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By Natalie Bomke, FOX 32 News Weekend Anchor
An online ad for towing services on Google, Bing, & Yahoo to say the least is generating complaints with the Chicago area Better Business Bureau.
Check out the $65 towing scam video brought to you by Fox 32!
The price the ad promises is far from what two customers say they got. Natalie bomke investigated how loose regulations of the towing industry are generating outrageous bills for Illinois consumers. It was the first big snow of the year and Lucas Griganavicius' car slid off an interstate ramp. He was stuck.
"He called me and I said just call a tow truck, so then he did a quick Google search and found Jonny's Towing (that is based in Oswego, IL) which was the first one he found, and had gotten a quote of $65 dollars," said Coleen Scully, Lucas' mom. That was a price Lucas, a college student paying his way through school, could afford. However, something happened when it was time to pay.
"The tow truck driver said okay here's how much you owe, $450 dollars," Scully said. "For like 15 minutes, that's all they were there for, to charge $450 dollars, that is highway robbery." Hence it wasn't the $65 fee they were told over the phone.
A week later, Eileen Nolan became stranded.
"I was picking up my grandson from school and we went about 4 blocks and I heard a crash, like a blow out, but I was only going 20 and stopped the car right away," Nolan said. Nolan's son-in-law found a similar ad for Johnny's Towing. The tow truck arrived and took Nolan and her car only four short miles.
"We got there and he said $290. And I said $290, how'd it get to $290? And he said $195 for the tow, just the truck, and 15 dollars a mile. I said we didn't go 15 miles and he said no, from start to finish," Nolan said.
The Illinois Commerce Commission requires tow truck drivers to give you the price of service in writing, before hooking up your vehicle. The state, though, doesn't regulate how much tow truck drivers can charge for service, mileage or hourly rates.
Scully said her son would never have agreed to the price if he had known.
Nolan said the same. Her daughter called the next day to try and recoup some of her money. "He told her it was a dangerous job, yeah, and that, oh, what did she care what the price was? The insurance company would pay it," Nolan said.
FOX 32 wanted to find out what service from Johnny's Towing would cost $65 dollars, as listed in the ad and on their site. At the first address, FOX 32 found where they park the trucks, but there was no one to talk to.
The second address, hence the apparent tow truck depot as stated on their website, was a sporting goods store, not a towing company. Then, we called the number on the ad. Bert, who said he was the general manager, took our call.
FOX 32: "Is there a particular job that would cost $65 dollars?"
“No, every job has at least mileage involved," Bert said.
He went on to say, "It's starting at $65 dollars." Hmmmmmmmmm?
A former employee, who asked not to be identified, called FOX 32 and confirmed that nothing is $65 dollars. "It's bait and switch. He gets these people to call him for $65 dollars and tows are never $65 dollars," the employee said. Steve Bernas is president of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois.
"According to our records, with the BBB, the consumer's allegations it looks like there is a pattern with this organization," Bernas said.
Jonny's Towing and Recovery, Inc. has an "F" rating with the consumer agency.
"I'm on a fixed income and I can't afford that. You know that's a fourteen year old car with 190 thousand miles on it. You know if I had a lot of money it wouldn't be a problem," Nolan said. But still what happened to the $65 price I was quoted?
Watch the $65 towing scam video brought to you by Fox 32!
By Natalie Bomke, FOX 32 News Weekend Anchor
Thanks for the breakdown of the $65 scam Natalie Bomke of Fox 32 News.
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