This place is a fucking rip off. They want to charge me over $300 to move a car 3/4 of a mile and I got it for less than 100 this place is absolutely ridiculous. Do not call these people I repeat do not call these people report them immediately. read more

Showed up close to the time scheduled and got the job done. Don't expect a professional.

Absolutely horrible experience -- $130 to remove their cable or they would tow the car away with much higher costs.

By far this is a legit company. I've had my share of having my car towed. And with any other company in the past I've run into issues where they hitched my car improperly and made a hole in my oil pan, or where I had property stolen from inside. None applies here! Here, it's a very well organized and honest business. It was easy to have my car removed, the manager was very informative and brilliant to converse with, and the gentleman who helped me remove my property was helpful. I wouldn't have dreamed of reviewing a towing company but the experience was unexpected and deserved recognition. Thanks you East Bay Tow! read more

In some respects the bar is low with towing companies in my experience but East Bay hit it out of the park towing my Tesla this morning: they picked up the phone when I called, they said they could be out to the car in 30 minutes AND they were out at the car in 28 minutes (!!), they charged what they quoted, they were professional and responsible, happy to give me a ride along with the car, and had a clean, solid truck. True A++ service. Well done. read more

East Bay Tow had Yelp remove my first review to try to prevent consumers from seeing my FIRST hand experience by claiming it wasn't!!! This IS my first hand experience. The car in question is my car. I bought it, I have the pink slip. I paid the fees for a parking permit in Berkeley so that my son could park this car where he was living at the time while his wife was going to school on a scholarship to Berkeley. They were living on limited financial means while trying to better their lives by getting an education. I own the car, pay the insurance, etc. I received the letter stating that East Bay Tow was intending on selling my car!!! I had to pay the ridiculous $800plus fee to release the car. This is MY experience dealing with East Bay Tow. We called East Bay Tow and spoke to a representative. (Again, first hand experience with the company). The car in question is an old 2001 Altima, not worth much..probably not worth the $800...but it runs fine and it's all we can afford. That money put us out quite a bit. Instead of admitting their mistake or perhaps lowering the fine, they instead have my review taken down. We had no recourse but to pay for the release of my much needed car. I live in Temecula CA, I had to deal with this mess from here. So, I am putting my review back up. I still think what you did, East Bay Towing, is illegal. Here is my original review. Did I mention the part where the car had a permit to park, a permit we paid for so that my son could park the car where he lived? I am still upset this car was towed illegally and that it cost us over $800 to get it back. To clarify, when I refer to "my son's car" below, this means that I let him use it for transportation. So, back to my original review: My son's car was towed illegally. The car was parked LEGALLY and had a parking permit. East Bay Tow made it very difficult for us to get the car back. The story changed several times. Our first notification that the car had been towed was a letter from East Bay Tow stating they were going to sell the car. My son had contacted the Berkeley Police Department to ascertain if the car had been cited, he was told it had not. He also went to the City Hall. My husband had to jump through hoops to send information and a release form for my son to gain possession of the car. This cost us over $800, which is a hardship on us financially. Later, we were told that a neighbor called to have the car towed because they were moving and wanted the spot. Is that legal? read more

The very worst. Zero ethics, predatory (don't worry, I have specifics). Crushed you in court with an attorney that was way out of your league. Keep breathing those cancerous fumes in your work place, and stop acting like you're in business to help people, what a joke! read more

My vehicle was towed last weekend under unfortunate circumstances, and further circumstances made it very difficult for me to reclaim it. Teresa went out of her way to brainstorm solutions, and show compassion and true understanding of my problems. It was a shitty situation made at least a little better by the genuine human kindness she showed, and I am deeply appreciative. She and her crew are efficient and professional, and I would not hesitate to use this company again under better circumstances. read more

These people are great. I've dealt with them for years and never had any issues. Friendly prompt and courteous. Always professional.

