Retriever Towing is a Patrol Towing company who makes money driving around Portland area parking lots, looking for parking violators, then impounding the vehicles and charging the owners exhorbitant fees, which may include an "anger fee" (really, look it up), to release the vehicle back to the owner. Considering a relocation to Portland, I recently flew to Portland, rented a car, and met a commercial property owner for dinner near PG&E Park, we both parked in a lot marked for "resident" businesses, walked to the restaurant immediately across the street, and returned 1hr 15 min. Later to find both our vehicles had been towed. A phone call was met by a rude young lady who gave us a physical address, and demanded we provide her with an exact time to make an "appointment" with someone to pick up our cars. She refused to indicate the cost. Upon arrival at their impound yard (exactly 2 hrs from the time we parked in the lot), the person charged us $192 per veh., "waiving" a $25 fee for a 2nd towed mile.
The property owner I had flown in to meet paid for my veh. Fee, and apologized to me, but since then, my research has found that the practice of Predatory Patrol Towing has become such a big problem in Portland that the State Legislature had to pass a regulatory bill last session to put some controls on it. That bill, however, doesn't end Predatory Patrol Towing, it just refined some of the laws. The more I look into this company, Retriever Towing, the more I find they have extensive connections with other transportation businesses, and an EXTENSIVE presence of complaints on the internet. Look them up, look at the complaints and discussion of the owner's alleged political connections, then draw your own conclusions. The state of Oregon has a tiger by the tail with this "patrol towing" problem, and unless their lawmakers wise up and put an end to this practice, the word will continue to get out, and the Portland area merchants will continue to lose valued customers.
I have decided to relocate my business to another community that's "business AND CONSUMER friendly".
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