Brewer’s Inc

Funny how these guys are either lifesavers or scalawags. Depends on how you encounter them. These guys were great for me. AAA tow call for a flat, they arrived in less than 15 minutes and it took not even 10 minutes for the change. Kudos.

I had an awesome experience with the two service men that showed up to my house. Kevin and Rodney were so thoughtful and very careful. Kevin said to me, after I commented on how appreciative I was of their care of me, that he endeavors to treat each customer as though they are family. I felt that from the very moment he stepped out of the truck. Even though my problem was not able to be resolved with a jump Kevin attempted to help me find a solution to the situation. They came out after another towing company got the wrong phone number for me. I’m glad the mistake was made!

My car was just doing its usual thing of breaking down and messing up, so I called AAA. They sent a Brewer’s tow for me so I could take it to the shop. The guy, Dylan, was so incredibly nice and helpful. He even offered me a ride back into town because he was headed that way. Although I really hope I never have to use a towing service again (who wants their car towed) I would call these guys so fast!

Warren was awesome. Very knowledgeable Aqua I and knew my alternator was shot and made sure I got home. Great service!

I have been an Ann Arbor Northside resident for my whole life, so Brewers is our local go-​to towing company. They are reliable, and the tow truck drivers in my past experiences have been courteous and professional. I recently needed assistance with a dead battery, and the driver, Kyle, (also a service coordinator) was very friendly and professional, and got me back on the road very quickly! I imagine that the truck drivers all have to interact with customers when they are not having the best of days– no one is happy to have to have a broken down car, or dead battery, or a car towed for illegal parking. It takes a certain type of person to be the bearer of bad news (and the recipient of occasional hostility), and maintain professionalism and courtesy. The Brewers drivers I have met have been able to do just that.

Just straight up the rudest people I have ever met in my life. I got my car towed today even though I had a permit to a space in Courtyards and they wouldn’t let me take out my car until I paid $ 292…
Lazy jerks.

Another terrible towing company that will claim AAA jobs they can’t actually do. (AAA is great for when you’re outside Ann Arbor, but don’t count on it when you’re here.)

Brewer’s and Sakstrup’s are the two towing companies in Ann Arbor. So, at least there’s competition. Except that there isn’t. Dennis Brewer owns this company and Sakstrup’s. In addition, most of the money these companies make is towing individuals against their will and extorting them for around $ 250 to get their vehicle back. It’s essentially a captive market. It should be no surprise, then, that the people working for the towing cartel of Ann Arbor are surly, aggressive, unethical, uncouth and just downright mean. If you have ANY other option, avoid Brewer’s and Sakstrup’s. If you don’t, may God have mercy on you.

So, the truck that I’ve been driving for the past few months while I shop for a more economical compact vehicle died last night on the highway. The radio lost power, the headlights and dashboard lights turned off, my speedometer wasn’t responsive, I couldn’t even roll my windows down or use the windshield wipers! Obviously, this is a pretty scary experience, but I was able to safely guide it off the road and opted to call AAA in the morning to get it towed back to the house where we can replace the alternator ourselves. They assured me I would be able to get it towed in the morning for free, so I went to bed with some of the stresses of the drive put to rest.
I called AAA this morning and they told me it would be Brewer’s doing the towing, that they would be there in roughly 45 minutes, and I requested that Brewer’s give me a ring when they were on their way to pick up the truck so that I could meet them over there. 15 minutes later, I get a call from their dispatch lady (who was pretty much the only reason I’m giving this place more than one star) saying the driver was at the truck and where was I? I explained that I was expecting a call and asked if AAA relayed that aspect to them when the service call was initially placed. She said no, that AAA was notorious for not following through on things like that. I lamented with her for a moment on that, and said I would be able to be there in about 10 minutes.
Well, obviously I had to get Dan’s roommate up to drive me over to the spot, and once he was roused and on the road, I received another call, this time from the driver. He very rudely asked where I was. I explained that I was on route and (clearly) relying on others for transportation, so I apologized for my lateness. I also tossed in there that I was supposed to receive a call prior to his arrival to avoid this situation in the first place. He shortly asked how far away I was to which I honestly responded 5 minutes. He came back with, «yeah, you told my dispatch it would be 10 minutes and it’s been 10 minutes and you haven’t shown up yet.»
Insert expletive. RUDE! It truly wasn’t my fault, and I was extremely apologetic about the mix-​up even though it happened between AAA and the dispatch center. We showed up to the truck already being lifted onto the tow and I popped up in the cab with the driver. Despite his inexplicable rudeness during the phone call, he was still performing a service for me, so I tried to be friendly and polite by starting up some chit chat. Needless to say, he was not a willing participant and we rode the majority of the short trip in silence.
So, yes they were there quickly and the dispatch lady was at least understanding of my particular situation. However, I will absolutely refuse to use their services again, even if it means waiting longer for a different tow truck. That is inexcusable. You drive a tow truck! Your whole job is to help people get out of the crappy situation that is having their car die on the side of the road. To be so callous, rude and sour to customers is a surefire way to put any service company under.