My car was parked legally and hit by an uninsured driver and pushed into a driveway. The police called East bay tow around 7pm Friday night and they came and took it since it was blocking driveway access. I came home to a note on my door and discovered the situation. East Bay Tow would not let me get my car back until monday morning, where upon it cost me $735. They would not negotiate or budge on the price in the slightest. I considered leaving my car (2005 Civic, Liability insurance only) but they threatened to take me to collections after 30-40 days to recoup their 'fees'. After that much time at $75 a day I would be looking at $3,000 in bills. All in all, a nice group of bottom feeding scum that somehow operates legally. Threw in an extra star for the female employee over the phone for clearly giving me information. read more

I am actually glad my car broke down so I could meet these awesome people. I called and talked to Teresa who was courteous and offered me a good deal. This was a huge breath of fresh air after having AAA come out and say it was too big to tow and spending all morning talking to tow truck companies who couldn't deal with my Step Van because it was too big or ones who would charge me an arm and a leg. She said they could be there in 45 minutes! I was thrilled. Jay and John arrived and treated me like family. Jay went above and beyond the call of duty. He checked out my vehicle, crawling underneath and told me about a few minor repairs that were needed. He taught me about government regulations for driving a duel rear wheel truck that I didn't know about, preventing possible future problems. He even told me where to go to get a healthcard required to drive my vehicle through states I would be driving through on my upcoming trip. Jay is very very talkative and I was wishing I could listen faster because he was spewing out very helping information. I started taking notes. I rode over in their very comfortable back seat (fancy tow truck). Jay opened the door for me and handed me my seat belt. Before we departed I heard Teresa over those device saying to make sure the passenger is wearing the seatbelt. Jay gave me a bottle of water. :) John had no problem handling that tow truck with my huge 1967 Chevy Step Van (box truck) on the back. John has been driving tow trucks for over 20 years. We got to the the auto repair shop, Jay talked to the owner of the shop about what he had done and seen when checking out my vehicle, and as icing on the cake offered me a ride home! They waited while I finished the paperwork. Their shop was on the way and we stopped in dropped off Jay and I ran in to meet Teresa and then John switched trucks and gave me a ride home. John is pretty quiet, polite and when he dropped me off at my house he even remembered the name of the girl who used to live in my apartment whose car he had towed once. Being in a jam with a broken down vehicle my life was made better by people who care. thank you guys so much. My experience was so good I want to cry. read more

East Bay Tow - Jay and John hooking up my step van. - Towing Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I called a few days in advance to arrange for my car to be towed to my local mechanic shop in Berkeley. They asked good questions regarding the logistics (narrow street / proximity to other cars), car functions (can it be driven onto the truck bed ramp?), and set expectation regarding costs and timing for pickup. While I arranged for pickup after 10:30am, I was pleased to receive a proactive call letting me know of an emergency reroute (and context behind it - child in danger); but even with that reroute, the truck arrived just after 11:15am. The driver was very customer-oriented (apologized for being late despite the circumstances), worked with me while I managed through a work call, and clearly communicated what I could expect. I received an immediate text message once signing over the car, and another one once the car arrived at the shop - to include photos of the car at the garage. I'm impressed with how this operation works. read more

I was in an accident coming from the Oakland airport where all the freeways merge. Scared to death but all right. I made it to the shoulder of the road. That is where I met Andre' a very nice man who calmed me a got to a Denny's restaurant near by. He carried my packages inside and made sure I was OK before her left. I was a Angel, read more

This place robs you of your money. They towed my moms car for about 2 hours and I went to pick it up with my mom immediately. Charged a total of 345 dollars to get the car out. Complete leeches of society. What an awful way to make a living. Pathetic and unethical way to make money. I asked the front desk lady if there were regulations on their fees, and she said yes. I asked if their fees were posted anywhere in the towing office for people to see and she did not answer. I also asked if the City of Berkeley posted any of their regulations in regards to towing company fee charges, she said she didn't know. Incredibly shady to deflect all of my questions. Definitely going to reach out to the City of Berkeley to make sure this joke of a company isn't charging illegally overpriced fees. I won't be surprised if they are illegally overcharging people to release their cars. Beware if you get your car towed by them. Ask them every question you can before leaving. They will probably give you the most vague answers. read more

Obviously it sucks to get a car towed. I'm not sure what people look for or desire in a tow yard, but this place is at least fast to deal with if you bring the necessary paperwork, and you can be in and out pretty fast. I didn't catch the front desk woman's name but she's ridiculously frank and funny. Rates are $75/day so hurry the hell up when your car goes here. read more

I hate that my car got towed (not my fault) but oh well. Although picking up my car was quite easy. The lady was busy so we had to wait but overall service was amazing and they were friendly to us. read more

