First off, the reason why this place got even a single star is because the actual individuals who do the towing and work the trucks are quite friendly and helpful.
JOSE, the main office person, is pretty much a deplorable human being. I was in a near fatal car wreck with my two very young children and every single, possible step of the way JOSE (the heavy set, bald office worker) has made all interaction with Hefner's towing a complete nightmare.
From the time I walked in my greetings of ""Hello, I'm looking for my vehicle"" were responded with a raised hand to my face. I ignored this b/c I always assume office people are having a bad day. One of the towing guys at the office saw how rude JOSE was and offered me a seat while I waited for him to acknowledge I exist.
1) I had to travel a great distance to get to the towing company (which is understandable - the police just wanted my vehicle off the road and I assume they called the closest place, even though I asked them to send it elsewhere). When I finally arrived JOSE told me he could not let me enter my vehicle b/c I did not have the proper documents. However, I spoke with him before I set off on my journey and explained those documents WERE IN THE VEHICLE!!! Over the phone, he said he would get them out for me, but when I arrived behaved as if I made up the entire conversation in my head. He kept on stating over and over like a dumb parrot ""I have to follow the law"". That's all great, but you should have said that before I drove almost 100 miles to retrieve my property from my vehicle!
After almost 30 minutes of yelling at me about following the law and doing his job, he finally agreed to have a staff member search for my documents. My vehicle registration is from another state and went unrecognized by the searcher. This sent JOSE into a ridiculous rampage. I tried to explain exactly where in the SUV the registration would be found and he refused to listen, repeating over and over ""I have to follow the law"". Thankfully, another staff member was listening to me and retrieved the documents from my vehicle.
Jose never apologized for his behavior, despite being obviously wrong. But lets go on to the other issue...
2) JOSE explained the process of releasing my vehicle. That I could sign release papers on the spot. Or he could fax it to me once I return home and I return it with a copy of my license. He seriously suggested the latter. Despite the earlier happenings (I alwas assume office people are having a bad day) I thanked him and accepted his advice. Now it is 3 days later. I called JOSE back to have the release papers sent and he NOW informs me everything (each identifying document plus the release papers themselves) must be notarized! I asked him why didn't he mention they needed to be notarized while I was at the towing company. This again sent him into his loud chanting frenzy of ""I have to follow the law"". I tried to remain calm and pointed out following the law is fine, but that's not what he said before, similar to the prior incident. Disgusted with his behavior I asked if there was ANYONE else I could speak to, just to avoid hearing his voice. Lets just say things got much worse from there...
If it were simply getting the documents notarized I would be upset b/c a) I wasn't told ahead of time and have to pay the fees to have this done, b) I have to shuffle two very small children around this small town to find someone to actually notarize the documents. However, I would understand b/c after all I wouldn't want anyone to not obey the law.
I have never written a review for ANYTHING before in my life, however JOSE's horrible, unapologetic, irate behavior has motivated me to stop everything in my life to warn others.
more