Mile High Towing Llc

On Friday, Sept. 24, 2010 at 6:00 (when we parked AND PAID), we had the exact same thing happen at this SAME location that dickp had below. My wife and I went into Benny's to meet some friends and came out only and hour and half later to find our truck gone. WE PAID.

Some additional facts:
- lot attendant immediately knew it was our truck (how? unless she had observed us walk up to the slot and already pay for that parking space)
- when approached to ask her what had happened and why our truck was gone, she got belligerent and walked away from us - why?
- when we called MHTR, they were immediately very rude on the phone and never mentioned needing to pay cash
- 20 minutes later we get a cab, head to the lot on 43rd and Elati (not a good neighborhood)
- no one there so we call the phone number for MHTR again to find out the status of the driver meeting us there
- they curse (yes using profanity) at my wife claiming they are closed "and that we should have to pay the $30 a day to wait until Monday" and "but will send someone as soon as they can"
- while we are there 2 other vehicles show up trying to get their cars out
- I get out of the cab (who had graciously waited there so we had a safe place to stay) to talk with the other victims; that's when I find out we needed to pay cash
- we go get cash, come back and two tow trucks are there helping the other folks
- one of the young women attempting to retrieve her car after paying, came to ask why the car steering wasn't working and it was stuck (damaged due to towing?)
- I take a picture of the shed that is an office so I can keep a record of the events that night and get threatened by a tow truck driver that I can't do that and he will keep my car longer, again, at $30 a day
- no one would give me their name nor the name of the person who wrote the $25 ticket at the parking lot
- we finally managed to pick our kids up 3 hours later
- all because of a "honest mistake" or because the laws and situation are HIGHLY STACKED AGAINST THE CONSUMER.
- I would refuse to use the slot style parking boards and only park where they have installed the electronic ones you can pay and get a receipt

We called the tip lines for NEWS4, Channel 9 News and posted the situation on several blogs, forums and all the social media outlets we can think of. We also called the Denver Police but couldn't wait around until they got there as we had two small children to pick up.

What else can we do?

DO NOT ever use this company! They are shady, unprofessional and stealing people's cars. I paid to park in a lot, when I cam out an hour and a half later, mine and three other people's cars had been "towed". The towing company demanded $300 cash only. We had to go to their lot, no lights, a shack with no address and mean dogs protecting their premises and no one was there. The three other ladies and I called the police to learn they often have to deal with this company and their incredibly shady business practices. This company was formerly Lyons Towing that was closed down.

My first and only encounter with a towing company taught me the regulations and pricing set by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) are extremely friendly to the towing industry. Citizens who are victimized by companies that take advantage of the favorable regulatory system have very little rights and virtually no method to remedy an abuse. Here is my story which concerns Milehigh Towing and Recovery. However, there are many complaints against another towing company called Lyons Towing & Recovery. In November 2008, the CALL7 Investigators reported that Lyons Towing accounted for 27 percent of all towing complaints filed with the PUC in the prior 12 months -- the most of any towing company in Colorado.

First of all please don??t confuse MileHigh Towing and Recovery owned by Michael Nowlin with Mile High Towing. This review concerns MileHigh Towing and Recovery. If you??re going to write a note, make sure you identify the right towing company.

I parked at a private lot at 765 Logan around 6PM with only three other cars. The lot is close to a popular Mexican Restaurant called Benny's. I went to Benny??s to have dinner with my wife and inadvertently forgot to pay. After dinner we returned to the lot and found the car was gone. I searched the large parking lot for any sign and found a small sign on the wall by Milehigh Towing. I looked up at the adjacent lot and saw a tow truck. I went up and asked the driver if he had towed my wagon and he said yes. He told me I could get it back for $275 cash. There was no mention of the $66 after hour??s fee.

So the towing company sits lurking in the adjacent lot (State of Colorado property) watching to see if you paid for parking. If they don??t see you walk over to the pay box, your car is towed as soon you leave it without any call or consent from the property owner of the lot.