Under no circumstances should anyone I ever care about ever have to find themselves here. That I did was a combination of my own stupidity/poverty and the intensely malicious nature of the Berkeley Meter Pods. That said, poor Carlos was on duty last night, and I can only imagine what kind of abuse he has to take on a regular basis, from people who are thoroughly pissed off that their car's been towed, disgusted and frightened by the amount of money it has turned out to cost them, and more than ready to take it all out on the nearest person who seems responsible (aka anyone but themselves). I have a theory that people treat you like you treat them, for the most part, and I was determined to remember that Carlos was not actually the person who made my car get towed. He, in turn, rose to the occasion like the most gracious of shining knights. He handled me with calm gentleness and patience, and brought my little classic baby out on a forklift with the greatest of care. East Bay Tow? Probably no great shakes, but they have a gentleman working on Friday nights. Thank you, Carlos, for making a very painful experience as easy as possible. How did you know it was my first time? read more

All the 5-stars here are obviously shill accounts. That's obvious right? This company probably has to struggle to keep from having a 1-star rating. So, a tow from them costs $240. They charge $80 a day. If your vehicle is brought in at 11:30pm, they charge $80 for that day. If you check out your vehicle the next day at 8:30, they charge $80 for that day. With a cool head and calm mind, I say now that i don't think anyone in their right mind wouldn't call $400 for a tow and an overnight stay some kind of horrible price gouge. They get away with this because they have a pact with the Albany police department. Their income comes from cops, and, I don't say this lightly, I truly believe they offer some kickbacks to those officers that bring them business. There you go. Do not use. read more

As you can see, the owner responded to my review to make it right, but didn't reply to my follow up. The response is clearly just to save face on a bad review. Please don't give these guys your business, they aren't interested in good service. read more

I received a call from a collections agency today saying that I owed over $4000 in fees for my car being held at East Bay Tow after I totaled it way back in November 2018. Knowing that I had released it to insurance I immediately called East Bay Tow. The gentleman over the phone looked up my account, found the error in billing, and immediately called the collections agency to have my name cleared. Took less than an hour and they handled my problem. read more

I work for a food truck that has been getting towed a lot lately. East Bay Tow are more than saviors, they are honest people. I genuinely enjoy my conversations with the dispatcher and with one of the drivers named Carlos. They are incredibly sympathetic and sincere. Carlos was even troubleshooting and gave us advice that the mechanic later confirmed. Wow. I would never expect that out of a towing company. Now we call East Bay every time and are never disappointed. read more

Wow! What a great ( if you can call a tow yard great ) experience. This was the first and only time that ive had a car towed involuntarily and the contents unmolested! I know ...preposterous! Even my change was intact! Furthermore, Theresa the owner was reasonable and pleasant to deal with. My car was there for 18 days and I didn't have the entire 1900 and she helped me out with that too. Incredible. If your vehicle gets impounded better hope it goes here. read more

Positive : There are professional staffs working there. Negative: $80 fees added for who come after 5:00pm... wtf... My car was tow by Berkeley Polish. Then I tried to get my car out for the same day after noticing. $160 towing fees + $ 80 "gate fee"... not yet included the $65 ticket from Berkeley city... My parent will kill me for this if they know; or they are so busy with the tsunami & 9.0 earthquake that they don't even care.... I'm trying to save money this month cause of cutting supply from family. However, after this I have broke... Thank you to people working in EB tow Co. read more

I am the owner of a local truck-based business, and these guys have gotten me out of many a scrape. Jay and his team could not be more professional or accommodating. They are communicative on the back end, quick to pick up, and judgement-free. Better yet, on more than one occasion Jay has been able to find a shop to repair our vehicle and keep us on the road when I had lost all hope of getting the truck back same day. Can't recommend these guys enough, especially when you're in a pinch. (To the Yelpers here who had their cars towed -- please don't forget that East Bay Tow has a contract with the city, and they are just doing their jobs. If you have a complaint about your car being towed, the city parking authority is the place to lodge that complaint. Personal attacks on the towing company are inappropriate and damaging.) read more

This review is uber late! My girl and I were stuck in Tilden Park, several weeks ago....and this towing company was AWESOME! Great rates-and awesome service! read more

They towed my car, but the guy talked to me as if I was an idiot for 15 minutes.

