Westway Towing

Avoid using Westway Towing company if you know what's good for you. They are dishonest, unreasonable, their customer service sucks & THEY WILL NOT NEGOTIATE WITH YOU WHATSOEVER! It's their way or court. The manager will not even meet with you. My car was in an accident & the Sunrise police officer called Westway Towing saying they were cheaper than other towing companys. NOT TRUE! Not only did they throw a $400 charge at me, but they kept my car hostage. They'll rob you blind. It's no wonder they have such a big shop and fancy trucks. You pay for it. Word of advice: When you need a tow truck, take the time to get a few estimates first - and don't take the word of the police. more

I would give this establishment zero stars if I could, sadly that is not an option. There are statutes in Florida for towing, the beauty of these statutes is that they are not really enforceable and Westway Towing knows this. Just ask Jason at the Oakland Park location. He will give you the run around and side track the argument and tell you he has been doing this for eleven years and knows people at the Broward Sherriff's Office (BSO) office. Westway towing are glorified con artists operating a business of he said she said. Here are the Florida statutes that govern towing, and I use the term govern very loosely: www.myfloridahouse.gov/FileStores/Web/Statutes/FS07/CH0715/Section_0715.07.HTM My car was towed from a private residence (apartment complex) at 4:33am because they said my pass wasn't displayed properly, even though the security guard who signed off on the towing issued my pass but that is another issue all together. The driver said when they get a call, they tow aka ""we got called, we're getting money."" I heard my alarm going off and went downstairs mid tow. The car had been broken into and pulled out of the space. I got there before the driver had lifted the car on the rig. According to #3 on the statutes the driver should have stopped the tow and given me a reasonable opportunity to pay him this fee. I told the driver I had a pass upstairs, he said you have to pay $100, I said I'll go upstairs, don't tow my car. I woke up the actual tenant of the dwelling I was residing in and by the time I got there (which I believe was maybe 3 mins but the driver says was 5 mins), my car had been lifted and driven down the street. I argued with that lovely Jason fella that a ""reasonable opportunity"" is not 5 mins at 4:30am to get my id, registration and $100. He said that the statute doesn't state a specific amount of time. I brought up that the driver tried to charge me $100 which is double what is legally allowed, but of course he sidetracked and said once its been loaded, it is now $100. So basically the employees make their own laws, their managers encourage it, and the police won't do anything because they say to bring it up in small claims court (I asked a BSO employee myself). Essentially there is no accountability and Westway Towing manipulates this to the best of their abilities. Also, my car was damaged in the tow. A piece under the car was clearly ripped and torn and I brought this up to Darren (also at the Oakland Park location) who said the driver said it was already there. However, on the initial tow form filled out by the driver for it it said the car condition was good. So either the driver doesn't know how to fill out a form, or his story is changing. Since it?s Westway, I imagine it?s the latter. The company has horrible business practices with horrible managers. The police won't help you because the Florida statute is by the county but isn't really enforceable unless you go to small claims court and as Jason clearly pointe more

