This company picked up our truck after we were rear-ended on I95 in stopped traffic. The entire…read moretime we were in the cab with the driver while getting off the freeway, I was talking to USAA. I asked the driver to take the car right to Caliber Collision. They are who USAA has always had us use for repairs, and they work with Enterprise so we could have dropped the truck and had a rental car right then. However the driver said he would absolutely NOT take the truck directly to the collision center, as if he did that he would "not get paid,". He told me I didn't know how things worked, but USAA agent heard his comment and I put her on speaker whereupon she told him he would absolutely be paid no matter where the truck was taken that moment. He still adamantly refused to take the truck to the collision place and insisted it would have to go to their own lot at 304 Central Rd.
At this point, I still have the phone on speaker with the USAA agent so the driver can confirm the address of the lot he was taking our truck to, as their website lists a second lot. He confirmed the location, and right then the agent told him that USAA would have another company come pick up the truck and take it to Caliber within 72 hours.
Then the driver said he would take us home, which at the time I thought was nice even though it would have been shorter for him to drop us at the collision center. I know now why he refused to take the truck where we wanted it taken - MONEY. They take your truck to their lot so they can collect daily fees along with the mandatory $225 minimum tow fee. It's $50 a day for lot fees, a $90 administration fee, and a random $75 "transportation fee." So just by taking it to their lot, they get $440 instead of $225. You better believe they don't take anyone right to a collision center!
The accident happened Thursday afternoon. We couldn't get Liberty Mutual to step up, they told us they were doing an "at fault" investigation even though their driver hit us while we were stopped, was ticketed by VSP and accepted fault at the scene. This is why we continued to have USAA handle things, as they will recoup from Liberty Mutual when it's all over. USAA put us in a rental car and started making arrangements to have a flatbed sent to pick up our truck from G&L on Monday when the agent from LM still had not called us back.
We were moving quickly and keeping G&L informed every day of what was going on. On Tuesday afternoon, my husband spoke to G&L and confirmed that USAA would be paying their fees and they were good to release the truck to the tow company assigned by USAA to take it from G&L's lot to the collision center. Wednesday morning, the tow company attempted to pick up the truck, but G&L turned them away and said that we had NOT cleared them to release the truck. Another day of lot fees in their pocket!
Now it's Thursday, and while I'm on the phone with USAA trying to get ANOTHER tow sent out to retrieve our truck, my husband answers a knock at the door. It's the mail carrier with a certified letter sent by G&L stating that they were requesting we contact them with our intentions regarding our truck. That unless the truck was reclaimed by the "sale date below," they would in fact sell our truck and the title would be changed. They do this because they know if you don't have top notch insurance coverage, their fees will be too much for you to pay and so they will sell your car.
Look, I do understand if people just never go get a wrecked car that was totaled by their insurance. In that case, they should have the right to dispose of those vehicles. How long should you have to reasonably get things sorted though? A week? We had 4 days before they mailed their letter of intent, 4 days that they heard from us EVERY day. Their sale date? 31 days from the day of the accident. On top of trying to deal with the injuries we DO have, handling the absolute joke that is Liberty Mutual dragging their feet on taking responsibility, and figuring out what we need to do next, we are left with this stress from the tow company that we had no choice about hiring and their absolutely predatory behavior.
The best part?
This morning we got word that Caliber Collision sent their own flatbed to pick up our truck. It's safely out of G&L's clutches, yay!
In our mail today? A letter from the VA DMV stating that G&L Towing has taken out a lien on our truck and now has the right to sell it! It was sent on Monday, 10 January 2022 so G&L absolutely went to the DMV on Friday morning, the day after the accident, to take out this lien and have the notice of intent to sell mailed to us!
If you wind up needing a tow in this area, please do everything in your power to avoid this POS company. You will regret ever dealing with them. Save yourself from the nightmare and choose someone else. Also, USAA has copies of these letters and will be taking them off the approved vendor list!
