Granted, there are worse places my car could have gotten towed after the unfortunate incident...but…read morereally, all places are going to be bad. The lucky tow truck vulture who had the distinct honor of towing MY car, and driving me where ever I wanted to go (I could have shown up at an OYE via tow truck), worked for this place. The driver was a nice guy. Everyone else was an exceptionally well-cast player in "Gretchen's day at the tow yard."
First, the office manager. She's on top of everything, but she's curt. She had the unfortunate task of telling me that I had to drive outside of the loop to sign a waiver so that Progressive could tow my car to my desired mechanic. I agree that I should have to sign for my car to be released, but I'm still curious why that couldn't be handled by the gas and time saving device called a fax machine.
Second, the random guy. Not exactly certain what he does, but while I was there he had an interesting side bar scene. He spoke with someone over the phone who wanted to talk to "the manager." This guy put the caller on hold, screamed into the owner's office, then transferred the call. Not a pleasant transfer on the muted side of the phone call. Also, I just want you to know that if the conversation escalates to "speaking to the supervisor," you ARE going to be talking to the owner of a tow lot. Meaning, a. you are always going to need to "speak with the owner," because the operation is always going to be a bit fishy and b. you don't want to talk to a cheesy person who runs a slightly fishy operation.
Finally, the owner. I was handed his business card by my tow truck guy. It was glossy and black with gold lettering. I rolled my eyes. Once I finally made it all the way out there, and he found out my plan, he tried to put cracks in that plan. The whole, "Oh, you got this from the dealership and you're taking it back there? That's fine, but..." And, "No, you keep your car here. Our mechanics are better than those guys." By the end, he was almost begging me to keep the car there. Unflattering. "But why do you want to take it there? Why?" He actually seemed a little disconcerted at this point, because that is when started to ignore him. (Actually, I did stop myself from saying, "Because I said so.") He seemed a bit off his game; it could have been the 100+ temps. I suggest if you do get in a wreck, do it during this heat wave. You'll be better off for it.
A few tips: there are cop cars everywhere out here. Drive the speed limit. If you get to the mechanic shop that resembles an old brick 1970s office strip, you've gone too far. There are quite a few taco stands that have been reviewed by Yelp in the area; you should venture into this area hungry.
