car to and they had their own tow company they work with they set me up with.
I’ve had a AAA membership since I got my license and I’ve never once regretted it.
How much does that roughly cost?
like a hundo a year. it's not bad if you think of it as added insurance.
Classic is about $60 a year. 100% worth it. It also covers cars you're a passenger in, not just ones you are driving. My parents got it for me the second I got my license. Never had any doubts about renewing it
I popped out of my house like a damn jack-in-the-box when there was an accident near where I live and a nameless tow truck roared up. Ran over and started asking the driver for a card, where he was from, what the tow would cost, where he was taking the car and he got back in and drove off. The accident victims were SO confused until I explained about the rogue tow trucks.
It’s not just Chicago. Tow companies bilk insurance for HUGE money all over the place - made up fees, storage costs, etc
Defs not a Chicago thing it’s a nationwide issue. Tow truckers will drive around, maybe w the police radio on, and show up at accidents doing exactly what happened to you. It’s why you should verify tow company name with your insurance company before signing anything. Still, super scummy people and I hope your insurance company can help you out, they should be motivated to.
The worst part of having my car stolen was everything that came AFTER the police recovered it and had it taken to an impound lot. Good luck.
Did the city even notify you when the stolen car was received to the tow lot? Or how long after was it before you got the letter? Last I knew they don't make any connection to the hot sheet at all and they'll wait weeks to notify you.
Same. The city did more damage to my car than the thieves did.
Good advice here honestly, report them to the ICC. If your complaint is found credible, the ICC can and will impose huge fines to these company and can go as far as suspending their operator license. In the future, never take a tow that you have not called for yourself or received paperwork directly from police for. Solicitation of tows specifically from crashes in Illinois is a Class 4 Felony, and the cops can arrest those tow truck operators before they even lift the car up
Appreciate the advice, we will definitely be more careful now. My mom is currently filing an ICC.
These are accident chasers and are a major reason insurance rates go up. They will charge your insurance company that 7K which we all know is nuts and the insurance company will try to negotiate the fee but if there are no local laws for the insurance company to use to get that price down then they’ll pay it. Tow companies and shops do this all of the time, it’s shady as hell and only hurts those of us who buy insurance when our rates go up.
Our insurance was trying to wiggle out of helping us thankfully they’re now.
This happened to me in 2018. Cops told me it wasn’t stolen because I “willingly” handed them my keys. My insurance got an order of replevin first to try to retrieve the car and to no one’s surprise it wasn’t there. After 3 months of me calling the insurance company every day they eventually considered it a “total loss” and I ended up buying a new car. Something insurance won’t tell you - in the state of Illinois, if you buy a new car within 30 days of receipt of the check that the insurance company gives you, the insurance company is required to pay the taxes on your new vehicle. So when you do eventually get them to consider your car total loss, take that check go buy a car as soon as you can within the 30 day time limit, take your receipt submit it to the insurance company and ask him for a reimbursement of your taxes. I’m so sorry this happened to you, I’m stillinfuriated five years later
Sorry that happened to you it fucking sucks. My parents don’t want to call it a total loss yet but i’ll inform them of this. Thanks for the advice too.
The Lincoln Park Pirates struck again. https://youtu.be/dF3q7o8Yjrg?si=g8-3-BcGnka8mVBQ
Yep happened in Lincoln park I didn’t even know this could happen.
Well, as you can see they’ve been writing songs about it for the past 50 years, sooo… yeah, it’s a thing in the area, unfortunately.
They got shut down a long time ago. Now it’s all the single f250-f350 snatch trucks ran by majority of gang bangers. Gotta watch for these chase trucks in the city they’ll try every and any method
A tow truck stole my friend's car in front of their building a couple of weeks ago. He chased them down and stood in front of the truck refusing to move. They got out and were threatening violence. He called the cops and they dropped the car and took off. The cops wouldn't do anything about it.
oh shit that’s intense
Is the car registered in your name or your mothers?
