The troubles continue for one Billings towing company.
As MTN News first reported, Anderson Towing has been taken off the Montana Highway Patrol's towing rotation list, after an investigation found it overcharged a Bozeman business more than $6.000.
Watch the full video below:
After it aired Monday, viewers called, emailed, and posted on Facebook that they had experienced instances of overcharging.
Those viewers include a Billings woman who says Anderson charged her in February nearly $10,000 for one short tow.
Joanie Bulls In Sight and her fiance, Thomas Lorentz, were traveling south on Sixth Street West near Howard Street when they had to swerve because of another vehicle.
“The car was coming this way and went towards the vehicle, so I swerved here,” said Lorentz, who was driving.
“We went up here,” Bulls In Sight said. “This is the light pole we hit, so you can see there's still where the car went up off the curve.”
The Billings Police Department and Anderson Towing responded.
“They pulled it from the back, damaging the back of the vehicle, and I did tell them about that,” Bulls In Sight said. “And I didn't get a response.”
Bulls In Sight and Lorentz still haven't been able to get their car back, and they've been charged big fees.
A week later, Anderson Towing sent a letter about reclaiming the vehicle, which went to the wrong address.
And 61 days after the crash, Bulls In Sight received a bill for $9,669.77.
That bill included storage fees of $5,185.
“It wasn't really understandable,” Bulls In Sight said.
Her bill was about $3,000 more than the bill received by Bozeman hardware store Kenyon Noble of $6,754.66, which she saw in the news story.
The company received that bill after an accident on April 17, 2024.
In this case, Bulls In Sight has now filled out an online complaintwith the Office of Consumer Protection.
“We're here to kind of get you through the process and it takes a little bit of time, but the process works, I promise,” said Andrew Butler, supervising attorney for the state’s Office of Consumer Protection and the Tow Truck Complaint Resolution Committee.
Butler says anyone can go through the process without a lawyer.
About 100 complaints are filed annually online. Many get settled, but about five go each year to the Tow Truck Complaint Resolution Committee.
“You see the same companies end up with the same cases over and over again,” said Scott Wolff, Montana Tow Truck Association president. “But the complaint resolution committee is gaining ground on that. And that's why this suspension of Anderson is so important."
In the Kenyon Noble case, Anderson received a six-month suspension, which ends on April 30, for overbilling.
MTN News asked Anderson Towing for a comment about the Facebook posts along with the email and phone calls received by MTN from others who have had similar experiences with Anderson Towing.
The company referred MTN News to its attorney, who said Anderson has appealed the tow-truck committee's decision.
“Once a neutral judge reviews all of the facts, we are confident Anderson Towing will be fully vindicated,” said attorney Matthew Monforton of Bozeman.
Bulls In Sight says she's more optimistic after filing a complaint with the Office of Consumer Protection.
“I feel a lot, a lot more hope that maybe something comes of this,” Bulls In Sight said.
