I called 11/25/16 at 4:15pm from La Costa to get car towed from my garage to mechanic 5 miles away in Encinitas. They said tow $100 + extra after 5 miles and maybe an also additional $84 if extra machinery needed, but the guy would tell me that before he used it & I could cancel & I would be charged only $40. I told them I didn't know about that, I'd hate to be charged $84 to have my car removed from my garage. She said don't worry. They said he could be there in 10 minutes so I said OK & gave my CC info. Then they called 10 minutes later to say it would actually be be 1 1/2 hours and if I wanted to cancel it would be $40(!). Nice, right!!! Should've known then!! He finally came 2 hours later, 6:30pm. Battery was dead, had to be charged & pushed out of garage to be connected to truck. At no point did the driver tell me this was special equipment or an additional charge, like the girl making the appointment said he would & thus allowing me the option of cancelling to forgo the added expense. I was not aware this was not a part of the normal tow. The driver took my car to the mechanic, dropped it & I tipped him $30 (duh!) cuz I thought he did a lot of work for the $100 tow, and he drove away. He did not tell me the cost of the tow. Didn't know this was his job. Usually drivers do the heavy lifting & the ppl on the phone do the $ stuff. Called them to be sure the cost was $100 and they told me that it was $184. When I complained, they told me it was my fault that I didn't ask the driver how much it was going to be & that I should never allow a service to be done without first knowing the cost. I explained that I got the info from them $100 first 5 miles included & they said no, we told you "it starts at $100" we'll send you a voice recording of your call" so I guess this happens to them a lot, so much that they frequently email recordings of people's conversations to them. Not a good sign. I am still waiting for the voice recording. They are merely a call center that farms out calls to other tow companies, not a tow company themselves. The truck did not say Encinitas Towing on it. BAD SERVICE FROM THE ENCINITAS TOWING CALL CENTER & POORLY MANAGED WAY OF HANDLING AMOUNTS DUE. If the call center takes your CC info, they should tell you what you're final charge is before hook-up. Plus there is an extra $1.00 charge on your card from them. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY. read more
