Today while watching “Cops”, I saw a towtruck driver tell a woman, after he had pulled her car out of where it was stuck, that it was 50 bucks, cash only, no checks or credit cards. This echoes what I had heard from one or another friend who had an unpleasant experience during a snow storm getting a car towed out.
Is this policy universal, or just for shady types?
What do they do if you don’t have the cash on hand? (the guy on Cops allowed the woman to go to an ATM)
How about in a blizzard, where you probably aren’t going to be able to get to cash at all?
Would they simply drive off with a person’s car if he/she couldn’t cough up 50 bucks?
Are there so many fraudlent customers that they need such a restriction, or do they do so simply because they can?
As I recall, the last time I payed for a tow, many years ago, I used a credit card.
Tow truck operators get at least two types of towing assignments. They tow people whose cars have broken down, and they tow people with expired licenses/bad registrations/misparked cars. The latter people are NOT pleased to be getting towed, and I suspect that a number of checks would be cancelled/credit cards reversed the next day.
Also, I suspect that there’s a reasonably high correlation between being in tight financial straits and having a car that needs to be towed. Or to put it less politically correct, if you drive a beater, you may be a deadbeat yourself. In short, tow truck drivers tend to be cynical and lacking in the milk of human kindness.
The last time I was towed, I had them take it straight to the repair shop. They must have some sort of agreement because the tow was just added on to the repair bill.
I used to work as a security guard and part of my job was to call the tow company if someone was parked in the fire lane of the condo complex I was working at (yes, I know, I am the scum of the earth). Usually upon towing, the owner would come out screaming, and demand for their car. The tow guy only took cash. And this was in an upscale condo complex; I remember seeing this brand new Mercedes S-Class sitting in the firelane for an hour or two (I usually gave them a bit of time, I wasn’t an all out bitch) that still had the dealer plates on it (MB of Beverly Hills). After a few hours I decided he was my bitch and had a tow called. Cash only accepted, and the guy was well known around the city as the owner of a local auto insurance company. He shoulda known better. So IME, under those circumstances, cash only for a drop at the curb.
AAA tows for free. If I were in a circumstance where I’d have to pay out of pocket, I’d make damn sure they took a credit card before they agreed to come out. This is the 20th century, after all.
The state legislature passed the law requiring this while I was at college in Upstate NY. Apparently someone had broken down on a Major Artery and called a tow truck. They came, and then drove away because the owners of the disabled car had insufficient cash, and a short time later the disabled vehicle was sideswiped and the owner was killed.
Same here on AAA. Ever since I heard the first of these towing extortion stories, I feared being in a place where AAA doesn’t go, without any cash, with a nasty tow truck driver ready to carry off my ride to some $100/day automobile Hilton with mean dogs.
If I were in a circumstance where I’d have to pay out of pocket, I’d make damn sure they took a credit card before they agreed to come out. This is the 20th century, after all.