I accidentally locked my son in the car today. After an embarrassing 911 call they sent EAst Bay Tow and an officer out to help me. They are LITERALLY life savers as the heat was on in my car and my 18month old was roasting. They were on their way to lunch before they came to help me and I wish I could have bought them lunch. Nicest folks and seriously helped me in a bind. THANK YOU EBT!!! I owe you one!!! read more

Okay, no one ever wants to get towed, but I have to say when I went with my daughter this afternoon to retrieve her car, the staff was helpful, pleasant and professional and even cut us some slack that they didn't have to cut us. To the very nice lady at the front desk--thank you! My daughter, like most 21-year-olds, loses every important piece of paper that gets put into her hands. You seemed to get that and didn't make us jump through hoops because we didn't have the yellow copy of the release sheet. You didn't have to do that, and we appreciate it. read more

This is one of those things I hate about Yelp - people with an axe to grind. East Bay Tow has your car? That would be your fault, not theirs. I've had to call these fine folks a couple of time because of a bad starter on my food truck. They totally rescued us in SF on a Friday afternoon during rush hour, when no one else would. They diagnosed the problem, showed us a short-term work around and sent us on our way. And even though I was more than willing to give them my money to have them tow us to our weekend events, they suggested we may not need a tow and to play it by ear. Who does that? Honest people who care about their reputation and repeat business, that's who. Seriously top notch. read more

They are really good people with prompt service. When the truck pulled up, he accidentally scraped the hood of my car with the towing apparatus. I was bummed (insult to injury after the accident I had just been in). But he was good for it - took responsibility. Their shop paid for everything, even did the body work and repainted my hood. A bit of a hassle, but these things happen and they handled it with grace. read more

Horrible costumer service, the guy was watching tv and didn't even look at me to answer my questions, one less client! read more

I wish I can give this place 0 stars if Yelp allowed me to. I have had absolutely the WORST experience with this institution. Their workers are UNNECESSARILY RUDE, INCOMPETENT, AND UNHELPFUL. Their office operates with just one person, and the call center is located separately from the actual location so that if you just go to the location, you will not be able to retrieve your vehicle until you make a call, which gets forwarded to someone remotely who comes to open the gate. I had been in contact with the manager, but when I actually went to retrieve the car, the call center guy was separate and didn't know my situation at all. When I asked to speak to someone else, he was rude, telling me that he lives in Santa Ana, there's noone else that will talk to me, and that he wouldn't send anyone to open the gate for me no matter what paperwork I brought. When I asked who the voices were I heard, he unnecessarily taunted me saying he's watching a TV movie, explaining the plot, the characters.... UNNECESSARY. AND FCKING RUDE. THIS PLACE HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE. I'VE NEVER COME ACROSS SUCH AN INSTITUTION THAT OPERATES WITH SUCH LOW LEVEL OF COMPETENCY. AVOID THIS PLACE WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT. WORST SERVICE EVER. THEY WILL ONLY TRY TO SUCK YOU DRY. A CAR I COULD HAVE HAD WITHIN 24 HOURS WAS HELD HERE FOR 72 HRS. THIS PLACE WAS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST EXPERIENCE I'VE HAD DEALING WITH ANY KIND OF AUTO SERVICE, INCLUDING THE DMV. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. read more

I give this company 0 stars. First, they told me that there was a law that they could not release the car to me because I was not the registered owner. After calling several other companies, i found out that this is simply their company policy, not a law. They also unfairly charged me an 80 dollar fee. Don't get your car towed by this company if you have a choice. read more

Wow I had probably the most awfully memorable experience of my life here! Car was towed for parking related reasons, my fault :-( , but the guy on the phone made the experience much much worse. Did I get a lemon employee or was the dude just having a bad night or actually high-on-drugs? 1.) Celly had bad receiption for a minute and I had to ask him to repeat things. He accused me of faking and making up things with my phone, and of laughing at him when I sincerely wasn't . Accused me of lying twice, and finally yelled "go f**king use a pay phone" and hung up on me twice. Wow!! 2.) There was an $80 fee for late night pickups which he failed to tell me about. It would actually have been cheaper if I had picked it up in the morning. Of course I didn't find out until I arrived. 3.) They were late meeting us outside their complex - so my friend and I thought they weren't coming and worried. When I finally saw a car pull up 30 steps away, I ran over and waved, not sure if it was them. He then prompted to shoot bullying orders around like some sort of a Prison Inmate and him as a quasi Prison-Guard. Actually yelling aggressively "Step back, Dont move". "Dont talk!" when I tried to make genuine conversation. "Only she is allowed inside, you are not," shutting my friend out. "Do I make myself clear?" No "excuse me, Maam, please do this..." or any expected common courtesy of any kind. It was pretty dark and scary going into a place with fences and barbs at night time with very limited lighting. Keep in mind I am a congenial, genuinely friendly, law abiding lady and not threatening in any way or form. At least the paperwork was efficient. I keep expecting he was going to throw a temper or threaten me with more charges! On the way out, again he yells repeatedly "I will open the gate, I will open the gate!!" No "excuse me maam," etc, etc. Look, I get it if you are had a bad day or mad about something - but please dont take it out on the innocent customer! Maybe you use to work in Prison, or was even in Prison? But please remember you are not a cop, and this is a customer service situation!! I will remember this place, as I never had an experience so singularly ridiculous, and will never use their towing service - can you imagine how I would be treated as a customer in my time of need? read more