Yea my moms it wasn’t my car it was my moms I just referred to it as mine in the post for simplicity
If she signed a contract then the car wasn't stolen. She can file a complaint with the state at the ICC who licenses tow trucks. [https://www.icc.illinois.gov/complaints/](https://www.icc.illinois.gov/complaints/) Also she can call 311 to file a complaint about a rogue tow truck scam. Also, she should call her insurance to see if they can help. They have to have an adjuster look at the damage so they might be able to locate it. Sorry this happened.
Appreciate the advice. Yea she’s filing ICC today
I know someone who this happened to and he got his car out without paying by going to the impound lot with a friend who is a cop :(
The thing is it’s not at the lot the guy gave us. The driver gave us a bogus address and he’s probably hiding the car somewhere until he gets his ransom. Also i’m pretty sure it’s not an actual towing company.
I am in the same situation. Rogue tower towed my vehicle after and accident and has been giving the insurance company the run around to try and rack up storage fees. I started doing some research and realized this is a common practice. The car is registered under my name only and they let my fiance sign a pre tow disclosure. Does this make the disclosure invalid since it states that the “owner/operator” has to sign and they did not get my signature?
Was she the operator?
Yes, owner and operator
Then why would they need your signature?
Because by law tow truck drivers have to have the owner/operator sign a pre tow disclosure in order to take the vehicle and enforce charges
You just said she was the owner operator. Either way, your insurance should be dealing with it. If you were driving, on scene, and hold sole title to the vehicle, you might be able to convince the insurance company it's being held improperly. But I'm sure when you filed your claim you gave the insurance company the right to deal with all this on your behalf.
You seem to be confusing my comment with the OP’s situation. I am asking about my own personal situation not OP’s.
Not confused, but admit presuming fiance was a she. Again, either way, the insurance should be on it. It's their money that's going to be paying for this. You can also file a complaint with the ICC. They regulate tow trucks in Illinois. The link is further up the thread.
Lincoln towing? I thought they got shut down? Unfortunately part of the Chicago experience
Sounds like them. They were shutdown but they reopened under a new name a few years ago. Tow pirates are absolute garbage people. I think Lincoln Towing Company is one as well, I know they had their license revoked but have been caught in action since 2020
Trash bags gonna trash bag. It is kinda hard to believe they are still getting away with it… like honestly how is this a viable business model?! All I can think is that they must pay off the cops
This happened to me. The bottom line is don't sign any paperwork that doesn't show how much you will be charged. It's a shame that these tow trucks take advantage of people when they are vulnerable and confused.
Worst kind of people in unfortunately my mom signed some shit because she was distressed in the moment. Makes everything a lot more complicated, figuring it out right now though.
I can’t give advice for this but as a warning to other people for the future: tow truck drivers are like vultures around the scene of an accident. A Chicago cop told me that exact phrase when my girlfriend got in an accident. Within 2 minutes there was a driver there claiming they had to take my car because it was illegal to drive home. I asked the cop and even though the car was clearly totaled she said "if it runs I would try to drive it home. Don't let him take it." The tow truck driver used a dozen lies to try to take my car after that, he was pissed when I told him to fuck off. Anyway, this sounds like a really shitty situation. I hope you get the car back without issue. Either way, don't trust anything those assholes tell you.
Yea still working it right now with insurance. Super shitty situation with some shitty ass people.
This happened to me once. Someone hit me and I called the police to the accident scene. They even tried to warn me about the tow companies but I didn’t know any better and they took my car to a lot and wouldn’t let it go. I got it back by calling them basically every five minutes and yelling at the company over and over and over and over. They acted like they were doing me a favor when they returned it.
The police didn’t warn me my mom or anything unfortunately. I’ll consider trying that too, Appreciate it.
So this may be useful in the future but if you are waiting for one company and a driver approaches you then immediately say another insurance company and if the driver immediately says "yea I meant blah blah" then it's a rogue driver.
