Terrible Experience, Poor Customer Service, and Zero Compassion…read moreAfter being involved in a single-vehicle accident with our truck and travel trailer on May 25, 2026, the police called Coastal Towing and Recovery because they were the contracted towing service. We were not given a choice of towing company, and unfortunately, our experience only got worse from there.
When they arrived, they disconnected our truck from the camper and drove it to the side of the road. The truck appeared to drive just fine, and we specifically asked that it not be towed. We were told they had to tow it because it was the "power source" and claimed the steering "felt funny." Later, after arriving at their yard, my husband was finally allowed to drive it about 100 feet, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with the steering. We ended up paying to have a perfectly drivable truck towed.
They also loaded my electric bike into their box truck, telling us it would be placed inside their shop. Since we planned to take the truck with us, we told them we would take the bike as well not knowing we would be there for several hours waiting on the bill. Instead of putting the bike in their shop like they stated, they left it sitting outside without telling us. A heavy rainstorm came through, and our electric bike sat out in the pouring rain because no one bothered to inform us where it had been left.
Once at their tow yard, they parked our travel trailer so close to other vehicles that we couldn't even lower the steps to get inside and retrieve our belongings. The staff refused to let us take our truck until we paid the entire towing bill which they said came to over $15,000! Everyone including State Farm said this was complete gouging. We agreed to pay immediately, but then were told no one could prepare the invoice because it was Memorial Day and some of them had a funeral visitation to attend that evening. We waited three hours just to get a bill, then had to wait another hour for someone with a key to unlock the storage yard.
When I asked for an itemized copy of the bill after paying with my credit card, I was told they don't give customers copies of itemized invoices. That created additional headaches later with our insurance company.
The following day, I called ahead as instructed and was told arriving around 12:30 would be fine. When we got there, two employees were sitting in the office--one eating lunch and another talking. We waited over 20 minutes before anyone would meet us at the tow yard, then another 20 minutes at the tow yard before someone arrived. When I asked if we could move our vehicle closer to the camper to load our belongings, I was told I could, but "it was on me" if something happened to a tire. The employee then parked his tow truck directly in front of us and sat there watching us for the entire hour and a half it took to empty our camper.
Throughout the entire ordeal, not one employee showed any compassion or empathy for a family that had just experienced an accident. Every interaction felt like an inconvenience to them.
To make matters worse, getting an itemized invoice for our insurance became another frustrating battle. We were repeatedly told it had already been sent to State Farm, but State Farm confirmed they never received it. When State Farm contacted Coastal directly, they were told they couldn't send it because State Farm wasn't the one who paid the bill--which completely contradicted what we had been told earlier.
The entire experience was filled with delays, poor communication, contradictory information, and an incredible lack of customer service. Being involved in an accident is stressful enough without having to deal with rude employees, unnecessary delays, and what felt like constant excuses.
If you have any choice at all, avoid using Coastal Towing and Recovery. I hope no one else has to experience the frustration, disrespect, and lack of professionalism that we did.
