New on the list: towing.
Towing makes an appearance on the list for the first time with a total of 190 complaints in 2020. Complaints were lodged against various companies last year for illegal or predatory towing.
KGW hit the streets to get Portlanders input on the list. And some weren’t surprised to see towing on the list.
“Oh, I just think towing is really predatory,” said JoAnna Wendel from Portland.
“I got towed. They said I was blocking a driveway but I try to be careful about that and they wouldn’t even show me a picture and I wasn’t able to go get my car for a few hours. And then the price that they quoted on the website went up about $100 by the time I got there and it was just…ugh — so that was really annoying.”
KGW received a handful of complaints about towing companies during last months historic snowstorm. Over 340 abandoned, or stuck, cars were towed around the city. One woman was charged more than $780 by a towing company to get her car back.
A 2016 KGW investigation into a Salem-based towing company’s aggressive tactics and excessive charges, helped prompt new laws in Oregon that prohibit towing companies from towing vehicles from parking facilities — unless authorized by a signature.
“We have been working really hard at the Oregon Department of Justice to do exactly that,” said Ellen Klem, with the Oregon attorney general. “To prevent people from falling victim to frauds and scams all over the state of Oregon.”
Earlier this year, the state filed a lawsuit against Retriever Towing — one of the largest towing operations in Oregon. The lawsuit alleges Retriever illegally removed vehicles without authorization by the parking facility.
“It lets companies, like the towing company that we sued in this particular lawsuit, know that we are out there, we are watching and we are advocating for consumers as much as we possibly can,” said Klem.
Aside from just towing, Klem said there are a number of red flags people can keep an eye out for when scammers contact people out of the blue, or asks people for their personal information, or wants people to wire money.
The DOJ has these handouts with tips and tricks for the public, including the one down below.
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