Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  02/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  What a bunch of crooks, they tow your car in less than 15 minutes and then ask you to drive 25 minutes to a locked up garage and pay cash of over $300 to get it out. I did not have the cash on me and was with my daughter whom had a doctor appt so we needed the car back so I asked them to take my credit card and they charged me extra, it was complete extortion! They have a million horrible reviews where they have taken peoples cars from parking lots and streets and done the same thing! When everything finally calmed down I looked the receipt and was glad was a credit card as I am disputing the charges now. I called them to explain my side but they said they dispute it in court..what a scam they should be shut down for sure!

  Business response

  03/23/2023

  March 16, 2023 
  Dear *** ******* *****, 
  It has recently come to my attention that your office has received a complaint regarding the company I represent. I have read what the consumer has indicated in her complaint. While I can sympathize with *** ***** ***** *****, as the situation that transpired was indeed frustrating for her. My company was only fulfilling our end of the binding agreement we have with the private property owner that owns the parking lot where *** ***** ***** parked her 2010 ********* ******** on January 31, 2023. *** ***** *****'s vehicle was unauthorized to be parked in *** *****'s parking lot, which then led the property owner to place a call to our dispatch with their request for her vehicle to be removed from their private parking lot. 
  First, I would like to address inconsistencies in *** ***** *****'s complaint. The entire call was dated and timestamped through our dispatching platform, which I will include a printout of, as well as photos of *** ***** *****'s vehicle, which were uploaded to the platform as well at the time of impound. These photos, which I will be including also with my complaint response, are dated and timestamped. 
  1. Call Created at 2:45 PM on 1/31/2023 
  2. Dispatched at 2:58 PM on 1/31/2023 
  (Time elapsed between 1 & 2 is 13 minutes) 
  (Time elapsed between 2 & 3 is 5 minutes) 
  3. En Route at 3:03 PM on 1/31/2023 
  4. On Scene at 3:32 PM on 1/31/2023 
  (Time elapsed between 3 & 4 is 29 minutes) 
  5. Under Tow at 3:41 PM on 1/31/2023 
  6. Completed at 4:16 PM on 1/31/2023 
  (Time elapsed between 4 & 5 is 9 minutes) 
  The total time elapsed that *** ***** *****'s vehicle was left unattended while parked Illegally In a private parking lot was 56 minutes. The 56 minutes accounts for the time span between the time of phone call from private property owner to remove the unauthorized vehicle (2:45 PM) until the driver indicated that he was to be marked under tow with the impounded vehicle (3:41 PM). That is a far greater documented time span than *** ***** ***** leads one to belleve, In her own words, In her complaint to the BBB of "they tow your car In less than 15 minutes". 
  *** ***** ***** utilized one of our posted signs and was able to call our displayed dispatch number to arrange to have her vehicle released. 
  The company's vehicle impound release policy is as follows: 
  1. To arrange for vehicle release, one must read the signs clearly posted In the private property lot(s) to obtain our displayed dispatch phone number and place a call to dispatch. 
  2. The callers must give identifying information about their vehicle and the vehicle must be Identified by dispatch as an Impounded vehicle currently being held within our storage site. 
  3. The caller Is Instructed on how to have their vehicle released to them. 
  a. They must be the registered owner of the Impounded vehicle to be released 
  b. have a valid driver's license 
  c. registration for the vehicle must be valid 
  d. the required same-day release impoundment fee of $330.00 payable by cash, 
  money order or certifled bank/cashler's check. 
  I. $330.00 is the Impound fee with 1 day of storage (the day of Impoundment) Included, adding 
  II. A $25.00 per day fee for each additional day of storage incurred until release. 
  *** ***** ***** convinced our dispatch to run her *** credit card, which is against our policy for this exact reason, for her payment of $330.00 to release her vehicle. There is a 6% fee to run her card of $19.80, which makes her total $349.80. 
  This is where she commits consumer chargeback fraud. She Initlated a chargeback through *** to cancel the charge she authorized to have her vehicle released claiming she had "cancelled the service". That Is Inaccurate, as she states her Intentions herself In her complaint she made to the BBB, which we know have as evidence to our clalm of consumer chargeback fraud that is now a public record. She knowingly reversed the charge on her *** card by making false claims to her credit card company to get them to Initiate the chargeback. She got her car back and my company now has a loss of $349.80 for it. We will be seeking reimbursement of the $349.80 (including any court costs and attorney fees) through civil and or criminal fillings against *** ***** ***** In court. 
  included with our consumer complaint response are several documents to support our version of the events that transpired on 1/31/2023 are as follows: 
  Section a is the original call dispatch for Impoundment of vehicle Including originally uploaded photos of the vehicle on 1/31/2023. These documents are dated and times stamped. (6 pages) 
  Section b Is pertaining to the 6 posted signs by my company, located In the private parking lot of * * * *****. The signs have been numbered for easy identification purposes 
  for you along with a map legend as to where in the lot these signs are located. There are also aerial photos of the Island dividing the parking lots. (15 pages) 
  Section c is the impound release details. (3 pages) 
  Section d Is the dispute notice which shows the reason for her chargeback claim as "The Cardmember claims that the goods/services ordered were cancelled." This is consumer chargeback fraud. (3 pages) 
  Section @ Is her stating her Intentions to defraud my company of the fee to release her vehicle by misleading her credit card company. (1 page) 
  *Any redacted Information is for our company's and employees' privacy and safety* 
  We, at Commonwealth Asset Recovery Services, LLC., thank you for your time and understanding In this matter. If there is anything else you need, please feel free to contact us. 
  Best Regards, 
  
  Office Manager 
  Commonwealth Asset Recovery Services, LLC. 
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  We own a parking lot. 10 cars up there not legally but my deal with commonwealth was that they will only tow based on my calls and I have email contact from an employee specifying that very thing. I recently got a renter from neighbor.com to park there. Commonwealth took the vehicle without my permission. Towed it to their lot. They now claim because they have had it for a couple months they destroyed the car. They claim contract says something else yet they never towed anything without my permission in the past. I tried dealing with them on the phone and told them they could tow literally any other car up there. I was recently hung up on and the woman who was extremely rude claimed because I terminated the contract(after this issue) that they couldn't even send me pictures of the parking lot after they claim it was empty. That lot hasn't been empty in 5 years. There are cars up there that don't even run so I know that's a lie. They will give me no information, no call backs and they take 0 responsibility for taking this car illegally. Attached is a confirmation that they would not take any car without my approval first.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