Twedell's Towing

Revdex.com Complaint ID
Thank you for your patience in receiving this response. We made sure to check with all involved in this call to make sure our response was accurate.
-Edrel J
Twedells Towing

Twedell’s Automotive, Towing and Wrecking, Inc. DBA Twedell’s Towing response to complaint.
Twedell’s Towing strives to provide quality service to all our customers and to provide prompt and fair service to those who require our emergency services as directed by the Oregon State Police, Jackson County Sheriff, and the Medford Police Department. We do our best to work with those impacted by unfortunate circumstances including accidents.
After reviewing the information provided by the client in her complaint with our dispatcher and staff, we are providing the following response.
We were dispatched by the Jackson County Sheriff Department on January 24, 2020 at 12:15 PM to a rollover accident on its top in a ditch with debris on *** in Trail, Oregon. The Sheriff warned driver of biohazard and sharps in debris.
Our police emergency rates for light duty towing are $325 per hour from dispatch to completion with no in-route mileage and $5 per mile back to our location. To respond to a rollover accident at this location generally takes about 45-50 minutes of drive time, the vehicle had to be recovered from a ditch, uprighted blocking lanes and we are also required to clean up debris under vehicle and around the scene of the accident, then the vehicle must be towed back to our yard and securely stored.
This process from dispatch to completion took 3 hours, this includes additional time for biohazards pointed out by the Jackson County Sheriff Department. Upon recovery, vehicle looked to be beyond repair. Unfortunately, no one was with the car to decide on where to tow vehicle. When this is the case, the vehicle is towed to our location until owner contacts us. Oregon law also requires notification within 3 days and for us to go through a 30-day lien process in order to acquire ownership of the vehicle if there is no title and vehicle is not picked up or owner doesn’t want vehicle. When the customer called in to inquire about the wrecked vehicle, she notified us she had no coverage to cover the towing fees. At this time, we explained fees, charges, and continued storage. She said she had title and would bring in to surrender title and pay a discounted charge of $200 and title.
We are required to send out notification to the last registered owner with the auction date which is when we obtain ownership and can legally dispose of the wrecked vehicle. The vehicle in its condition has only the value of the scrap metal as it was destroyed in the accident. Additionally, we must drain fluids and properly prep the vehicle in order to store it until it is crushed.
The owner was able to come clean out the vehicle the day of the accident and retrieve belongings, but she did not bring the title in order to stop charges. At this time, we gave her an additional 3 days grade period to find and deliver title so we could dispose of vehicle right away.
With the promise of a title, we removed hazards from car like damaged and leaking battery, fuel, oil, remaining antifreeze in order to properly store until she returned with the title.
When she called 3 days later saying she couldn’t find the title she was advised that without the title we were required to store until lien process was completed (30 days @ $75 per day). She was also advised we would not be able to discount other charges without title (which she was also told the day of the accident when we gave her a breakdown of current charges).
At this point, we offered for her to fill out a bill of sale indicating her intent not to retrieve the vehicle in order to not be charged full storage and with our promise not to send her to collections for the outstanding bill. On the day of the accident she received a copy of the current bill with all the current charges and an explanation that storage of $75 accumulates daily. She assured us she had the title and would find it, so we were working with her in good faith.
Three days after the accident the owner came back and told us she could not find the title and agreed to payment terms after we discounted fees and storage of about $525. It is always a difficult situation especially when a family member gets in an accident in your vehicle.
In the complaint the owner says she requested the stereo, tires and battery. At that time, we looked for the stereo face plate which was not in the vehicle and likely was lost in violent accident. We had removed the battery due to damage and leaking, and the tires were kept so the vehicle was able to be moved in the yard and at least one had been damaged in the accident. We offered an opportunity for the customer to come back and look for the stereo and see the damage to the vehicle to understand. She said she was in a hurry to get back to work and declined the opportunity.
We provided an emergency service which tow companies do—we are required to have a driver available 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, meet strict requirements and carry high insurance coverage just to provide the service to the community.
In this situation, the registered owner is responsible to have coverage or pay when a vehicle is involved in an accident. One way to make sure an owner is covered in this situation is to make sure the owner has full coverage insurance or towing insurance and not just liability insurance. In this case, full coverage insurance would have covered the cost of recovering the vehicle, towing it to our yard, and the storage.
In the complaint customer references that her insurance stated that the cost for towing should have been around $200. When rolled over and upside down and severely damaged towing becomes more difficult and costly than a standard tow.
Emergency calls are like any first responder calls. We must immediately drop everything and respond immediately to get on the road to the scene of the accident from our location--day or night, weekday, weekend, or holiday. This all adds to the high cost of recovering wrecked vehicles.
Our goal in resolving the outstanding bill with this customer was to prevent the continued storage and a very large bill at the end of the 30-day lien process. At that point, it is within our legal rights to take the last registered own to collections for the balance for the towing, additional lien fees and outstanding storage. By resolving it right away, we were able to promise the customer not to take her to collections for the unpaid fees during the lien process.
It is our belief that our staff worked with the customer as best we could at the time of the incident to resolve the situation in a fair manner for the services provided while helping the customer not incur additional fees
In closing, if the customer could have brought signed title we would not have had to go through the 30-day required lien process. The fees would have been $200 plus the title on the day of the accident when she called. At this time, we are still storing the vehicle due to no title available and will be responsible for battery disposal, tire disposal, fuel disposal, antifreeze disposal and all other oils.