My first and only encounter with a towing company taught me the regulations and pricing set by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) are extremely friendly to the towing industry. Citizens who are victimized by companies that take advantage of the favorable regulatory system have very little rights and virtually no method to remedy an abuse. Here is my story which concerns Milehigh Towing and Recovery. However, there are many complaints against another towing company called Lyons Towing & Recovery. In November 2008, the CALL7 Investigators reported that Lyons Towing accounted for 27 percent of all towing complaints filed with the PUC in the prior 12 months -- the most of any towing company in Colorado.
First of all please don’t confuse MileHigh Towing and Recovery owned by Michael Nowlin with Mile High Towing. This review concerns MileHigh Towing and Recovery. If you’re going to write a note, make sure you identify the right towing company.
I parked at a private lot at 765 Logan around 6PM with only three other cars. The lot is close to a popular Mexican Restaurant called Benny's. I went to Benny’s to have dinner with my wife and inadvertently forgot to pay. After dinner we returned to the lot and found the car was gone. I searched the large parking lot for any sign and found a small sign on the wall by Milehigh Towing. I looked up at the adjacent lot and saw a tow truck. I went up and asked the driver if he had towed my wagon and he said yes. He told me I could get it back for $275 cash. There was no mention of the $66 after hour’s fee.
So the towing company sits lurking in the adjacent lot (State of Colorado property) watching to see if you paid for parking. If they don’t see you walk over to the pay box, your car is towed as soon you leave it without any call or consent from the property owner of the lot.
Later in the evening, I recovered my car at MileHigh Towing and Recovery’s impoundment lot at 4300 Elati and paid the money. The receipt shows that it took the tow truck driver 30 minutes to transport the car to 4300 Elati. Now it doesn’t take a CPA like me to calculate the bill equates to $275 an hour, an amount which exceeds just about every occupation out there.
Here are my concerns:
• After a little research, I found that the adjacent lot where the tow truck parks is located on State of Colorado property. MileHigh Towing and Recovery is not paying for use of that parking lot and is therefore using State property illegally to generate income.
• I believe the tow driver lied to me when he told me he could not give me a ride to their location because of insurance liability issues. If this was the case, then he would leave all customers haplessly stranded on highways and other dangerous locations as he tows their broken down cars away.
• The driver did not disclose the various fees associated with the towing charge, only that the fee is $275 cash. If he would have informed me that $275 includes an “after hours” pick-up fee of $66, I would have picked up the car the next day and saved $66. This is all part of their nefarious scheme.
• The MileHigh signs at the parking lot are very small and appear insignificant. Their signs are designed to minimize the possibility of towing and to downplay the excessive and unreasonable expense of $275 to recover vehicles that have been towed.
If you’re interested in putting a stop to these predatory practices, email me. I have some ideas to combat this company, but I will need help.
The property owner of 765 Logan is:
Ryan Dunn
899 Logan St # 202
Denver, CO 80203-3154
303-832-8990
MileHigh Towing and Recovery is owned by Michael Nowlin
4300 Elati St.
Denver, CO
Phone: 720-275-3634
