City hits towing company with cease-and-desist order amid more complaints of cars being held hostage
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago tow company at the center of a CBS 2 investigation has now been hit with a cease-and-desist order from the city for deceptive practices.
This order comes less than a month after CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey first exposed the company's history of complaints.
We have heard from a growing number of customers who said Perfect Timing Towing is deceiving drivers and holding cars hostage, while demanding as much as $10,000 – sometimes more – in return.
"it's been called legal scam," said Kagen Zethmayr, "but if it's just wrong - if it's simply wrong - and it's predatory, and exploiting people, and messing with their lives."
Zethmayr has been stuck without a way to get to his tutoring jobs for more than two weeks.
"I need to be able to get to my job," he said.
This is after he says Perfect Timing Towing showed up at his fender bender in Beverly on Dec. 6 and took his Honda CR-V - assuring him that his insurance sent them, and everything would be paid for.
It was supposed to be taken to a body shop in Lyons - but the tower claimed there was no room there, so they had to stow it themselves.
After carefully inspecting Zethmayr's bill, it totals out to more than $12,000 He is still waiting for his insurer to figure out what to do.
"Everyone knows it's wrong," said Zethmayr.
At a loss, Zethmayr went online and found our CBS 2 investigation on Dec. 1 – and found out he wasn't the only person who said his car was being held hostage. Our investigation found many customers also said they were forced to pay outrageously high bills to get their cars back.
Perfect Timing Towing only got a license in July.
"The name is scratched out and replaced with Perfect Timing Towing," said Zethmayr. "The previous name was Take Me Home towing."
We uncovered that the State of Illinois has received at least 20 complaints about Perfect Timing Towing. Many drivers also claimed the company was demanding payments of $10,000 or more.
This week, the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection issued two cease-and-Desist orders against Perfect Timing Towing - one for operating without a tow lot license, and another for operating without a tow truck license. BACP also issued six other citations against the company - including deceptive practices.
"They deserve to have real-world consequences," said Zethmayr, "not just something on paper that says, 'Oh, you can't do that again under this name.'"
Right now, complaints like the ones against Perfect Timing Towing aren't posted publicly.
"I have discovered in the General Assembly, you cannot legislate integrity," said Illinois state Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin (D-Matteson).
But thanks to the passage of a bill sponsored by Rep. Meyers-Martin, beginning on Jan. 1, the Illinois Commerce Commission will have to post administrative citations against towing companies.
This will allow drivers on the roadside to search the citation histories of companies like Perfect Timing Towing before handing over their keys.
"I think that that is a step in the right direction, to be able to assist consumers with avoiding those truck companies that are not, do not, have best practices in their in their business," Rep. Meyers-Martin said.
Meanwhile, the cease-and-desist appeared to still be news to Perfect Timing Towing when Hickey called for comment, standing alongside Zethmayr, who held the phone.
Hickey: "Are you aware that the city has issued a cease-and-desist order against your business?"
Towing company representative: "That's not correct."
Hickey: "Yep, it is. I have the email. You want me to send it over to you?"
The towing company representative hung up at that point.
We are still pushing to get answers from Perfect Timing Towing about what happened to Zethmayr's car.