Later in the evening, I recovered my car at MileHigh Towing and Recovery??s impoundment lot at 4300 Elati and paid the money. The receipt shows that it took the tow truck driver 30 minutes to transport the car to 4300 Elati. Now it doesn??t take a CPA like me to calculate the bill equates to $275 an hour, an amount which exceeds just about every occupation out there.

Here are my concerns:

? After a little research, I found that the adjacent lot where the tow truck parks is located on State of Colorado property. MileHigh Towing and Recovery is not paying for use of that parking lot and is therefore using State property illegally to generate income.

? I believe the tow driver lied to me when he told me he could not give me a ride to their location because of insurance liability issues. If this was the case, then he would leave all customers haplessly stranded on highways and other dangerous locations as he tows their broken down cars away.

? The driver did not disclose the various fees associated with the towing charge, only that the fee is $275 cash. If he would have informed me that $275 includes an ??after hours? pick-up fee of $66, I would have picked up the car the next day and saved $66. This is all part of their nefarious scheme.

? The MileHigh signs at the parking lot are very small and appear insignificant. Their signs are designed to minimize the possibility of towing and to downplay the excessive and unreasonable expense of $275 to recover vehicles that have been towed.

If you??re interested in putting a stop to these predatory practices, email me or go to the . I have some ideas to combat this company, but I will need help.

Dick

The property owner of 765 Logan is:

Ryan Dunn
899 Logan St # 202
Denver, CO 80203-3154
303-832-8990

MileHigh Towing and Recovery is owned by Michael Nowlin

4300 Elati St.
Denver, CO
Phone: 720-275-3634

Lesson learned about parking in designated "non parking areas". I was out to diner with my kids and due to a major rain storm, I parked in a private lot (no cars where parked in the lot...it was basically deserted). About an hour later, after dinner, I walked t o my car and it was gone. After looking all over the parking lot, I found a number to call, Mile High Towing. I spoke with a guy that laughed when I asked if he had my car and responded, yea, we are just pulling up with it. When I asked when I could pick up the car, he said now but it would cost $250.00 cash to get the car out of impound. The lot is in the bowels of Denver, no office and impossible to find. The cab driver could not locate the address on his GPS so basically, after an hour of driving around, we found the location. My cab driver was visibly nervous because of the area. When I arrived, the fenced parking lot had a tow truck blocking the entrance. It seemed like I was shooting a scene in The Sapranos. The company is run by a bunch of thugs and I would be embarrased to recommend them to anyone.

Pros: None

Cons: Is this a ligit towing company???

I had my car towed on Friday night. Called him shortly after, and asked him when I could come pick up the car. He just said cold and rudely, "whenever you get here and bring $275 with you." The sign said 24 hrs on it, and his answer certainly made it seem like I could come by "whenever." I called him at 5 am when I was taking a cab ride there to say I was coming in and ask what kind of payment he accepted. I got to where I thought was the destination and couldn't find the lot, so I called him back for more specific directions. I said the name of streets, and exactly where I was and named the address. At that point, he cut me off and said "you know you can't get it between noon and 1, right?" Obviously this was pretty upsetting, because he knew I was on my way and ended up costing me another cab ride.
When noon came around, I had to get another cab to go out there. I had made a mistake and thought that I was going to Maxx towing, where I went early that morning, and not Mile-Hi. I know THAT is my fault. Once I got there and couldn't find him again, I called him back and he just said, "You probably can't find it because you are looking for Maxx and I am Mile-Hi. You even said Maxx this morning and I knew you were going to the wrong place." At this point, I was livid. Not only did he mislead me into coming down early in the morning and not being able to pick up my car, but he knew that I was going to the wrong place (which I realize was my fault) and purposely waited until I got there to tell me. I finally made it to Mile-Hi (despite his bad directions, and saying I was an idiot for not understanding) and after we made the exchange and I got my car back, I confronted him about his spiteful behavior and attitude. He just told me that it wasn't his responsibility to give directions and get me to the right place. He said that just because I told him I was coming to get it, it didn't mean that I really was. All in all because of him I had to pay extra $120 on cab fares.

Pros: I got to leave with my car and hopefully don't have to speak to him ever again.

Cons: He added charges last minute, and purposely made the ordeal as difficult for me as possible.