I received a call in the middle of the night (12:30am cst) from my sister. Her car broke down on the FL interstate. She was alone driving north from Fort Lauderdale to South Daytona. She used the mile marker phone to call for help.
After waiting an hour she called 911 and they told her the driver went to the wrong place and had to be re-directed. When Tri-County Towing from Ft. Pierce arrived she did not have the $250 towing fee to cover the towing charge and did not have a credit card with her. She called me so that I could pay for this using my credit card.
I called the phone number at Tri-County towing that the tow truck driver gave me. I explained the circumstances to the clerk and what I wanted to do. She told me that in order for me to pay for this transaction with my credit card, they would have to fax me an authorization form and I would have to sign it, make a copy of the front & back of my credit card and fax that back to her. Only then could they allow me to pay.
I did not have a fax machine in my home and no access to a fax machine at 12:30 AM. Because I couldn't receive a fax from them they indicated they'd have to impound my sister's car and she would have to pick it up the next day. The cost to pick it up the next day was $1000. I offered to scan my credit card and email it to them with my signature. They indicated that they didin't have email access. Without the ability to receive a fax from them I was refused the opportunity to pay. They further indicated that once an impound number was assigned no further payment could be made.
Now, I can understand that if someone does not have the money to pay for towing, the process is for the car to be impounded. However, in our situation I was more than willing and able to pay for this towing fee in the middle of the night with my own credit card but was prevented from doing so.
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