I wish zero stars was an option. Platinum has a lot of towing contracts with many area retailers like Walgreens in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, which is the only reason I now refuse to patronize that particular establishment along with any others flying the Platinum Towing flag. But more importantly here, Platinum has some sort of relationship with a largely incompetent precinct within the NYC Police Department, which is how I came to know about this Class A, A-hole operation in the first place.
Anyway, not long ago, while living in Sunset Park, my car was broken into while sitting in a parking spot beneath the BQE. The perps smashed the driver side window, popped the hood, and removed a part that resulted in the car being immobilized. It happened at around 5pm on a Saturday, and although there was a service shop literally across the street, they were about to close for the day but assured me they would tow it to the shop first thing Monday morning. The cops also assured me the car would be safe where it was until then as it was obviously not an abandoned vehicle, and noted that fact on the police report. Beyond that, it was perfectly fine to have a car parked there as long as it was registered and legal, which it was. So imagine my surprise on Monday morning when the car was missing and towed away by Platinum Towing.
To be honest, I really wasn't that concerned. I knew the car was in that spot with the blessing of the NYPD and although I was annoyed about the fact that I'd now have to tow it a mile back to the repair shop, I assumed that Platinum could handle the return trip even if I had to front the money. Well, we never got that far.
I walked into their "office" and was immediately overcome by hundreds of framed photographs lining the walls that featured a seemingly juiced-up little dude posing down in some sort of a body building competition and dressed in a very form-fitting pair of Speedos, which left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Unfortunately, my imagination conjured up nothing but images of a shrimp wrapped in satin.
"What do you want?" I suddenly heard from behind, and as I tore myself away from the hilariously pathetic little gallery I was suddenly confronted by the hilariously pathetic little figure featured in it and had to give a giggle. I then explained the situation and he immediately started...raging.
I don't exactly remember what he said, but he made it clear that he didn't at all care about the specifics of the situation before he made some veiled physical threat to me and my vehicle.
Now there's no question that at 6 foot 2 and 195 pounds I would have pummeled the little pecker... but I needed my car. So, the moral of the story is that I would avoid Platinum Towing at all costs. Also, expect "Platinum Towing and the Shrimp Wrapped in Satin" to be featured on Amazon in the third installment of the NEEDLE series by Craig Jordan Goodman, along with their already published predecessors.
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