WESTWAY TOWING CO. DOES'NT PANHANDLE THEY MUG YOU WITH LAW!!! I'm all for making money but these people give a new name to what businesses are becoming these days...(GREEDY AND IMMORAL) ...they are making money from a loophole law more or less. Meaning they twist and turn the law to take advantage and exploit it to make money from people who are innocent. I know I will pursue this with some legality and see if I can have this business shut down. How can you tow away a U-haul vehicle with no notice, not being parked there no more than 2 hrs and say its $175 because its parked illegally. Its a public parking. It was at this (Walmart 7300 W Mcnab Rd, North Lauderdale, FL 33068 )and say it is lawful?...anyone can go and see for themselves half of this parking lot is always empty and to add insult to injury it was parked in the middle of the parking lot which does not get in a way at all with any or no vehicles. If they cared so much of what the law means where is the notice? None of Westway Towing Co. personnel is clear finished any formal education and probably think taking not asking for money is the way to conduct a moral business. I say this because none of these people look like they even own a home and much less give in appearance that they are a bunch of alcoholic and homeless people. Yes, you know the kind you see in the highway asking for money and not taking. I know this because when I went to Westway Towing to pick the U-haul truck which they had lawfully towed because it was so UNLAWFUL for me to park in a large public parking lot less than 2hrs...there was a series of incompetent people working in this office. I could barely understand this alcoholic behind the desk and he could barely make any sense to me. In order to get this truck back it took this pathetic man that was so incompetent to look for a receipt which took another 20 to 30 minutes. As I furthered watched him he seemed to looked disoriented, puzzled and bewildered completely out of it....This is how long he took boyfriend went to the bank and came back and still he could not generate a receipt for me. Come On !!... We all know when you rent a U-haul truck you are always under a time constraint. We needed to return this truck within the hr. So I waited and waited then this alcoholic man called his...I suppose supervisor (Who looked like he has not missed a meal ever!! ) to help him. Once this FAT JABBA THE HUT MAN found it (receipt) the Alcoholic man looked to see if he could type all the information into this outdated data system. He did not get a chance to because he was taking too long and I was going to call the police to place a report for illegally withholding this vehicle. As I was not going to continue waiting for his incompetence. I will tell you no decent person wants to work these types of jobs because its wrong to take money from people who work for a living. THESE PEOPLE AT THIS TOWING COMPANY DO NOT KNOW WHAT WORK IS.. BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY THINK THEY ARE WORKING WHEN IN FACT THEY ARE STEALING!!.. WAKE UP YOU ARE STEALING AND NOT WORKING. $175 FOR 2HRS... this is not New York and it is not Miami. there is no excuse for these companies to exist. WHAT A BAD EXAMPLE THEY ARE!! JUNKIES AND ALCOHOLICS WORK THERE...NO DRESS CODE NO UNIFORMITY NO PROFFESSIONALISM ITS REALLY APPALLING THAT THEY RUN A BUSINESS!!...WHILE EVERYONE IS UNEMPLOYED AND STRIVING THE CORRECT WAY TO MAKE A LIVING THESE PEOPLE HAVE DECIDED TO DO IT BY FORCE!!!..... more

My husband was in an accident, they were prompt showing up to tow the car and handled everything, even calling back to make sure my husband was alright. When my son needed a tire changed because someone had slashed a tire on this SUV, they responded faster than I have ever seen. When my battery died on my SUV, they were there in record time. I would have no problem calling them. Courteous drivers!! more

worst company ever...they should be put out of business and tossed in jail...low life theives & liars...stay away...! more

Low down dirty thieves, how these people stay in business? I know some of the police and the employee of west way towing eat in the same plate. They're not truthful at all. They towed my husband tractor trailer, when we call to find out the cost to take it back. The person told him $550 and as soon as we get there it was another tune. First they don't want to give us the truck because they say I need a CDL license because the business is under my name, so we call the police, to clarify the law, which we did, after the police left now come all the paper work. By the time we done it was midnight, which mean another day and an extra hundred bucks for the day. Just when we thought it couldn't get worse it did. Remember the $550 they told us over the phone now it's $1260, they claim $580 for the truck and $580 for the trailer. we need to find a way to make these pay for their dishonesty. I will not stop untill i get justice more

Recently we had the awful experience to have our car wrecked and the police automatically towed the car to West Way. The first day we went to get the car they told us that we need some documents notarized to get the car out of the lot. After bringing in 5 notarized letter and 5 visits later (45 minutes drive each time) Jess (i think she was pregnant at the time) told us that the notary public was not legitimate. she could have told us that on the first time. And who is she to decide if the notary public is not legitimate? she had no proof of that? Bottom line, they didn't want us to sign the car away to another towing company because they wanted the business. But on the first day, they gave us a tour of the shop and asked us to sign the car over to their shop for repairs on the first day. How are they capable of asking us to sign the rights over to west way on the first day but not allow us to sign the car over to another towing company 11 days after? Well, after 11 days of $24.00 a day storage and another 200'ish dollar of other fees they decided that they took enough money from us and allow us to take the car. But some old heavy set lady didn't allow us to just pay, she demanded that we must stay until the tow truck arrives so that we can leave. Luckily Mac towing arrived within 30 minutes and we paid the fees and we were off to our normal life. But it did not make any sense for the old lady to make us wait for the car because we didn't have to sign anything of witness anything. All we needed to do was pay, get a receipt and that was it. But she wanted to waste another half hour of our life because she felt like it. It is unbelievable how we have ignorant people doing these senseless things just for them to feel good. Also, a guy named Sammy and Andy kept trying to tell us that we should do the job with them at their body shop because they are the best and the only shop around to have laser guided equipment to align the frame, they use the best paint money can buy, they fixed a maseratti with over 72 thousand dollars in repair, blah, blah blah. We actually would have left the car for them to do the work, but since they were such snakes and crooks we rather give the business to other body shop that concentrate on working on cars rather than taking advantage of people. Now i am sure that some people had great experience with West Way and some had experienced worst. I just wanted to share this with the world. Because this was definitely not fair and somebody should know about how they treat people. Not customers because most of their business is a one time deal. I don't know how the city would give businesses to companies like this??? The city must be getting a pretty nice kickback from these guys at west way. Sad but this is how things turn out. We are glad that we don't have to be there again! Pros: good at stealing you one way or another!!!! Cons: They try to scam you in anyway they can! more

