So, due to a seemingly undiagnosable problem with my Mustang, it keeps acting up on me. It will be fine one moment, then completely not start the next. It would only be a problem with starting, never dying on me... Until that one awful afternoon about three weeks ago...
I was driving in Pasadena when I was stopped at a light momentarily and the engine died. Just like that! It was a slow, fading death, then silence. Of course this would happen at a busy intersection in the middle of Pasadena. OMG, talk about panic. I Yelped the closest tow service and AB Auto Transport came up. I was quoted about 15 minutes that the tow truck would arrive and I think they came in a little over 10, which was great. The car was almost starting up again when they arrived, so I was seriously kicking myself for calling them because I said to myself, This dumb car is going to work the moment I get it towed.
Ted, the owner, showed up with his young teenaged son. He quoted me a shocking $125 to take it to my mechanic in El Monte, which was 9 miles away. I felt it was a quote based on my moment of desperation, which Ted was not beating around the corner about- his words being something very much like, "Well, you know, your situation and all..." I've had my car towed from Anaheim to my mechanic (32.1 miles away) for about $160, so you can imagine how awful I felt when he quoted me that price. I immediately regretted calling his tow service. However, he was already there, so what could I do?
Get this: while we were on our way, Ted tells me, "I prefer cash. Please." My husband, when I called him to go to the bank to get the money because I didn't have that amount on me, said it was bogus that we had to pay cash; he said, "That amount is ridiculous; tell him we'll pay cash if he gives us a discount, otherwise put it on the credit card." When I relayed that message, Ted tells me that there's a "service charge" of 2.0-something percent if I want to use my card. Seriously, are you f-ing with me right now? Talk about taking advantage of the situation.
I was already really pissed about the car, now you're trying to rip me off with some ridiculous quote you pull out of your a** because of my situation, then you try to nickel and dime me about my form of payment.
I almost feel bad leaving such a poor review because Ted was nice otherwise. He tried to cheer me up about my situation with small talk, even relaying his own towing situation that cost him over $300 or $400 that past weekend when he had a blowout in Pismo Beach on the freeway and such. He recommended a mechanic that specialized in Fords without the Ford dealership price because our mechanic couldn't find what was wrong with our car. He even text me the next day with the information of that shop, which I thought was really considerate. I want to believe that this is because he is a nice guy, not because he saw me using my Yelp app.
However, this review comes down to whether this business would have me for a customer again or whether I'd actually recommend it to my friends and family and that's a no. Sorry, Ted. I found your tactics shady and your services overpriced.
P.S.- Almost everyone I told the price to said, "OMG, you don't have Triple A???" No, I don't. I am not in the habit of driving cars that need towing and in a moment of temporary freak-out, Triple A was not the first thing I thought of.
P.P.S- We arrived at my mechanic and he started the car without any issues. A week later, we pick up the Mustang and still had no diagnosis of the problem. read more
