My mom was in an accident that totaled her car a few days ago. She called Merl's to get it towed. Although the driver was very kind and asked where she would like it towed, he did not tell her she would be charged if it was brought to their lot-$45 a day! When she spoke with the office there and mentioned that the driver did not tell her, she was told that the drivers are not allowed to quote the cost! This is predatory and terrible to do to someone who has just experienced a traumatic incident. read more

Merl's towing transported my vehicle and damaged it by loading it negligently causing the fuel tank to be torn in half and they refuse to take accountability. They left it in the lot on a jack stand that was on soft ground. the jack stand sunk in further complicating removal from the impound. When i requested assistance with the improper storage I was told that its not their problem, and they cant control the weather. After contacting them for insurance they refused and offered to give me $300 or $700 to buy the title to avoid liability never once did Brian Young offer to handle this professionally. They have changed insurance companies within the last 2 years because they cause damage all over town. read more

Lady was helpful at the main, guy at the storage was extremely disrespectful. Towed a buddy's car mostly because of his out of state plate and the temporary handicap tag that was mine. Charged extra fee for "abandonment" where the car next to us had 4 flats and couldn't move if you wanted it to. Glad I don't have to worry bout this company ever again. read more

Was given an estimate of 90 minutes to get pulled out of ditch. Turned into 3 hours. Called again for an ETA. Customer service said I was next and would be 30-40 mins. Waited almost 2 more hours. Called again. Said 30 mins tops. Two hours later. Called again. Said "on there way in about 11 mins." I cancelled the two, I would have been better off with a shovel and one hand. read more

My car battery died deep in a parking garage, and I called Merl's. 10 minutes later Ram arrived and carried his portable charger with me to my car, charged and started my car, wrote me a swift receipt, and sent me on my way to Toyota for battery replacement. I have never had such swift, respectful service. Thank you! read more

Horrible service, they are more focused on power than being helpful. The towing company is refusing to release the vehicle to us even though we have provided a signed letter, drivers license, and vehicle registration. They stated that the signature on the letter did not match the drivers license. We then provided a photo showing my father holding his license, the letter he wrote, and showing his face as the same person who is pictured on the Id. They are still refusing to release the vehicle and are charging additional holding fees. read more

Overall the explanation of your services and fees were never or poorly explained to me. When they brought my car to a collision shop I was on the phone with them agreeing that they would be willing to have my car be dropped off to sit in their lot even though it was unable to be repaired. I then called Merl's and explained this but he told me to call the collision shop again. I did and then was told that the tow truck driver had already left with the car. This cost me an extra $163 in fees from Merl's that I had to pay before I could sell my car. When I questioned the desk about them I, again, got basically no help in the situation. Overall Merl's made the terrible experience of my car getting totalled even worse pretty much every step of the way. read more

very shady. they will tow your car and then empty your wallet. dotn turn your back on them and be done with them as soon as you can.

never again, not if they were the only place in town, i'd still go someplace else I was in an accident which totalled my car, and these guys delayed my insurance company from doing their job by over 2 weeks by not releasing my car so the insurance adjuster could do his job the guy at the lot was rude and unprofessional read more

I had my car towed, because i hit a deer and the man who towed it was very nice. but when I went to go look at the damage in the light and went to go get the rest of my belongings there was a lady and a man who was very rude. I had multiple pieces of documents proving I owned it they wouldn't take it and then when I called the bank and got a photo copy of my title the guy was very rude about it. telling me how it should be a paper copy and when I told him they don't do paper copy's when you pay on it, he was like I just got a car and how he got one. they where very unprofessional and absolutely rude would not recommend . very disappointing made a bad day even worse! read more

won't give your car and they don't trust there employees to grab it for you or go with you

I was locked out of my car & within 30 minutes of calling, they had someone at my car to help! He had my car unlocked within a couple minutes. They were covered under my insurance which was a big plus. Definitely will be using their services again. Very friendly and helpful! read more

I had my car towed about a week and a half ago. It was stuck on the highway of 131 which is an absolute mess to be stuck at they came pick my vehicle up absolutely no problems. Unfortunately I forgot the name of the tow driver's name but he was super great. I can't say anything but positive things about this company I've used them once or twice before and have never had problems with them so definitely I think they're worth it read more

