Got my self in a jam. Was doing some light DoorDash this morning. Got stuck in a bad spot and in a…read morebad neighborhood. Dispatch was great and the young man 'SETH' showed up on time with a care free but amazing attitude. He was extremely calm and polite. Professional job as he winched my Chrysler 300 off the hill with his Rollback/Tow-truck!!!!!!. Preventing any damage as this car is extremely low to the ground. This was on a Sunday in Sleet and not so great conditions. Thank you DILIGENT for saving my car and myself from a terrible situation. Awesome work. Seriously. I don't write reviews like this unless someone actually deserves 5 stars. This is that well deserved 5 star rating. Well earned.

My husband and I found ourselves in a very unfortunate situation. Last Fall, the Lexington County…read moreCoroner, Mrs. Margaret Fisher, informed my husband that his father was found deceased on his riding mower, approximately a month after his passing. When the Coroner arrived on the property, they secured some of my father-in-law's personal items. As part of their process, they authorized a towing company, Diligent Towing, 3906 Platte Springs Rd, West Columbia, SC 29170, to remove my father-in-law's Ford Ranger, Chevy Silverado, and the mower on which he was found. When Mrs. Fisher spoke with my husband, she said that the vehicles were secure and that we need not worry about them. Mrs. Fisher never mentioned that we only had a certain amount of time to retrieve the vehicles before we would incur tremendous costs. The Lexington County Coroner's office conducted an investigation that lasted approximately 2 months. Since we lived several states away and were not yet able to make funeral arrangements, we did not travel to South Carolina when we received the news. In early November, my husband received a phone call (1st direct contact from the tow company) from the owner of Diligent Towing, Mr. Dave Bates. He was very aggressive in his conversation as he informed my husband that we owed him $3800 as of that particular date. He told my husband that the Coroner, Mrs. Fisher, said that we did not have any interest in collecting my father-in-law's vehicles (we never told anybody that we had no interest in retrieving these vehicles). Mr. Bates told my husband that his company tried repeatedly to "get rid of the stench that was on the riding mower, but couldn't do it". In mid-November, we arrived in S.C.. When we arrived at the Coroner's office on Monday, November 13, the staff went through their checklist with us. One of the coroners informed us, after speaking with Diligent Towing, that our tow bill was now up to $4400. This was the first time the Coroner's office made us aware that we would have to pay to remove our vehicles. We thought that the vehicles were being held on a government-controlled lot; not a private lot. On Wednesday of that week, we went into Diligent Towing's office. The owner, Mr. Bates, was very rude, harsh, dishonest, and showed us no compassion. He said that we owed him $6000 to remove the vehicles from his lot. He made up his company rules as he spoke to us. He called up his wife (the supposed towing office manager) and put her on speaker phone. She told us that the charges went from $4400 on Monday to $6000 on Wednesday (just two days later). Mrs. Bates said that we were supposed to come in on Monday if we wanted the $4400 price. She indicated that $4400 was the price they were willing to settle with us, but since we didn't come in on Monday, the price went back to their maximum daily rate. Nobody told us that we needed to go in on Monday to secure the "generous" offer of $4400 for the vehicle retrieval. Mr. Bates told us that we could only pay in cash, even though they posted on their front door that they accepted Visa and Mastercard. When my husband questioned Diligent Towing's payment policy, Mr. Bates said that credit cards could be used only for "simple tows." Nowhere in his building was this clearly posted, nor was it defined by signage what a "simple tow" was. I will also mention that "cash" really means a cashier's check (which cost us an additional $10 to obtain). Dave Bates said that he did what was required by state law and that was to notify the vehicle owner of the impound via running an ad in a newspaper of his choice and sending the owner/lienholder a certified letter. I asked him what good that was since he knew the vehicle owner/lienholder was deceased. Mr. Bates told us a second time that the Coroner told him that we had no interest in picking up the vehicles. Again, we never told anybody that we had no interest in picking up the vehicles. Mr. Bates told us that he didn't reach out to us because the Chevy Silverado lienholder was contesting. I'm not sure what he was talking about since my father-in-law paid in full for his vehicles and held the titles to them. In the end, after paying $2018, we were able to drive the Silverado away, but let the tow company keep the 2003 Ford Ranger and riding mower. When we gained access to the Silverado, we noticed a 30-mile discrepancy on the odometer between what Diligent Towing recorded at the time of vehicle tow to the time we entered the truck. So, they either lied about the mileage at the time they towed the vehicle, or they did some driving around (their tow lot is quite small, so it's doubtful that they moved the car so much on the lot to accumulate 30 miles of usage). The company parked their trailer in front of our truck to ensure that nobody could come and drive the new truck away. In the end, it was very satisfying to drive away in the truck that never should have been in their possession.