I sold my truck last April, and within a couple days of sale the new owner totaled it. I filed a transfer of liability within the allowed 5 days with DMV, but it was still under my name at the time of the accident. The paperwork clearly shows the date of the sale was before the accident, however. When I received a letter from East Bay Tow Inc stating they had towed my vehicle and I owed them money, I called to let them know I had sold the vehicle several days earlier and it was still processing through DMV. They said not to worry as long as I filed the transfer, the bill would go to the new owner. Never heard from them again. I just now got a collection letter for this vehicle for $2,765. Even though I told them I had sold it and it was no longer my responsibility. The date of sale was from before it was totaled. Now my credit is going to be damaged because they refused to move the liability to the person who bought it and I have an insane bill for something I didn't do. Thank you SO much for not listening to me when I called and told you that the vehicle you towed DID NOT BELONG TO ME. So happy I get to waste my time dealing with this instead of the person who bought and crashed the truck. I can't wait to dispute this with the collection agency. Learn how to issue collections to the people who are actually liable. If this does not get cleared up I will be taking this to court. read more

I wish I could give them 0 stars. I had a horrible experience with this place. I did not directly choose to work with this company, my scooter was stolen but was found a day later by Albany police that used this place for towing service. When I went to pick up my scooter, I was faced with a HUGE bill which included the towing cost that was four times more than a local company that I had used before for a distance less than a half a mile. The workers were extremely rude and unhelpful. After I paid my bill, the worker brought my scooter outside the gate and left it on the sidewalk (subject to parking violation). Their main concern is to charge/RUB you. Avoid this place, they are the real/official thieves. They only try to suck you as much as they can. read more

My original review got flagged and taken down. Like that makes it any less pertinent and true. I know that you usually can't choose who you get towed by. However, if you are a company that is going to contract to use this company as your towing enterprise, I would highly suggest not to use their services. They are a lawsuit waiting to happen. Their tow truck driver is one of the biggest men that I have ever seen and likes to use this to what I'm sure he thinks is his advantage by bullying people around. It has been my unfortunate experience to see him on the brink of violence, close to shoving someone less than half his size around. I (at 7 months pregnant) had to get in between the two and would not have been surprised if he struck at me. Instead he resorted to throwing water, chest butting, and getting right up in your face and yelling, because we couldn't hear him from two feet away. He was that unstable over a situation that arose because he couldn't drive out of an overly crowded parking lot and would have had to wait an extra five minutes. Full disclosure, this happened in 2010. read more

Just left East Bay Towing and the experience I had was phenomenal. Teresa and Jay genuinely care about the people and really wanted to work with me to get my car back. They are very humble and nice once you start talking to them. read more

I have to say, my insurance company called them to rescue me on a rainy evening right after the Giants game ended. I got stuck with an overheated clutch on the ramp eastbound on the Bay Bridge. Long story short, Jay was extremely patient with me, explained to me why and how insurance companies work and needless to say, everything that happened now finally makes sense. He came to my rescue 15 minutes late due to my insurance company's roadside assistance problem- they gave him Caltran's office in Oakland, not the Bay Bridge as my address. He was very patient with me giving him instructions and navigating through San Francisco. Honestly, he was the sweetest guy you could ask for to give you a ride home at 8pm on a Saturday night. read more

Locked my damn keys in the car and Carlos the Driver was there in No Time. After calling around to different tow services getting quotes of $100+, EBT(East Bay Tow, not your EBT Card lmao) was the super cheapest only $40! Thank you thank you thank you for helping a broke college student lol... read more