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Horrible company and I will never use them and talking to others it seems like they all had similar experiences. They impounded a car I sold and the guy never put it in his name... apparently he was arrested by the police and now this company wants 1200 dollars from me for it sitting in they're lot for about 15 days apparently. The dispatch lady who I talked to was absolutely rude and mean and I was put on hold out of no where and hung up on....She has no common sense and seemed like she hated her job! THEY DO NOT DESERVE EVEN ONE STAR! read more

I had to have my car towed to a nearby dealership because of a break-down and asked the dealership for advice on a towing company. They suggested Merl's. The driver showed up much sooner than the dispatcher suggested and got me towed right away. The truck was clean and the driver was personable. Although I admit I have no idea what a tow should cost, it seemed to me that a 3-mile tow for over $100 seemed a bit steep. But otherwise, good service. read more

The Employees at the Wyoming shop (Connie, Tom AND Terrance) are extremely rude and will hold your car as long as they se fit. Even with permission from the Grandville Detective. They know they have you over a barrel and just want to use any measure possible to charge you for the extra storage fee. The driver however was exactly the opposite, very polite and helpful. read more

Merl's Towing Service - Business signage. - Towing Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

This is a very classless and terrible company I will never use them. This guy parked and unloaded in the middle of the street so no one could get by. This guy who appears to be named Mark saw me well before he began unloading. He ignored me when I asked him if I could get by and instead proceeded to unload and make me wait for almost 20 minutes. I was in a hurry to get him and he was blocking the only road. This company is totally rude with no respect for anyone else or their time. This is an indication of their customer service and I will never use them. read more

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Man on the phone said they would call when they were on their way and they never did. Overall their time estimate was pretty accurate. They had said 3 hours and it was 3.5. Once the guy showed up he was nice and it was very quick! read more

Merl's has been a long time staple for me for as long as I've lived in Grand Rapids. My opinion of vehicle ownership leads to a car that has been driven into the dirt. So Merl's Towing has helped me meet my goal by getting my car to the shop or salvage whatever the case may be. read more

Meryl's towing went above and beyond my expectations. Every step of the process I was working with an individual that was both polite, helpful, and communicated effectively,from the scheduler to the individual towing my vehicle. My car was in the parking lot of my office building, so I can't give a good judge of time from my first call to the point that my car left because I was working. I would recommend giving Meryl a call if you find yourself needing a tow. Tow thumbs up read more

I called needing a tow and they said 30/45 minutes. And then 1 hour passed so I called back and they said another 10/15 minutes. Its now been over 2 hours so I cancelled them read more

The person running this business is a thief, a liar for one he towed one of my vehicles two months ago and didn't allow me to get to my belongings or my title that was in the car to show him proof that the vehicle was mine come January and he towed another one of my vehicle and did the same didn't allow me to get in my car and show proof after lying to me and the officer and said that there was no paper work in the car or title only 2 years worth of mail I went got the papers that I needed to be able to get my car it wasn't even the car that I cared about it was my father ashes and things that my father gave me who passed 2 years ago so I had proof the day before the auction I text him and told him that I had the papers so I took pictures of the paperwork and he still put my car up for auction and sold it. I waited outside the shop to try to talk to whoever won my car to please allow me to get my stuff out and I had to pay them to get my belongings out. This is so unacceptable. I don't see how he's allowed to do this to plenty of people and then once I paid to get my belongings from the person that won the car in auction I go in the box, and in there was what I said was there my title my paperwork that he said was not read more

This is the worst service that the City of Grand Rapids could contract with. My teenage daughter's car died coming off the ramp on Ottawa St as she was coming home from Michigan State University for the holidays. We wanted the car towed and instead it was taken to the impound lot. We tried to retrieve the car and informed him that the registration could be found in my daughter's school backpack. He and I quote " I will need to search the car for the registration and you can't come back with me". So we said fine, can you just bring the backpack so we can show you the registration. He said, no I need to search the car the and informed that we were not comfortable with him searching the whole car when we instructed him where the registration could be found. He didn't listen and he end bring the the back after he had gone through it. This terrible. We paid $317 to get our car ravaged by some stranger! We complained to the corporate office which the apologized and said that we unfortunately we were deal with the owner of Merl's Towing! We complained to the City of Grand Rapids informing them of the terrible service that they had a contract with and they said that we need to contact the state of Michigan Police to provide feedback. No one wants to take accountability for crappy and unacceptable service. read more