Pros: WE TAKE IT Cons: YOU LEAVE IT more

I have witnessed and yelled at a driver on how they run red lights cutt drivers off and have no regard for the lives they can ruin in the event they hit someone. A driver of westwsy was sited for reckless driving when everyone stopped with him and told the spd about his driving. I hope this is the first of many for ur drivers. more

On 9/24/09 my 2003 awd vibe started went at my house in boca,auto clinic boca were I was going to get it fixed called westway towing,an hour later they came.with a tow truck which I didn't know at time that it had to be a flat bed truck not a reg. 2 wheel dr.p.u tow truck,my wagon said awd on it,and know he saw it. And instead of telling me couldn't tow it needed flat bed went right ahead and hooked it up from front wheels towed me to place,which because of his mistake,or not caring burnt out my rear differantal which didn't know at time till the next day when fixed 9/25/09 when I drove it to go home in coral springs heard loud noise driving on sawgrass when got off went to tuners auto near by when checked out was advise rear bearings burnt out was advised due to towing with wrong truck should have been flat bed. Tow driver should have known better.bottom line.after 1 hang up 2 holes,that were disconnect, and on 4th try got a person named daren who told me it was my fault should have known better and was not taking responsability for it,and hung up.in closing had fixed at tuners cost in dollars to me $746.30 so please when get this let me know what action I can take as they all are real low lives.and that's puting it mildly.james more

My wife was in an accident, very tramatic for her as she had never been in one. The tow service the police called loaded up my wife's car, I asked for a business card from the driver, which he provided. We called the next day to arrange for the car to be released to the insurance company and recover our personal items from the vehicle. Pros: Some nice employees Cons: No communication, poor service more

As a first time visitor to the States for what was suppose to be a dream family holiday, I was grossly disappointed at the fraudulant service that I got from this company. In SA it is not illegal to park your car overnight in a public area. There were no signs up that this was the case. Apparantly I was suppose to know that. But let's forget about that. I am not so upset about the fact that our one and only day in Ft Lauderdale was spoilt and that the 2 children whose dream it was to see Kennedy Space centre, could not have it realised because of the time wasted to get the car out of this pathetic company. These 2 boys were placed in our care from a Children's home and we took them to Disneyworld and then Ft Lauderdale so that we could pay a visit to the Space centre. I hate them for stealing my memory card out of my camera with all our memories on it. First they insisted that there was no camera in the car. Then they miraculously ""found"" it. But without the memory chip. All our photos are gone. I offered to give them a new memory card, anything. All I want is my family's memories that we captured. They don't understand the damage that they have done. They also don't care. To the guilty female in the office or Bennie, the guy who towed the car - may this negative karma that you have created for yourself, have such a negative impact on your loved ones, as it had on mine. That is all I can wish for you. You are a lot of vultures with no values - is this as typical of the American culture as it seems? Cons: Thieves with no values more

I know that these stories are true. I also was treated unfairly! I can understand an abandoned vehicle, but to have your car towed (illegally) out my yard was just insane! I had to contact my lawyer and held discussions regarding my case, but by the time we had the police to agree that it shouldn't have been moved- my lawyers fees were sky hi! I believe these people. And for those that persecute the truthful, must be co -conspiritors! They need to strip the business license from these under the table dealers and award retribution to all of the suffers! Pros: Non Cons: All business is good nusiness as long as money is involved! more

They should change their name to Kar Kidnappers. They held my car hostage after working out a deal with a local business. I'm going to complain t0 the l0cal police to get them taken off towing duty. IT IS NO WONDER WHAT HAPPENS TO THESE TYPE OF PEOPLE. Just recently 2 employees of a tow company in palm Beach county was fired upon for doing this same type of thing. I hope they are getting hazard pay. Pros: nothing Cons: $100 is minimum fee legally more

