All-Safe Towing & Recovering, a company criticized for its policies regarding towed vehicles, is moving its operation closer to downtown Asheville.
Manager Danny Jones told Mountain Xpress on Friday that the company’s lease for its location at 151 W. Haywood St. near River Road has ended, and the business is moving to a lot off Coxe Avenue near downtown.
“We’ve been here eight or nine years and just thought it would be easier for people to get to us,” Jones says. All-Safe has recently been hired to patrol two more downtown lots and business is fine, Jones says. “It has nothing to with what’s been going on.”
Jones was referring to recent attention on the company. Last month, Asheville police legally parked a car at a Lexington Avenue parking lot patrolled by All-Safe, then watched as two of the company’s employees hitched it up and towed it off. Police charged the two with obtaining property under false pretenses.
The arrests followed recent complaints about predatory towing in Asheville. On Dec. 10, Xpress reported that Asheville City Council is poised to change local ordinances in coming months with the goal of curbing predatory towing. Asheville’s new law may include provisions such as requiring towing companies to accept debit and credit cards as well as cash and to be on call 24 hours a day, return phone calls within 15 minutes and release impounded vehicles within 45 minutes. The new law may also prohibit towing companies from hauling off a vehicle if the owner shows up while it’s being towed, and it could cap fees. Asheville already requires owners of private lots to post conspicuous signs warning people that they could get towed, and those rules may also be tweaked.
— Jason Sandford, multimedia editor
These jerks towed my car while I was working at a Downtown Master Plan meeting at Vincenzo’s.
I literally begged the kid not to take the car since I couldn’t get access to the cash they wanted (which was more than what they normally charge, so since it is all in cash I think the kid was trying to get a bribe to take the car off the big red bull).
I ended up having to let them take the car, telling them it was worth more in scrap metal than it was for me to get it back at high costs they wanted. Some guardian angel watched all of this and paid their fees anonymously (thank you angel whomever you are) so I could pick up the car, but in the process of towing these guys *destroyed* both the front right tire, did significant damage to the boot/axel, as well as dragged the car somehow where it totally ate my oil pan.
When I got the car back it was totally useless, I couldn’t afford the $600 worth of damages they had done to it in less than 48hrs. I had to buy a newer used car and I am actually getting my old car towed to the scrap yard this weekend.
To top it all off they were mean as hell, not taking any responsibility for the damage to the car or caring one ounce for how many days they screw up for people and the exceptionally difficult situations they create.
These guys are jerks and provide little service, if any, to our community. I can’t even believe this is totally legal, it shouldn’t be.
Get a large wrecker and start towing their trucks straight to the French Broad … just kidding of course :)
Sorry for your terrible experience with these cretins.
These guys are jerks. But the bottom line is, park LEGALLY.
Damn, JBo….
ARRRGGGGGHHHHH!
Yep, they towed my car too years ago and were jerks about it. I had shopped at a downtown business that had parking for it’s customers. After shopping, I went across the street and got a coffee, intending to drink it and then return to my car and drive home after. Less than 15 minutes later my car was gone, even though I had parked in a “park here if you are our customer” lot. I suspect they were already on the way to tow me before I even left the store I was supposed to park at. It ruined my CV joint, which had to be replaced.
Either way, they should be held legally responsible for damages they do to vehicles, should have towing fees capped, and should be monitored by the police for our safety- and theirs.
What good reporter or concerned citizen will follow up on what the city is planning to do about what appears to be an untenable situation which has emerged from an apparently untenable city ordinance?
And what better arrangements are in place in other towns and cities, in the U.S. and elsewhere?
I’ll bet Asheville City Attorney Bob Oast already has this research done and would be fairly frank in discussing his findings with anyone would ask him reasonably.
And what are the positions of each City Council member on what should be done about the situation?
“What good reporter or concerned citizen will follow up on what the city is planning to do about what appears to be an untenable situation which has emerged from an apparently untenable city ordinance?”
Wouldn’t a newspaper like Mountain Xpress have the reporters and the resources to investigate and report on this problem? I’d love to see Mountain Xpress take a lead in this. It would be a great service to our community. Certainly what the city is planning to do is part of it, but that’s not the whole story. Let’s see interviews with other victims of this and perhaps other predatory towing companies. I’m sure there are many out there that have had similar experiences to what a few have posted here about. What about interviews with towing company employees, especially former employees who have nothing to lose by telling the truth? Also how about interviews with parking lot owners? What is their relationship with these towing companies? How does it all work? How is it that parking lot owners even allow towing companies on their premises to tow legally parked cars? Yes, it happens. The APD proved that.
“And what better arrangements are in place in other towns and cities, in the U.S. and elsewhere?”
About a month ago, in a comment under the article “No parking,” I posted a summary of the towing laws for the state of California, which I think work well to be fair and equitable to everyone involved. That would be a good model, seems to me, to base an ordinance on. Which brings me to an important point. Why is this just a city of Asheville issue? If stiff towing regulations are set up in Asheville, what’s to keep predatory towing from business as usual just outside the city limits? This needs to be a countywide law or, better still, one for the entire state of North Carolina – like California did for the entire state.
“I’ll bet Asheville City Attorney Bob Oast already has this research done and would be fairly frank in discussing his findings with anyone would ask him reasonably.
And what are the positions of each City Council member on what should be done about the situation?”
Good point and good question. I’m sure we’d all like to know.
I was towed on June 25th and have vowed to never again park anywhere in Ashville because of All-Safe towing. I have children in the area ands vow until they are gone and their towing policies, their association to the taxi company to take you to the towing lot, the lack of any commer courtesy, has left me with a very bad taste for them. I hope the city’s attorney files new laws to forbid their practices, their $150 towing, no regard for any damage deone by employees, and totally the wrong attitude for bring needed money into the downtown establishments.