I felt like my vehicle was held hostage, and I had to come up with the ransom, or else. I don't have the mental energy to rewrite the review that I was writing nonstop for two hours before my phone died(I don't have a charger here), so this is a condensed version. I called AAA to request a tow service after my vehicle stopped in a u-turn blindspot. Approximately 30 minutes later, I received a call from Chris from Goldenline Towing stating that he received an inaccurate location. Luckily he wasn't far, and arrived shortly thereafter. The address I requested the vehicle to be brought to was about 14 miles away. I actually wanted to see if I could first leave it at an auto shop, with the address l listed as a worse case scenario, but there was no way to fo that on the AAA app. I explained this to Chris, and that the GPS stated that the shop was 0.9 miles away. I have him the address, and we arrived two minutes later. The shop had some vehicles already in the spaces that I felt comfortable leaving the vehicle, and we agreed it was better not to leave it there. Chris stated that he had to see what dispatch said because he changed the address, and they may have closed the ticket, and he left in route to the initial address before receiving a response. Dispatch contacted him and said that I am being charged for this tow. It was late, and I had been on the side of the road three hours prior trying to start my vehicle, so my comprehension was a bit off. I was assuming that he meant that AAA was charging me for another service call until we came to what looked like a fatality street closure by the police, and Chris stated that he didn't have time to wait for it to clear out because he had another call, and it was going to add miles to the tow. I stated that I have 75 miles covered for tows, and he told we that the service call was over, and that that I was being charged. I asked him how much, and he stated that he wasn't allowed to look at his phone while driving, and could give me the total when we stopped. We arrived, and Chris checked and stated that the tow would be $160, cash on delivery. I spent the money that I had in attempt to get my vehicle started before calling AAA, and only had access to a digital app and a credit card. Chris said that dispatch stated that their card system was down. At this point I asked if they give me a break, and Chris said that he understood and he was just following orders. The address I had the vehicle dropped off to was my mother's, which was closer to the shop, and I had to wake her up at almost 4 AM to help me find paper money, which she doesn't keep. We where literally breaking piggy banks when Chris texted me telling me that he had to go. The vehicle was registered to my father who passed away, and I would have accrued even more charges in storage before I could prove ownership, and now my mother was becoming physically unsettled. Chris stated that dispatch would allow him to take me to an ATM. I didn't have any cards with me that I could access it, so I told him that I would try and overdraft it. We passed up a number of stores that weren't open yet to get to a 24 hour one. It only let me access so much money, and Chris was texting me that he had to leave. Luckily, my mother found some money, and together we had enough. Unbeknownst to be at the time, I was so rattled and mentally tired that I left/dropped some money at the ATM, so when we get back, we're still short. Chris again is texting me that he is about to leave, and I am about to try and ride out with him again, but my mother was able to find the rest. Chris said that he hopes it gets better for me, that he was just following orders. It is now 4 AM, and I am more flustered now than I was when stranded in that u-turn blindspot. read more
