East Coast Towing

Classic predatory towing business model. My car was towed at 12:15 AM on a holiday, so in addition to the towing cost, I was charged $ 50 for it being on a holiday and «after hours.» Grand total of $ 185.
Even shadier, their address has changed and they haven’t updated anything on Google/​Yelp. The place was next to impossible to find.
Thanks.

My car was towed from my apartment complex lot, although I was parked in an appropriate spot with my valid permit. They did this in the middle of the night and I realized as I left my home to go to work. I was absolutely shocked when I did not see my car. When I finally got to where my car had been towed (difficult when you don’t have a car!) they asked me to pay $ 210 in cash to get my car back. I don’t carry that kind of cash with me, and even in the circumstances, they refused to make an exception and let me pay with a card. They expected me to walk to the nearest ATM (about a mile away, but they «didn’t know exactly where one might be»), and give them exact change because they «didn’t have any change». I tried talking to the supervisor who would not allow a card to be used. Once I finally got my car back, I found new scratches all over my car, and was over an hour late to my very first week of work at a new place. I couldn’t believe how rude the employees were, which is why I had to write a review. They also claimed «The City» makes them tow, but could not explain why my car was towed. It’s obviously disappointing to have your car towed unexpectedly no matter what, but to then have employees treat you with such disrespect and be so unsympathetic, dismissing my questions, made my situation much worse :/

Yea… no one likes getting their cars towed, I certainly don’t but I will say that while I have had my fair share of bad experiences with tow truck companies, my review with East Coast Towing is far different from the reviews below perhaps because my experience was because I needed to get my car out of the dealership which refused to put parts back into my car (said it was not drivable) so I could drive it out to get it fixed where they wouldn’t rip me off as the dealership was trying to do. After calling a few companies in the area to see what they would charge they were the most reasonable one and came within the time frame they gave. The guy was nice and sympathetic to the situation I was in — in the end I ended up paying less than half of what they were trying to charge me for my car (which was actually drivable despite what they said).
Overall, I would recommend this company if you ever need to get your car out.

ZERO STARS (can’t select zero). They are highly unprofessional and abuse their power to make money. Our story is similar to other reviews only we weren’t given our money back.
Our guest vehicle was parked with a visitor pass clearly displayed on the dashboard, with doors locked, and emergency brake engaged. The car was towed anyways in the middle of the night. They took «pictures of the vehicle to ensure that it was rightfully towed.» (They also clearly entered the vehicle which makes the pictures void as they likely took them after moving the pass.) We were told that they didn’t enter the vehicle (even though they legally can to remove the parking brake and they DID to remove the parking brake). After thoroughly searching the vehicle, the visitor parking pass was found HIDDEN underneath an emergency/​first-​aid kit underneath the driver’s seat. It was then evident that they entered the car to both remove the parking brake AND hide the parking pass (as there is no physical way that the pass could «fall» underneath the driver’s seat and underneath a heavy emergency kit in a locked/​windows up vehicle). We called the company to report what we discovered and their employee «Rusty» then continued to create excuses for how it could have happened, refused to issue a refund, and continued to maintain that they never entered the car (later he then said that they legally can enter the car but still refused to believe that whomever towed it moved the pass). The pictures they «took» were never emailed to me (as requested in person) and are void anyways as they clearly entered the car. I’ve filed complaints with our apartment management company, my credit card company, Fairfax County, and with them. They said that they will «take their chances» with the claim as they know it’s unlikely that we have a legal case (since technically they didn’t steal anything out of the vehicle). I’m so beyond disappointed at their lack of professionalism and respect. I work for a non-​profit and will be a student this fall. I don’t have the time or money to just toss them $ 150 for a WRONGFUL towing nor do I have the money to take them to court over it. It’s just ridiculous that a towing company can so blatantly abuse their power with no repercussions. GOOD LUCK getting your money back if they knowingly and illegally tow your car. It looks like they can just do whatever they want!

I hate writing bad reviews… but this is so disappointing. They towed my car from my condo complex even though I was parked in the proper resident spot AND had my permit in my window. It is the only thing in my back window, and I was cited for «no permit»…the owner was polite and didn’t make me pay to retrieve my car, but it really baffles my mind that these people can get away with a simple «We made a mistake and I’m sorry for your inconvenience»…if I made a mistake, I’d have to pay money to fix it. This was a huge inconvenience, as I was late to work and had to use my own personal vacation hours to make up for the lost time… also, the stress of walking out to where you parked and not seeing your car when you KNOW you were legally parked is inconvenient enough as it is. This just isn’t right, and I am looking into my options for further actions to make sure this never happens again and to be compensated for my lost time due to their «mistake».
I’ve never had a problem with tow companies and have always tried to view them as helpful… but the fact that I have to worry about my car getting improperly towed from my own residence is just disturbing. Makes it hard to relax at home when you’re constantly looking out the window to make sure your car is still there.

My first attempt at this review was flagged. Here’s a sanitized second attempt.
You know that anger you feel when you watch an episode of Operacion Repo? You can read this review with that angry fire in you, because apparently Unilocal thought it was too offensive the first time around.
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These unscrupulous guys are not only evil, they are blind. They towed my car even though I have a permit to park in my closed apartment community. Apparently the one day my tag fell off its perch — although it is still visible — they tow my car. I am so freaking pissed at them.
I did appreciate that this guy didn’t have an attitude though… but still I hate these damn guys.