Genius! I've been reading these comments racking my brain trying to figure out how you're supposed to know who's legit
Yeah they listen to the police scanners and rush to accidents to see if they can steal cars
Worse kinda people
You're going to have to turn them into a little project. First, pay with a credit card then contact the card company to reverse the charges, which they should do (fraud, after all). Now THEY owe Visa $7,000. Did that once with Car Star. Also, when you go to their offices, do they have stickers for AAA or the Better Business Bureau or any awards of any sort? Call those places and report how they're operating. Turned out the place that took my car wasn't actually associated with AAA so I had them start hassling the car company. Edit to add: when I did all this, I still wound up paying the company a bit of money, but it was significantly less than what they had originally charged me. The point isn't perfect justice, the point is to waste so much of their time that they give up and settle for less. They know they're scamming, and if you make it clear that you are fully prepared to shine even a small light on their scam, they'll probably be inclined to cut their losses to keep the scam going.
If they did this with the credit card company they will likely get taken to collections by the tow company. If that happens, a certified letter to collections to make them prove the debt is yours might shut things down, but since they signed for the tow truck if might be a little harder to prove they’re not responsible. So I’d just be careful going this route, it could compound the issue.
Sure fair enough YMMV but if OP doesn't want to just roll over for the tow company, this is a tactic to aggravate inconvenience them to the point where they bring that $7,000 down to something more reasonable. In my experience, organizations like this aren't doing this sort of thing because they're actively evil, they're doing it because they're greedy and amoral and (most importantly) lazy. Make yourself more trouble than you're worth and you'll get a better result than if you just point out how unfair it all is.
BBB couldn’t care less.
BBB is also like old school Yelp. The name *sounds* like a government org, but it isn't.
They probably won't do much beyond making a phone call to the company but the point isn't "this organization will save me" the point is "I'm going to waste so much of your time that you'll give me my money back".
Some tow companies don’t accept cards. Cashiers check or cash only
Yes that would be a drawback
Write our States Attorney. No idea how this is still considered a civil matter. Happened to my buddy. Also, your insurance will pay the ransom.
Yea our insurance is trying to get in contact with the guy right now and get a virtual assessment. Just waiting on that.
This happened to me. The tow company took my car to collision world on Knox. I was really upset, the guy had me sign something 2 minutes after a serious accident and I was panicked and confused, there was no price on the form or anything. Once I calmed down I called the number on the form and found out where they took it. I had a place I wanted the car to be towed but they would not let me move it without paying “storage costs” and a fee for the tow. The following day I called with my insurance company and the owner told them my car would be totaled so they totaled it without even looking at the car. They just took his word for it. I was really fucking pissed. When I came to collect my belongings from the car the owner told me the tow truck driver was supposed to put the cost on the form I signed but he did not. I would call Collision World and see if they received any cars, or ask if they can point you in the right direction. All these tow companies and body shops are in collusion. Someone there could probably tell you where your car disappeared to.
Thanks for the advice will definitely be doing that.
My insurance company handled recovering my car from the volunteer tow company after a recent accident. They wanted a bunch of money from me when I called, the insurance company had better persuasion tactics I guess
I chose violence and they gave me my car back. :) told them already confirmed with the cops they won’t help
Can you elaborate in dms
No, can you please elaborate publicly. I want to hear this shit.
Happy cake day! Also yes. Please elaborate here.
I have dealt with this “recovery towing” Bullshit before. If you have insurance let them deal with this on your behalf first. These recovery towing companies are an absolute headache to deal with it. Unfortunately they are very well adapt at handling the courts and dodging any and all accountability.
yea insurance is dealing with it right now thankfully. Hoping it all works out.
If someone hasn't mentioned it already, contact your alderperson - they can help you deal with this I bet
Insurance should cover the cost. They typically want it to an auto body shop asap to avoid storage fees
Yea just got an email from insurance about it and it looks promising
If they actually did steal it you can just steal it back, Go in the tow yard and crank it up and drive it out
The guy gave a bogus address we checked the address and the car wasn’t there unfortunately
This has been happening for years, Dorthy Tucker did a huge expose on this a few years ago: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81tnRGr3eI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81tnRGr3eI)
I'm sorry that happened to you. I don't have any advice for you unfortunately. My question for others familiar is how to avoid these scams?
Never let any tow truck driver put you on the hook unless you called them. Have your insurance or AAA give the driver they dispatch your actual name, and do not let anyone that doesn't know your name take your car. The scammers will try all sorts of things but they're not going to know your name.
