Portland Street Service Center Portland St MobilPortland St Towing & Recovery unprofessional, bad business, liars, crooks, no ethics South Berwick Maine

Here is the simplified timeline:

5:30 PM FRIDAY - Hired PSCS to meet in N. Berwick pickup address at 8:15 PM8:15 PM FRIDAY - Awaiting tow truck to arrive
8:47 PM FRIDAY - Tow truck arrives with 1 female driver who begins loading vehicle
9:11 PM FRIDAY - Destination + route agreed upon, we all leave headed toward S Berwick
9:26 PM FRIDAY - Tow driver calls my cell phone to say she has pulled off at shop to re-fuel, see us there
10:20 PM FRIDAY - I arrive home and call tow driver asking for ETA, she says 30 minutes
11:16 PM FRIDAY - I call driver again, ask for ETA, she says she's 25 miles away, but can't say where she is
11:42 PM FRIDAY - I call tow driver cell phone again - no answer
11:43 PM FRIDAY - I call tow driver cell phone again - no answer
11:47 PM FRIDAY - I call towing company main line - rings for 3 minutes, no answer
11:50 PM FRIDAY - I call towing company main line from another phone number, NO ANSWER
12:00 AM SAT - I call Berwick PD for help to see if my vehicle is still in the area
12:05 AM SAT - Berwick PD say they get a hold of dispatch and driver says she had to eat and is 30 min away
12:16 AM SAT - I call tow driver for ETA - she can't/won't tell me how far or where she is - sounds messed up
12:50 AM SAT - I call Berwick PD again to tell them there is no sign of tow driver
1:00 AM SAT - Ask my local PD to standby if/when tow driver arrives
1:15 AM SAT - Berwick PD call to tell me the tow driver says she is waiting for me at the destination
1:15 AM SAT - Berwick PD also say tow driver says I sped away and she couldn't follow
1:20 AM SAT - My local PD calls, they just spoke with the tow driver, she tells them she is 15min away at Mc'Ds
1:20 AM SAT - I tell them she just told Berwick PD she was here waiting for us
1:25 AM SAT - Myself, girlfriend, and 3 officers cars are parked and wait at the destination for tow driver.
2:00 AM SAT - Still waiting, officer calls driver again to ask where she is, she says still at McDonalds
2:00 AM SAT - Officer tells driver to get down here, he is on overtime and annoyed
2:22 AM SAT - Still no tow truck, another officer calls again
2:41 AM SAT - Driver pulls onto destination street and up to autobody
2:43 AM SAT - Strange passenger gets out of tow truck, smoking cigarette
2:45 AM SAT - I get overcharged by $60 and told "That doesn't even include the pain and suffering"
2:45 AM SAT - I pay (no other choice, just get my car off your truck!!!!!)
2:50 AM SAT - My vehicle is finally unloaded and we all leave, unhappily ever after

UPDATE: Called the owner of the company expecting an apology and refund in full. Got the opposite. He tells me I "dicked the driver around" and got the cops involved for no reason. I try to explain that I thought my car was in a chop shop somewhere, but he did not care. Hung up on me. I called him back again to calmly explain because SURELY he was not hearing the story that I experienced. Again he did not want to hear it. He cut me off and told me I wasn't getting a dime. I wish I read all the other bad reviews out there about this company before I hired them!

Here is the full story:

