Bottom line: Sacks made an unpleasant experience unnecessarily worse. The owner is one of the most unreasonable, unpleasant, and belligerent people I've met in my entire life--and his staff weren't much better (with the exception of his secretary). Having your car towed is an unpleasant experience, but there's no excuse for the completely unprovoked, unprofessional manner in which Mr. Sacks (or "The Boss" as he insisted I refer to him) treated me. I want to make it absolutely clear that this review has nothing to do with the amount of money owed, which was due to a mistake on our end.
I normally don't write reviews, but this man was reprehensible and I believe I'm doing a public service by providing this information to others, but especially any police departments who are contracting with this business. If you are an individual, business, or government entity thinking of employing or contracting with Sacks, I would urge you to consider the fact that your customers will associate your organization with these terrible people. You can be judged by the company you keep and this holds true for businesses as well--If you have the choice, have another towing company service your needs!
My car was impounded following a declaration of snow emergency. We made it back just in time to see the car lifting off the ground to be towed. We offered to pay the gentleman the $150.00 towing fee on the spot; however, they stated that they could not accept debit cards for payment. I questioned how many people carry $150.00 in cash around with them, which I think is a reasonable question. The tower became angry on the spot, simply for having his policy questioned. It wasn't about the amount of money, which we had and were willing to pay, but rather the accessibility of payment. Even if we wanted to pay him, there was no way to prevent the car from being impounded. Eventually, we gave up arguing with someone who was never going to see our point of view in the first place. He stated that it would be $150.00 + $40.00 per day on the lot--an expected payment of $190.00.
The next day, when picking up the car, we arrived with the $190.00 in cash that we were told we'd have to pay. We entered the dim, cramped, and dilapidated office that I can only describe as having the same atmosphere as a creepy gas station in a low-budget horror movie. An older gentleman, who I later discovered was Mr. Sacks (AKA, "The Boss") was seated nearby the secretary. As we went to pay, the secretary informed us that the total would be $230.00. I expressed surprise, considering it had been one night since the car was towed--less than 30 hours for sure. Upon hearing this, "The Boss" chimed in, immediately taking an aggressive tone with me. "12 noon to 12 noon, that's two days," he sneered. I explained that we were legitimately confused about the policy since it ran counter to what the person towing the car had said. Mr. Sacks interrupted me mid-sentence to claim "He didn't say that! It's out policy!" with veins bulging out of his head in what I can only describe as an intense rage out of nowhere. I admit that I lost my cool at that point, but I believe anyone would have, given the same treatment.
I tried to explain that we weren't trying to get out of payment, just that it was frustrating--as they are "cash only," we would have simply taken more money out of the ATM on the way over had we known the correct information. The entire time, Mr. Sacks was seething with anger. I called him out on having a "belligerent attitude." With this, not one--but two!--employees came out of the service garage to chime in with their two cents. One of them yelled at me stating "He doesn't have a bad attitude, you have a Millennial attitude!" only to duck back inside the garage for what I assume was cover. The other person, an older woman, was equally nasty and unpleasant. I didn't hear what she said exactly, as she was drowned out by Mr. Sacks' continuing tirade.
At this point, we left to obtain more money to pay for the privilege of retrieving our property for the amount owed--which we never intended to make an issue at the start. I could sit here and question their business model as well, since I think they make their pricing models intentionally confusing and payment unnecessarily difficult to rack up additional holding fees. Lingering on those practices, however, would be missing the broader point: There are many towing companies around that would provide this same service, at the same quality, without the nasty, unforgivable treatment that we received. If you value your own reputation as a business owner or member of local government, steer clear of Sacks. These practices should not be rewarded with your patronage. read more