Area Towing and Recovery Inc

This place is the worst!!!! My daughter and daughter in law were in an accident (they were not at fault) literally in front of area tow's driveway. When my son and daughter in law went back to get their belongs out of the car just over an hour later they were told it would be $100 for someone to walk them back so they could do so. When your inside the place the workers are behind bullet proof glass (understandable), but that glass is blacked out so that you can't see who you are dealing with. That should be illegal. It is unsafe for the customers. You have to stand there and hand over hundreds of dollars and have no clue what they are doing behind their blacked out bullet proof glass. They have all your information and there is no way for you to see what they are doing with it. Their employees are rude. Their prices are insane! They only accept cash. Only one reason for that!

This place sucks. Most corrupt business on the planet.
Never get into an accident/get your car towed in Taylor or Brownstown or you'll lose all of your money.... for getting your car towed 200 feet. This place is a joke. They have bulletproof mirrored glass for a reason. They only accept cash for a reason.
Straight extortion. Workers and owner have no balls. They sit behind their tinted bullet proof glass because they know how insane their prices are. They belong in prison for what they do to people.

Worst place ever!!! Crooks! Crooks crooks!!!! Like everyday life isnt expensive enough. You dont even work with ppl at all. Im pregnant my car died at 630 in the morning someone helped me push it, by the time i got off it was gone. I told them my situation n literally they could give two shts. So now im carless out 400$ and have a 5 yr old n another on the way. Thank you f*ck**s soo much. Karma.

The biggest crooks I've ever seen in my life. Never will recommend them to anyone! I can't believe a company like this is still in business. $340 for not even having my car for 24 hour. This need to be stop I'm rating them - 5 star on everything

Incredibly rude receptionist and ridiculous fees. My car was towed at 10pm and they charged me $45 to store the car for the two hours until midnight. Then of course I had to pay another $45 for the hours they had it the next day until I could get there.

I called ahead to ask how much the charges would be and asked them if they take Visa cards. Yes, they take Visa and Mastercard. During the conversation they asked me what police department had towed my car so clearly they knew it was a police tow. When I got to the office I found out that they don't take Visa for police tows, cash only! I didn't bring cash since they told me that they take Visa. My husband had to leave work and run the money over to me.

It's time that residents protest with their towns to stop contracting with these rude scammers! I suspect that the towns are getting some of the money, though, and that explains the higher than normal fees. Avoid them if you can!

Crooks!! Absolutely Terrible!!!

Extortion. They will make you jump through every hoop they can come up with to give you your own vehicle back just so they can charge you $20/day storage.

ZERO STARS< CONTACTED ATTORNEY CHANGES NEED TO BE MADE. PLEASE FILE A COMPLAINT WITH CITY COUNSEL. PLEASE SHARE YOUR INVOICE< COULD BE LOOKING AT INSURANCE FRAUD AND TAX FRAUD. The incident in question occurred Tuesday Jan. 7 2014 approximately 7:30pm. My son, 18 years old was involved in a car accident that happened in city of Taylor. We called a tow truck which was located 50 feet from the scene but was told by the police department that we had to use Area Tow Company because that’s who the city contracted. At that time my son was very distraught and respected the officer and did what he was told. The very next morning I called Area towing to get the vehicle towed to the collision shop and at this time I was told that the car would not be released until fees were paid in cash only. Charges totaled $416.00. Break down of charges is as follows: $180.00 Towing , The car was towed a total of 4 miles. $45.00 for the use of a flatbed truck $55.00 impounding the vehicle $70.00 tow car outside the gated property so we can get the car towed to collision shop $40.00 a day storage $36.00 for fuel surcharge $40.00 secretary of state charge for vehicle abandonment If the police allowed BP gas station to tow my vehicle to the Taylor collision shop,the fee would have been $75.00. I feel there must be some sort of kickback that the city is receiving to allow such charges to occur and not allowing citizens the right to their choice of tow companies. Area towing and recovery company will ONLY except cash, If that’s not raising a red flag along with the ridiculous charges and forcing the accident victim in using the service don’t know what else it could be, but only criminal.

It is truly unfortunate that this review won't make a single bit of difference because people don't get to choose where the police tow their car. I can not believe how insensitive and how astronomically ludicrous the rates are here. I was involved in a rollover and am lucky an off duty firefighter pulled over to help me because it was 45 minutes before the police even came (without an ambulance; thank goodness I wasn't hurt) even through the fireman offered to pull my vehicle off the road the policeman would not allow it instead calling area towing to take my car away. After I got picked up and tried to go to the tow yard to get my car (which the police officer told me to do) sure enough I couldn't! They were closed due to the fact that it was New Year's Day. The truck will tow you on New Year's Day, but you can't go back and pick up your car. The outrageous prices that I was charged do not match the prices they have posted outside their lobby and everyone working there had something different to say about who makes up the prices. In addition, I got charged an extra $70 because they had to tow it from the back of the lot to the front, so I could put in the new battery. Because they won't let me back on the property to do it. I literally can't even believe these thieves get away with this. I'm a struggling college student. As if I have $426 in cash anywhere. I tried to put it on a credit card but no. Cash only. If only there were something that we could all do to make a change here. It would be awesome if anyone cares about the people. Rather than how much money they can get away with taking.

