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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma City man was shocked when a towing bill he thought would be a few hundred dollars at most turned out to be nearly $1,000, and the towing company refused to return his car until he paid. The tow truck driver claims that he is legally allowed to load everything he made.
It was a freezing Monday last month, when Lawrence Wesson was trying to make some money.
“I was out doing DoorDash because doing it in ice storms, they tend to pay a lot more,” Wesson told News 4.
Unfortunately for him, that day ended with his car spinning on the ice in Edmond, too damaged to return to his home near Yukon.
The police came by and called a tow truck.
He says a driver named JB from Edmond-based All City Wrecker showed up and loaded up his car.
But Wesson says JB refused to tow the car back to his house.
“And I quote exactly what [J.B.] He said… ‘I’m not going to risk ruining a $100,000 truck for a couple hundred dollars,'” Wesson told News 4.
Instead, he says JB offered to take it to his warehouse, where Wesson could come pick it up once the ice melted.
“He said I can leave him on the street for like $150 or something,” Wesson said. “He said he wouldn’t charge me the $20 storage fee.”
So Wesson was surprised when JB gave him a bill for $796.29 when he picked up his car that same week.
“So now it’s like he’s adding all these other charges that are ridiculous,” Wesson said.
It included a connection fee of $112, as well as numerous administrative expenses, including one for $250.
They even charged him a $45 after-hours release fee, even though his car hasn’t been released yet.
“So I asked if I could get proof that you paid these fees, that you actually paid for this,” Wesson said. “He said, ‘Oh no, I don’t have this. I don’t have to show you that.’”
The Corporation Commission rules mention several other miscellaneous fees that a towing company can charge, but none of the allowable fees include the miscellaneous administrative fees that All City Wrecker charged Wesson.
News 4 caught up with JB at the All City warehouse on Friday.
“It’s not that hard to understand, I don’t even know why you’re here,” JB told News 4. “I told the guy I’d put it on my lot and I wouldn’t confiscate it. He would keep it like until Wednesday. “It would be $250 at that time.”
He claims Wesson didn’t come to pick up the car until 5 pm on Friday that week, so he went ahead and charged him the fee.
News 4 asked JB how much he was charging Wesson as of Friday.
“The current rate is $638,” he said.
But the invoice Wesson shared with News 4 shows All City Wrecker wanted him to earn $796.29 as of Jan. 22.
News 4 asked JB to explain why he charged Wesson certain fees like that after-hours fee, which Wesson says JB never told him about.
“We don’t tell them from the beginning. We let people know that this office is open from eight to four and you can figure it out on your own,” JB said. “But not everyone can count, so I can’t help the world.”
According to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission website, a towing company cannot charge more than $81.25 for a hookup fee for a car of its size. It also says that a company cannot charge more than $15 per quarter hour for the delivery of a car between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m.
It also says that “when invoiced, the justification and time spent releasing a vehicle after hours should be documented on the face of the invoice.”
The bill Wesson showed News 4 did not mention any justification.
JB maintains that everything he accused Wesson of is permissible under his interpretation of the law.
“So even if we didn’t do anything, we can collect it because that’s what the law says,” he said.
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