Don't mistaken "family-owned" with actually being treated like "family" from this place. A company that puts "family-owned" on its website and then takes advantage of the members in its community is anything but family-oriented.
For those of you who have a choice of who to use for your towing services, please read this before making your decision. I did not have a choice and was not only taken advantage of for doing nothing wrong, but was also ridiculed by Lonna, their owner, and her employees.
I was driving home on March 13 when the interstate became impassable. I was not involved in an accident, however, an accident in front of me forced traffic to stop. After waiting there for hours and as the weather conditions turned into a blizzard, I was forced by authorities to abandon my car, which I only did under the pretense that highway patrol and CDOT personnel assured me that my car would not be towed since it was not involved in an accident.
I found out the next morning that although 99% of the undamaged cars were indeed left where they were, mine was towed 20 miles away by Westside Towing along with all of the cars that were involved in an accident. My car was not only towed for no legitimate reason, I also had to pay Westside for 1.5 hours of labor to tow it 20 miles away from the spot it was in. Even if it was supposedly blocking access where it was sitting, common sense and common decency would be to move it 6 feet over, not 20 miles in the opposite direction. After trying to talk to the employees holding my property, I was forced to pay hundreds of dollars or else get charged more for a daily storage fee. After paying and driving back home to my family after being away over 30 hours, I contacted Westside to discuss the situation.
I had the very unfortunate displeasure of speaking to the owner, Lonna, who proceeded to scold me in saying 1.) Her employees' time is more valuable than my misfortune 2.) If I have a problem with the cost, I should call my insurance so she doesn't have to deal with me 3.) It was my fault for driving that day and making a living for my family 4.) Colorado has never experienced a blizzard since she started there in 2006. All of these being very unprofessional and suspect opinions of a business owner.
Once Lonna ran out of excuses, she passed me to one of her employees who claimed he was out towing my car that night. First, he falsely stated, "no, you were not forced to leave your vehicle" although he wasn't there to witness my actual situation. Then, he confirmed for me that Westside towed 30 cars that night; 28 of which were damaged and 2 that were not damaged. He criticized me by saying "only you and one other person are complaining about this cost out of the 30 people we towed so why would we give you money back?" Just like Lonna, he was a very unprofessional individual. But if Lonna trained him, then there's no surprise that he acted that way.
Of the thousands of dollars that Westside profited that night towing vehicles, 2 vehicles (certainly the two whose owners are complaining about the cost) were wrongfully towed, mine included. I was hoping they might sacrifice a small portion of their profits to ensure good customer service. But I was very wrong. However, I suppose that as long as Lonna and Westside are able to rake in money from helpless customers, they don't care.
Let me be clear, I don't think anyone should ever have to work for free. My point is that, if Westside doesn't have a system in which they get paid by the government to do mass towing like this, that's their fault, not mine. If the government directed them as to which cars to tow, so be it. Get the money from them. But I had no control in this situation. For all I know, they probably did get paid by the government for work that night and then they charged me on top of it to earn double. Seems to be a likely scenario considering the attitude and the pattern of behavior that this anti-family business exercises.
Like I said, if you are granted an option, I hope you consider this review.
Hopefully it persuades you to walk away from this business, so it's not just the money they stole from me and the community they have on their conscience, but now it's thousands of dollars of lost business from this point forward from people who have a choice and see this company for what they really are.
I work to make a living, just like everyone else in the world. To be put in a situation where a "family-owned" business stole my hard-earned money from me, it not only impacts me, but my family. This will be remembered for a long time and I will absolutely continue to spread this experience throughout the community. read more