I have never seen such a place so devoid of human empathy as the tow yard the police sent my car to in Taylor Mi. Besides charging me $536, I had to pay EXACT cash, they don't make change. Closes at 5:00pm. No rest room. One way mirrors so you don't see any faces. They weren't going release my car because I had an old proof of insurance. Even the salvage yard that bought my car said they won't let their drivers go back in the lot. The customers are all accident victims with cuts, bruises, and even one in a leg splint. Really sad.

Never drive in taylor because the city is in on it.

NEVER USE THEM. They are ripoffs and charge astronomical prices. I was in an accident--hit from behind--on Telegraph just North of I-94, at the intersection light. Police came and had to call for a tow. The first thing the man asked me was "Do you have full coverage?" I said yes. He told me he would tow it to Genthe Chevrolet on Eureka (about 10 miles-maybe). However, they were closed at the time of the accident. The man towed my vehicle at 11:08 pm to Area Towing, and according to my bill summary, left Area Towing property at 8:31 am the following morning. Here are the fees that were accrued: Towing: $395.00; Imp fee: $25.00; Misc: 25 cents; Fuel Surcharge: $98.75; Storage: $64.00 (2 days @ $32 per day); S.O.S.: $40.00; Less $40 for an undisclosed "discount" = Grand Total----$583.00!!! Okay, they towed my vehicle approximately 10 miles and charged me $395.00 + $98.75. They stored it for less than 10 hours and charged me 2 days. They charged an Impound Fee of $25 (not sure why this was). Gave a "discount" to (I can only imagine the Taylor Police Dept for calling it in since I had roadside service on my insurance and was never asked by the Taylor PD if I had it or not, they just went ahead and called it in) then turned around and charged me the $40.00 they gave to the Taylor PD, and labeled it as SOS... What is SOS? It wasn't an emergency. All I needed was a jump, not a tow. But they insisted. So, while I was fully covered, I ended up having to pay for this bill since my deductible was more than the damage. NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!!!

I completely agree with you. My car was towed and it cost me $600 to get it back. Yes, I was illegally parked but was deterred by the fact that the bar hired a security company directing traffic to park where I did. I am going to the bar this week to disuss it with them and I've also filed a petition through the Bureau of Automotive Regulations for a court date in hopes of procuring at least some of the money I had to pay. I am currently trying to determine their normal rates to see if they raised them for the "holiday" and being that they towed me at 230 in the morning, I'm wondering about their motives and who called it in. I'm certain it was not the owner of the property since on my invoice it stated it was the Taylor Police Department that requested it.

I am confused by all the other reviews! My car was towed about a week ago, of course I was parked illegally, and when I contacted Area they were very helpful in explaining what documentation that I needed to retreive my car as well as the costs associated with the tow and holding. I was impressed by not only by the competence of the employees but also the friendliness that I was treated with. It was the easiest and most welcoming experience I have ever had with ANY towing company.

dont ever let them tow any of your vechiles they are charging 3 times more than any other towing company they get a hold of your car and once they do look out they try and charge for hook up let down to see your car to touch your car to breath on your car if the sun is shining if its not shining if the wind is blowing the wrong u name it they have a fee for it WARNING never let them hook up............................

Worst customer services, and huge Rip off. I also learned that local police department receive commissions from each transaction that they send them. That's one of the reason why they can get away with unusual high prices because they share the profit with cops and they must make up for the lost revenue.

stay away con artists !!! they wont even awnser the phone!!!! they are a joke!!!!!

THIS PLACE IS A RIP OFF! When you walk in you can't even see the person you are talking to because they have special bullet proof mirrored glass. Now I know why. They charged $380 for one night, when other places only charge $180. They were rude and discourtious to my needs and concerns. I feel sorry for anyone that gets scammed by this business. Riverview towing is who you should call if you have a problem NOT AREA TOWING. Area towing must have a thing going with taylors corrupt police business to be able to do this.

How do I write a 0-star review?



My motorcycle was towed on a Sunday evening. The VERY NEXT DAY, Monday morning, the price to get it back is $432. Can you say extortion? There's no way on earth to justify that much money to move a motorcycle 6 miles.

Leaving all &amp;quot;gut reactions&amp;quot; aside, this is an awful place. The towing and fees are incredulously expensive ($200 for them to stay 2 hours after they close). They are closed Saturday and Sunday, so forget about convenience if you have a real job. Lastly, they are incredibly rude, both on the phone and in person. I spoke with an employee and a manager, and was talked down to by both of them, and received absolutely no help at all. My wife was in the waiting room when she heard the owner of the company call a customer a word that will get censored here. That's right, the owner. I'm planning on registering a complaint with the police department, since that's clearly the only business they get. I don't mind getting towed for something that is my fault. I don't even mind getting charged an exorbitant fee, but to be treated like I'm inhuman is above and beyond their call of duty. If you have a choice, avoid this place.