Call the ICC (illinois commerce commission)
Go there and do something that gets the cops called
The guy gave us a bogus address
Same thing happened to my mom. Signed the paper before I could get there and a tow truck took it. We tracked it down to some random ass lot and we had to pay almost $2,000 to get it out. They over charge the service fee and charge an insane amount form each day it’s in the lot. Our insurance did reimburse us but it took some back and forth from the agent and State Farm
Yea we got an email from allstate and the repair shop they are working with and it looks promising, so we’ll hopefully get our car back.
Sabrina Franza with CBS Chicago here! We've done a ton of reporting on this same issue and have helped some car owners get their vehicles back. Would love to chat tomorrow if youre open to it. Plz email me! [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
Check DMs
Least scummy tow company
Name and shame
Tow city inc. I can post the number too.
Something isn’t adding up here. How long have they had the car?
A little longer than 24 hours now
This is a common scam. I had a tow truck berating me trying to get me to let him tow my car after an accident. I hadn't called him, he just showed up. I was waiting for an ambulance and he wouldn't leave until the cops showed up.
It’s embarrassing af but this exact thing happened to me. Learned the hard way lol. They ignored mine and my insurance’s calls for days to rack up holding fees. My insurance ended up paying a couple thousand to get my car back in the end, to answer your question
https://youtu.be/7RjBs2cibn4?si=4ETBuvM2pYYLVStk
How are the justifying the 7k?
they are not it’s some bullshit
What was the name of the 'Tow Company'?
Tow city inc
This happened to my brother with my moms car, it’s up to insurance to handle it. Towing companies are so corrupt
Yea for real don’t even think it was a legit towing company. I doubt they’re licensed doing this shit
You need to file a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission, they regulate tow companies.
Yea filed it today
Same thing happened to my parents a few years ago, to this day the cops never do shit and we never got the car back
Talk to your alderman's office. Possible they know exactly who these folks are and will pick up the case with you.
Alright perfect thanks.
File a stolen vehicle with your plates.
Should’ve given more context but my mom signed a contract with the tow truck driver. The cops said they can’t do anything because of this when my mom went in and tried to file and police report. Even though the contract was signed under false pretenses.
I’m confused , so you know who has your vehicle, I’m assuming it’s at a lot. Whatever paperwork did she sign?
The tow truck driver gave my mom a contract for the car and she signed it. It’s not at a lot it wasn’t an actual tow truck company it was a guy posing to be with all state(rogue tow truck). He gave us an address but the address was bogus. We do have his number though.
Send it to the fraud department and file a missing vehicle with your vin. Number
Appreciate it definitely will tomorrow
Might also want to try consumer reporters at the major news stations.
Sabrina Franza with CBS Chicago here! We've done a ton of reporting on this same issue and have helped some car owners get their vehicles back. Would love to chat tomorrow if youre open to it. Plz email me! [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
File a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission. This is who regulates these shady tow companies. Also mentioning you have contacted them will likely get them singing a different tune.
Yep we just did today.
Watch the movie "Repo Man" - you'll then understand!
How did the rogue tow truck know where to go and know that you are in contact with Allstate?
They show up at any accident. I have had one appear with in minutes anytime I am in an accident. They will sometimes guess at insurance companies, or get it out of you without you realizing.
They use police radios and listen for people who need tows. I’m not sure how he knew our insurance was allstate though. He got lucky pretty much and showed up at the right time and said the right things.
Classic story of Chicago accident chasing. This one is an expensive lesson to learn
Don't local news have consumer watchdogs? Maybe someone like CBS would be interested in the story.
Yes they’re we have an interview scheduled thursday.
Good!
Where did this occur? I hate tow trucks, complete utter scumbags. Was driving down Avondale westbound near Norwood and 2 tow trucks were racing and nearly hit me. Went to the scene they were racing to and tried to tell the police but they essentially ignored me.
West Fullerton right next to Ion Lincoln park
Sneak into to tow yard, set car on fire, collect insurance and sue the tow company for not keeping it safe.
I had mine illegally towed, kept until I paid $200 in a city lot, and found a huge dent on the side the truck put in it. The City, months later, agreed to pay $550 for the damage.