This company quoted me $180 to tow a vehicle I bought 43 miles to an autobody shop in my area. I made an appointment earlier in the day for them to pick it up at 8:15 pm and drop it at the autobody shop near my house in NH, about an hour and 20 minutes away. I waited for the tow truck to show up, finally at 8:50pm (though I saw them drive by twice in the meantime). I noted to the others who we're waiting with me that the woman sounded strange on the phone, but proceeded to have it loaded up on the bed, and made sure she knew where we were meeting, and that we WERE NOT driving it on the highway. She read off the address and said she had a tomtom so she was all set to go, see you there. We were pulling out of the driveway at the same time, and the driver blinked her headlights for us to go first. This was at 9:11pm. At 9:26 the driver called my cell phone and said, "I had to pull  off at the shop and refuel, I just didn't want you to worry when you didn't see me behind you." I said, no problem, just call me when you are 15 minutes from the autobody shop and I will meet you there (anticipating that we were going to beat her anyway by enough to stop at home and let the dog out). So we drove home as intended, arrived at 10:20pm. I called her at 10:20 just to check in and see how it was going, what was her ETA. She answered her phone but sounded like she was in an echoing room. She said she was about 30 minutes away, sorry, and hope it's not going to be too late. I said no problem, fine, call me when you are 15 min away and I will head over to the autobody. I waited until 11:16 pm and called her again, getting concerned. She said she was sorry, she had an emergency after she stopped the shop, and she was 25 miles away on the highway. I asked her where on the highway she was and she said she did not know. Not to mention she supposedly took the highway against my wishes but whatever. I said impatiently, ok please just get here and call me when you are 15 minutes away. No call. At 11:42 I called her phone, it rang and rang, no answer, went to VM. Called again a minute later and again she did not answer. At 12:00 am, I called the North and South Berwick PDs, neither could decide who should respond to the issue (if at all), but after I told them the driver sounded strange, didn't know where she was, and had my vehicle for 3 hours now, they called the towing company dispatch to find out where she was. The towing company said they couldn't get a hold of the driver for a little while, and then a few minutes later the officer spoke with the driver on her cell phone. The officer told me he got a hold of the driver, she said that she was 30 minutes away, that she had to stop at the shop to refuel and eat. Really? Ok, I called her again at 12:16 and she sounds again like she is walking and out of breath, very strange. She is annoyed that I called the police, again says she is on her way on the highway, she'll get there when she gets there, and she will call me when she is 15 min away. I asked her where she was on the highway 3 times and she would not answer the question. She said, sorry my phone died and I had and emergency and now it is working again. I was very frustrated and asked why this tow was now going on hour 4, told her I would have the local PD present when she arrived, and she hung up. I wait, impatiently, and call the PD again at 12:50. Tell them she still has not arrived and can they call her again. In the meantime, I drove over to the autobody and made sure she wasn't there. I went to my local PD, explained the situation, and asked if they would be able to do a civil standby when/if she does arrive. I did not know what state this woman would be in, and did not want any trouble. They said no problem, as soon as you know she is coming, give us a call. The N Berwick PD finally called back around 1:15 am saying that they spoke with her and that she was waiting for me. She told them I sped away and she was trying to follow me, but now she was in my town waiting for me at a residence. And then the officer started questioning me why did I tell her I was at a residence and then said why are you still in Maine you said you would meet her in NH. He was obviously not getting the story so I got in the car once again, drove over to the autobody to confirm she was not there, and no she wasn't. As I was in the parking lot there, my local PD called me (about 1:20) and said, we spoke with the tow truck driver, she says she is 15 minutes away at McDonalds. She told them she got lost on 495. The local officer showed up with 2 other backup officer cars, and we all waited. At about 2am, an officer standing by with us called her again, and asked where she was. She told them she was still at McDonalds and she didn't know she was supposed to be coming here, she is now leaving and will be there in 20 minutes. Everyone is now realllllly tired and annoyed. The officers are telling me at this point there's not much they can do, I still have to pay her and it is a civil matter so I will need to seek a refund at a later date and civil court if necessary. Whatever, I just want my car and to know what this lady has been doing with my vehicle for 5 hours!! 2:22 am they call her again, she says she's coming and it sounds like they give her directions but couldn't hear the conversation completely. One officer goes to the end of the street to make sure she doesn't drive by. FINALLY at 2:41 am she pulls in. By the way, she now has a strange male passenger with her wearing sweat pants and flip flops and cranking cigarettes. We drive up to the spot she needs to drop the car and proceed to pay the bill. The bill now says $244.00. I was quoted $180 for a scheduled tow that took 5.5 hours and now you want $244??? She said, and I quote, "that's minus the pain and suffering". I am beside myself but pay her (had to borrow $15 from an officer as I only had a certain amount of cash on hand since I was quoted $60 less!!!), just get my car off your truck. She unloaded my vehicle at 2:50 am. I inspected the car, seemed OK from what I could see at almost 3am, and I left first. Officer had assured me she would drive around in an hour and check on the car. That is the story. $180 1 hour 20 minute tow, in reality turned into $244, 5 hour 30 minute tow. What were you doing for 5 and a half hours???? I am glad I called the PD because I really think if I hadn't, she would not have come. To say the least, this service center is NOT recommended. I will remember this horrible experience for the rest of my life.