I wonder if anyone even checks back once they rant on sites like this. Anyway, as the name and title suggest.....try looking into things before you critique them. Perhaps the odor that person with the bike got wind of was the smell of manual labor? Perhaps the person who claims the car did not 'have' to be towed should realize that the police are not in the habit of leaving damaged vehicles sitting in 'parking spots' for someone to potentially hurt themselves on or steal things from. Perhaps that person whose car was towed from that parking lot should ask themselves if 'their' vehicle actually belonged there, or if they just may have been violating the rules of the property management. Bottom line is if YOU don't own the property, you don't get to say who leaves what where. They do. It is just the way it is. As to towing companies being a necessary 'evil' ... yes I guess so. Think how much BETTER our cities would look without those companies to tow away all those high end automobiles for code enforcement which are never claimed, nor paid for -- sometimes not even recognizable. Lastly, as stated, don't take out YOUR problem on the person you must redeem your car from. They did not cause your troubles, they are doing a job and should be commended for putting up with people who seem to think they can abuse anyone in any kind of customer service position. You get what you give, do unto others, etc etc. more

I was involved in a major accident, I almost lost my leg, I couldn't answer any questions holding my breath from the pain, the officer did not ask me about a tow truck but called one anyway, my car ended up in a parking spot away from traffic so there was no need to tow it. Needless to say it was towed by Westway, I was later released from the hospital and collected my things, I told them I had AAA so they could receive payment, they said they would handle it and send me information. They asked if I wanted to keep the car, I said no. 6 months later I have a $1,576.76 bill from a collection agency, note that I received no information as to collection from Westway. This is a problem that must be dealt with, they are a plague on society and must be put out of business. Not telling someone information about fees and holding they're vehicle while secretly running the meter is the same as lying, and somewhere in this whole situation is a law being broken. I will pursue this until they cease to exist as a company. Preying on individuals will not be tolerated, someone must stand against companies like this, and those who do nothing should be ashamed of yourselves. For those companies who huddle in the dark hiding from they're victims, enjoy the darkness while it lasts. The night is darkest before the dawn, and I promise you, the dawn is coming...Westway. Cons: they exist more

After being involved in a minor collision, A West Way tow truck stopped and began hooking up my company vehicle without my permision. I told him to stop, and that my towing company was on the way, but he proceeded to keep lifting my truck and completely disregard me, as if it was not my vehicle. Within minutes, my towing company showed up, and reset a fuel cut off switch and started my truck up (something that this company knew, I'm sure). West Way towing then carried my truck aprox. 10 feet to the side of the road and slammed me with a $100.00 towing fee and would not release my truck without a cash payment on the spot. RIP-OFF,RIP-OFF,RIP-OFF!! AND DO YOU BELEIVE THEY ARE A CITY TOWING COMPANY?! After I'm done with this review, I will pursue calling the city to file a complaint against this company, to be sure. Cons: The employee was rude, acted like he couldn't hear me, and held my truck hostage. more

After waiting for three hours to pick up my Harley the driver showed up with another vehicle already on the flatbed. He stunk to high heaven, like he had not had a bath in a week, and when he had difficulty unhooking the vehicle already on the flatbed, he started slammiing tools and cursing like a sailor in front of my wife. Needless to say I refused his service and reported them to Road America who had sent them out in the first place. I will never use them. Cons: Unable to provide the service requested more

Westway Towing has been in business for almost 20 yrs. To say that they steal your money and close shop is rediculous. They are a necessary evil that is hard to appreciate. Preditory towing is ILLEGAL. Someone MUST authorize the tow ie: police, management. If you don't want your car towed. Make arrangements BEFORE they get there. Inform the P.D. on scene you have a truck comming, or make sure it's LEGAL. Your lack of planningis NOT a reason to whine, cry or complain. And when you pick up your car, make sure you direct your anger to the approprate people. The personel DON'T deserve your abuse for your incompetence. Remember, they don't make the rules... YOU did. They only enforce them. Maybe if people stop driving like idiots you could put them out of business. By the way... For the 3rd strait year So. Fla drivers are ranked the worst. 1st @ running red lights, 1st @ cutting in at red lights, 1st @ aggressive driving. So the next time you want to complain about tow trucks... look at yourself. Your the reason there here Pros: CENTRALLY LOCATED more

These people are in the business of working out deals with businesses parking lots. They go around towing peoples cars and holding them hostage for a minimum $100. Then more every hour for storage. They only take cash, and close up after a big haul to bilk up the fees. more