National Autow, Inc You Better Have Cash! Memphis Tennessee

I am a self employed automotive technician.  Yesterday evening, I was trying to help out a financially strapped customer that needed a fuel pump put in her vehicle to get her vehicle to my home (so that I could work on it) by towing it to my home using my own tow dolly.  Unfortunately, a mishap took place and I had an accident with her vehicle in tow. When the police arrived, I was informed that I would have to use the towing service that they called instead of my own choice, so that the accident scene would be cleared in a timely manner. Though I was not blocking any lanes of the interstate, and there were no vehicles involved except for my van and the vehicle being towed, I acquiesed and followed the officer's directions. Almost 2 hours later, the towing company arrived to pick up the vehicles.  Now, I have had many vehicles towed in this city due to my line of work, and have never had to pay more than $80 for a tow.  The charge,as mandated by the City of Memphis, is $125, which is suppoed to be for cleanup of parts and fluids related to an accident.  Though there was no such cleanup necessary, I bit my lip and took the gouging.  The police were both friendly and efficient, and only charged me for hitting the guard rail and not an illegal tow.  For that, I am grateful.  But I was a little fuzzy when I was told that it would have to be towed to a storage facility instead of to the repair facility.  I was informed today that it is because I would have to pay the towing fees upfront to have them tow it to a place of my choosing.  National Autow of 2217 Freemont in Memphis only takes cash (unlike every other facility that I have ever dealt with that takes Visa) so both vehicles had to be towed to their storage lot.  Now this was at almost 8PM last night.  When I arrived this morning, I was informed that I not only had to pay for the tow, but for $60 storage which is twice their daily rate, and a $10 processing fee to get the vehicles released. That's $195, instead of the $125 that it should have cost if they took a credit card.  I made the comment "and that's why I hate Memphis" to which I was verbally acosted by the man in charge stating that I didn't have to use them, to which I replied that I was told I had no choice. He proceeded to tell me, with disdain and utter disconcern over what I had been through, that I don't in fact have to use the towing company called by the police, and that the officer was mis- informed.  After speaking with another officer today, I was told that patrolman are trained to handle an accident in this manner, so I don't know who is telling the truth.  He then made sure to let me know that I shouldn't make any waves with MPD because I could get in trouble for operating an illegal towing service, which I don't.  Was this a threat? So what this amounts to is that National Autow is operating a racket in which they are able to secure an extra $70 up front for vehicles towed by them unless you have cash, and then they charge $30 perday storage for not getting your vehicle before 4PM.  Then, after their time limit is reached, they send letters daily to all registered owners of the vehicle that attach more fees for each letter.  If their are 2 owners of record, that's 2 letters.  If their is a leinholder, that's another letter.  As of right now, I'm looking at $570 for 2 vehicles because the insurance company couldn't get out there today, and I am at my limit for cash withdrawals.  Once again, that is $320 more than it would have been to take it where I needed it, because they don't take credit cards which would only cost about $5 to process (which I would have gladly paid).  National Autow is one of the most crooked companies that I have ever had the displeasure to come across, and I am sending this to all news media and social media that I can.

Chuck Milliman 5811 Woodlawn Bartlett, TN 38134 September 18, 2013