A concerning experience with an impounded car
I cannot speak to this company's auto and truck repair services, but the lot looked busy the 6 times I visited it in the space of two days, regarding my father's impounded car.
The Sarasota County sheriff's dept. had towed the car to Jim's Auto & Truck Repair in Sarasota, Florida, after they found my 91-year-old father broken down on the side of the highway over Labor Day Weekend. He was dehydrated, had been listed as a "missing person," and was immediately taken to the hospital.
His car--which was no longer running, was dispatched to Jim's.
When I arrived at Jim's, without my hospitalized dad, to find out how to reclaim the car and pay for it, I looked inside the auto and saw 4 of my dad's walking sticks in the back seat, his only garage-door opener lying on in the front seat, and his Florida handicapped placard on the dashboard.
The owner Jim was very kind to me and very helpful, which is why I'm giving 2 stars in this review. He told me he thought the engine had seized and that we should junk the 20-year-old vehicle--his co. would take care of that for us--and he then sent me to talk to the two men who work for him and handle the impounded cars.
Man No. 1 would not allow me to remove any of the belongings--not the garage door opener, nor a cane, nor the handicapped placard, even though I had my father's driver's license and my own with me (our middle and last names are the same). OK, I thought. No big deal.
Finally, when I had the signed title in hand, I took it to Jim's. Fellow No. 2 who handles the paperwork for impounded cars at Jim's gave me a check for $200 made out to my dad--His share from the junkyard after all impound and towing fees were paid. Fellow No. 1, who previously hadn't let me remove any of my dad's belongings from the auto, then thrust "all" the items into my arms, instead of letting me remove them from the car myself. I put the mess of stuff into my trunk.
I walked over to my dad's car and then did a thorough search of the interior and trunk to make sure everything was out of it.
Satisfied, I drove home to my dad's. When I got there and sorted through everything, I noticed the garage-door opener was missing. So I phoned Jim's, spoke to fellow No. 2, a bit exasperated, and he said they would search the car for the opener and hung up on me.
He didn't call back. I called Jim the owner, who said, yes, they'd found some HOUSE KEYS and the garage-door opener in the car. I returned to the lot, didn't speak to fellow No. 2, who was at the counter with the garage door opener and my father's HOUSE KEYS in front of him. I took the items without speaking and left--at this point I was quite exhausted and tearful. I also phoned the sheriff's office to report my experience.
It wasn't until a couple of days later that I remembered none of my father's 4 walking sticks were returned to us. read more