I had to call AAA to get a flat tire changed (my 4Runner is challenging for me), and they sent someone from Brewer’s to help me out. It was a tough day on M-​14 outside of Ann Arbor, with bad weather and numerous slide-​offs on the freeway. So, it understandably took significantly longer than predicted for the truck to come, but the young man who arrived to rescue me was personable, polite, helpful and efficient –despite the fact that he was wet, cold, and already tired at 2:00 p.m.
If this is the kind of person they hire to do their emergency roadside service, I’d call them again in a heartbeat.

This review is for the mechanic/​repair work that Brewer’s can also do, not for their towing services. One word: Nope.
Don’t even think about taking your car here for repairs. Just don’t do it. They charge outrageous rates and try to sell you services that are unnecessary. I had been going to them for a couple years before now on a friend’s recommendation when I needed to get my radiator fixed. I kept going back for oil changes and other work (broken headlights, etc.) but nothing too major came up while I was in Ann Arbor, until recently. I took my car in because I suspected something was wrong with either the transmission or the brakes. After keeping my car for a day, I got a call saying that I needed my front brakes replaced. I told Jim that I would come by the next day to pick up my car (implied: driving it off the property).
When I arrived, it was still on the hoist, so I had to wait 10 minutes for them to put the wheels back on and get it back on the ground. 10 minutes later, Jim comes back and says he may have rendered my vehicle undrive-​able. I gave him an hour to see if he could fix it (while I fumed), and when I came back 90 minutes later, I was able to drive it off the lot with an estimate in hand. They were going to charge me $ 881 to replace my front brakes: rotors, pads, calipers, hoses, everything. They also charged me $ 85 for just looking at it.
I sought the opinions of three other mechanics (who all inspected it FOR FREE), and two of them agree that my brakes are just fine.
STAY AWAY from Brewer’s.

Don’t use this company for voluntary towing. While visiting our son and parking in his Apartments private lot, our car was towed while we were out. Admittedly, we did not have a permit for the parking. But nobody in the Multi apartment house called to complain, there were open spots, our son was entitled to one but did not even have a car on campus. Again, nobody complained. Instead, the property management company had an agreement with Brewers that they can troll the private parking and tow at will. Although we were frustrated by the towing, our real problem came when we went to redeem our vehicle. We were verbally and nearly physically assaulted by Brewer employee, Ed, when we tried to understand why and who authorized the towing. We did not realize that Brewers could tow without even receiving a complaint. Ed was belligerent, unprofessional, intimidating, and threatening. He lunged at us, pointed fingers in our face and the F word was a personal favorite of his. Can’t really do anything about the $ 255 we had to pay to get our car out, but wanted to pass the word that this company has questionable business practices and volatile employees. If I actually voluntarily needed a towing company, I would stay away from this company.

Absolutely terrible. The woman handling phone calls was extremely rude and hung up when asked if I could have my motorcycle towed to a mechanic they knew in the area to have it fixed in the morning. Tried calling back, but had my calls ignored. Worst customer service ever, I will not be recommending this company at all.

Locked my keys in my car. Called AAA, 15 minutes later the car was unlocked. Very polite and professional. Makes you want to move to Ann Arbor.

A friend of mine curbed his car at 2am outside my house, and we needed someone to wench it out. We called Brewers, and they were very quick and affordable, even at the late hour.

Nobody really likes having a car towed– it’s usually under trying circumstances. But Brewer’s has made it fairly painless.
I totaled my Prizm a little under two years ago, and it was taken to Brewer’s junk yard. They made it easy for me to pick up my keys, which I needed to get back to my insurance company, and were friendly and helpful when I asked to retrieve some belongings from the trunk and glovebox of my car before it was junked for good.
I had a good enough experience with them that they’d be first on my list if I had car trouble and needed a tow to a local mechanic.

I really detest Brewer’s because they do their job so well. They have definitely towed my car a few times, and it cost me hundreds of bones to get it out from their possession. They seriously do not mess around. I saw a guy go up to the towing dude as he was hooking his car up, and the towing guy refused to not tow his car. «Rules are, once it’s hooked, there’s no turning back.»
The best thing they ever did was not tow my car when I called them to ask them to tow it to the nearest Firestone so I could replace my four flat tires. Instead they wanted to save me money so they towed me to the nearest gas station so I could fill my tires up with air.
Eventually, the police had my car towed by Brewer’s for «abandonment» (leaving it parked in the same spot for more than 48 hours). When I went to Brewer’s to re-​claim my beautiful ’98 Buick Regal, they told me it would be something like $ 600! But they said that they would knock off a couple hundred if they could keep my car.
So, guess what? I wound up paying THEM $ 400 so they could keep MY car.
That’s why I love Brewer’s.