Southwest Auto Tow

This tow company illegally tows cars from private properties in apartment complexes violating the Texas Occupations Code ANN. § 2308.253: Texas Statutes — Section 2308.253: Unattended vehicles on parking facility of apartment complex; Removal and storage of vehicles. If they do this to you, take pictures, document everything, file a complaint with the TDLR and file a lawsuit with the small claims court.

My car was towed from a spot reserved for the mail truck. It was late on a Friday night when I parked their… so after postal delivery hours. There weren’t any other spots left to park. Woke up the next morning to take my son to a band competition… my car is no where in sight. My point is this, anywhere else on the streets, for a parking violation, you get a ticket. It’s ironic how you never see these people trolling through neighborhoods, up and down streets, looking for parking violators. These people who drive these tow trucks are sneaky, «bottom feeders». My wife and I, both missed work that day. They totally ruined my weekend. The manner in which they conduct their business, needs to be stopped. And when we went to retrieve our car, it had dents and scratches. Be sure to check your vehicle thoroughly. File a claim if you have to.

Believe it or not, I got my car towed by them. They’re doing their job just like you and I. Good company and good people.

Here are the hihlights of the night —
1. Middle of unloading, and the car gets towed away.
2. The car gets towed away from my own apartment?
3. Then I call and yell at the lady who answered the phone since she was rude to me.
4. Took an über to this unsafe neighborhood.
5. Since its my husband’s car, he had to pay an extra $ 6 since I am paying on his behalf.
6. We didn’t carry any cash and they were merciless. And the stupid people said we can pay the $ 164 by card but the $ 6 has to be in cash. I mean wth?!
7. Walked 10 mins to the nearest gas station to get that $ 10.
8. Got the car and we notice these idiots trying to pry open somebody’s car. Hope it’s not somebody’s other than their’s. So now they like stealing too?
9. The place was entirely bug infected. My husband comes home bit and with rashes.
10. Did I tell you this was from 3am to 5am on a Monday? How much more effed up can it get?

Towed my car out of my own apartment parking lot, while I had a tag on the mirror. Had to pick it up right away or incur more fees, wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone about it but Vickie who would not be in until the next day.

Literally the scum of the earth. I’ve never dealt with a bigger shitbag of a company.

0 rating if that’s possible. My car was towed from the apartment last night at 1:30am?! and I paid $ 265 to get it back, with some scratches at the front bumper. When I told JOSH (the manager) about those scratches, he said my car sits low. He said his new car sits low, and it has some scratches already because of the curb? Seriously? My car does not sit low! Hydraulic, yeah right. I am sure they will come in 20 minutes to tow any car, after all, it’s the money they are being quick and responsive to, not you.

Today our truck was towed from our own carport at Hyde Park Apartments because Southwest decided that 4A was actually 6A. So they towed the incorrect truck and took our truck under our carport that we pay monthly for. When we talked to the Manager Patrick he was completely rude and condescending. He would not allow me to get a word in. He was not apologetic and told me that I needed to get in a cab during this ice storm to come pick up the truck because none of their trucks were out on the road. I really hope that apartments stop using them. They are very unprofessional and they are scammers. I may need your contact because I do plan on filing a complaint. My husband was unable to go to work today because they had out truck in possession for over 7 hours. Needless to say, it looks like we have damages to the truck already.
I would not recommend this company for roadside assistance as they have clearly caused towing damages to our truck. Stay away from this towing company!

My review is as a tenant needing another car towed, not my own car being towed.
Thank you Southwest Auto Tow for being quick and responsive! Someone has been knowingly parking in my paid covered spot, and I had had it! He even resorted to trying to hide his license plate after we spoke to each other. I finally called our apartment’s towing company, they were there in 20 minutes. Towed the guy in less than 5 minutes. Couldn’t ask for anything better. I got my spot back! Thank you Southwest

FYI, also a $ 60 charge for anyone that gets towed, for ‘storage’, if you pick up your vehicle 12 hours after it was towed! $ 121 + 60 + Tax = $ 185.95.
Also reported to the BBB.
Also, if you really want to do something about this crap, go to this site and follow through on it:

Absolutely horrible and dishonest business. Not only was my car towed from my apartment complex from where I live, but they caused $ 1800 in damages to my car body (deep paint scratches). When i filed a claim within 48 hours, the claims rep — Patrick– called to yell at me over the phone, denied my claim, threatened me, and condescended to me. Perhaps he thought I would back down because I am a woman? Perhaps because I’m not a white male? Perhaps because he thought I was unaware of my rights under Texas law? I’m not sure, but he was promptly notified that I was a law student and I knew my rights under the law and I have researched his company, which only infuriated him further. First class customer service (website)? Absolutely fraudulent business and they treat you like a criminal after they tow your car and cause damage to it. I reported them to the BBB, I sincerely feel sorry for you if you ever get towed by this company.

If you are towed by these hitmen — or any tow agency in Texas — you have the right to appeal your tow. Familiarize yourself with the the Texas Towing Law, Occupation Code Chapter 2308, Sec. 2308.252.
You are entitled to an appeal in small claims court, but you better have all of your shit in order because the hearing is in front of a Justice of the Peace (ie, a «judge» who is not required to have a law degree and who is an elected official). As elected officials, they are recipients of campaign contributions from towing companies, so you are going into a situation where you are heavily disadvantaged: No way a judge is going to rule that a towing was not justified in towing your car when the person sitting across from him/​her — the person who towed your car — also writes checks to the JoP’s re-​election campaign.
On your receipt from the towing company are instructions on how to file an appeal. The company that towed you is also telling you how to appeal it? How nice. I wasn’t suspicious enough, apparently, but you will be after reading this: The instructions provided by the towing agency are purposely misleading, omitting key elements, and providing only the bare bones minimum of what the state requires they disclose. Do you think they’ll give you the correct instructions?
Here’s how I got scammed: The towing agency’s instructions told me to provide in my appeal «the address of the towing company that towed your car.» Fine, seems easy. It’s written right there in big font across the top of the page. So I put down their *street* address. However, the law states that I need to put down their *mailing* address — which is a tiny little PO Box hidden in the upper left-​hand corner, obscured by the credit card receipt over which they convenientyl stapled over. See what happened? The tow companies abide by the disclosure laws instruct you to provide the course include an *address*. They neither tell you which address to include or not to include — regardless, they specifically don’t tell you to provide their *mailing* address, allowing you to fill out the form correctly. See the ambiguity?
When it came time for my hearing, the tow company requested a pre-​hearing motion for dismissal because I filled out the form incorrectly — which, technically, I did not fill it out correctly. The tow agent cited the Texas statue granting us the right to appeal, which states that I was to supply a *mailing*, but instead I entered the street address. They used their instructions to mislead me, then cited the Texas statute’s instructions to infer that I mislead the court. They’ve got a great system down: Make campaign contributions to all the JoPs. Tow cars whenever they feel like. Provide vague instructions on how to file an appeal. Then get the hearing dismissed on a technicality that no one will ever catch beforehand.
Good luck.