Stunningly HORRID experience with these total and complete CROOKS!!! The system here requires that I enter some kind of "star" rating here on Yelp, but won't accept a zero star rating, which is what I would want to give them. My daughter's scooter was stolen from an apartment complex in early November. I told her to report it to the police, which she did-- to an "Officer McCarthy". All we have is his cell phone, which comes up empty on a Google search. She filled out the police report, and then got a call from said officer a couple of weeks later, the day before Thanksgiving. We were told the scooter HAD to be towed immediately, as it was on private property (less than a mile away from her apartment complex, by the way). We were also informed by the officer that it had to be towed exclusively by Shelby's Towing, with whom the Gainesville Police Department supposedly have an exclusive contract. Naturally, being right before Thanksgiving, my daughter had already left to come back south for the holiday, and this towing company charges $16 per day for "storage". The scooter was only worth about $900 when it was new, now it's two years old, and has been outside the whole time. We've already sunk about $600 in repairs over the life of the scooter. My daughter's attitude was, "they can just have it-- I'll walk to class now". More days passed by without our knowing of this towing company's scam, with more charges accruing. Now, they want $468 for towing/storage-- services that WE NEVER APPROVED, for a scooter that's worth less than that! Here's the kicker: they are SO NASTY, that they threatened us that they would PUT A LIEN ON THE TAG if we didn't pay (for services that- again- we never approved!!! I Googled this company, and found more people have reported my experience- almost exactly- but are helpless to do anything about it... I doubt the Gainesville Police department is "in on it", but I'm not entirely sure- if they have an exclusive contract with the G-Ville police (a contract that must be highly coveted amongst towing companies), then they are complicit, in that I am being forced to use a company who can charge whatever they want. I strongly suspect this company actively steals these scooters from kids (either directly, or with some cohorts), and then hopes the kid files a police report-- then, the scooter is miraculously "found" after a plausible waiting period after the report-- in our case, suspiciously RIGHT BEFORE a major holiday, ensuring that the college student would not be in town, so they can accrue storage fees. So-- WHATEVER you do, if you need towing in Gainesville, Florida, you are best served to avoid these crooks like the plague!!! Very unhappy about this outright extortion! Currently reviewing my legal course of action with attorneys. read more