AAA contracted for Merl's to bring me gas. First Merl's dispatcher left me on 5 minute hold and did not call back or text when we were disconnected. 2nd dispatcher, when I called Merl's back, said driver was 1.7 miles away and would arrive "soon". It was another hour and Merl's operators never updated me. The only person who was courteous and cared at all was the driver. If service will take an hour the poorly trained dispatchers should tell the truth and update the customer instead of misleading the customer and requiring them to call Merl's back. A text takes how long to send? If AAA doesn't pay you enough to offer good service, then instead of screwing the customer, don't take the contract! I have reviewed on Google and Yelp and will pass this along to AAA as they are responsible for partnering with Merl's. read more

THEY TREAR AAA CUSTOMERS LIKE GARBAGE!!!!They told me a tow truck would be here in 90 minutes to 120 minutes. It has now been 167minutes, so I called them, and he told me I would have to wait 3 more hours, because AAA customers come LAST!!! You guys SUCK!!!!! read more

I have been watching your workers struggle to tow a Subaru downtown for about 45 minutes now. They are trying to pull the car out while the tires are seized all while the alarm is going off and causing a scene. All because they could not figure out how to do it right. You should not employ stupid people that don't know how to tow cars correctly. Not to mention the second toe driver that had to be called in was blocking a full lane of traffic for about 30 of the 45 minutes. I will be reporting you to the city. read more

Merl's Towing Service - Towing Near Me - Grand Rapids, Michigan

Just tried calling to get a car towed that was in my spot and the person on the phone who "had been there for over 20 years" was rude and hung up on me before I could work out the issue. They said they "never heard of me or my company before". Huh? I'm trying to give you business and apparently they don't want it. Mind blown. read more

$120 for 2.3 miles!!! The rudest, slowest, and most expensive tow service in Grand Rapids, MI. They took 2 hours to arrive on a snowless clear day, were extremely rude, and charged me $120 for a 2.3 mile tow!!! Then the driver almost ran over 2 poor pedestrians just out for a walk and had the audacity to yell at them! read more

It's a shame that they (and their "sister company" Grand Rapids towing) have the city contract for tows, because that is where you get really screwed by these guys. My brother was in a bad car accident, and by the time we got him out of the hospital and wanted to deal with the car (3 days!!) they charged him for towing (fair), gouged him for daily storage at around $100 a day (to leave it sitting in their faux-junkyard) and jerked us around scheduling wise when we tried to schedule a time to recover items from the vehicle. Apparently we "should have called AAA and got our own towing company" when my brother was lying in a wrecked car, or in an ambulance, instead of letting the GRPD call this company. If they are forced on you, they have no desire to give customer service or even basic politeness. Why should they? You're going to owe them money anyways.. So, tl;dr version.. If you have a choice - choose elsewhere. They may be nice to you, but when you don't have a choice, that is when the screws come out and they give it to you. Edited update, Sept 2016: The review is still factual, but I feel 1 star is unfair. They did do what they said - they towed the car. Just had a bad experience with the rest of it during a stressful time. read more

Wish i could give zero. Receptionist was soooo rude when all we wanted was a quote for getting my car from GR to kzoo. It was a holiday so I was trying to cut some slack but when I called again to confirm things she got even nastier with me. Also, they charge considerably more than who we ended up going with. When people are in need of an emergency service like this it would be nice to be treated with a little bit of kindness. read more

They gave me A+ service. The only reason it is not 5 Star is that they contract with the police for accident removal, and police calls take priority. I had to wait a bit longer than expected, but the service was great. read more

Horrible service. Called spoke with Tony, was told it would be less then 45 mins. Called back after waiting 50 mins to be told it would be another 25 mins. Excuse being a police call gets priority, yet no call to let me know that it would be longer. Apparently they have one guy working. Don't waste your time. Go elsewhere. Image Towing was here in less then 10 mins. read more

My car was recently stolen. The Grand Raids police quickly found my vehicle and asked me where I wanted it towed to to have the keys replaced and if I preferred a specific towing company. I told the police to have it towed to the Honda Dealership (the police officer then verified which one) and I told him to use whatever towing company he wanted. He told me he was going to use Merl's. Later that day I called to pay the towing bill. I was informed that the vehicle had not been towed to the Honda Dealership but rather was being "stored" at Merl's towing and there was a $35 per day storage fee. I asked to talk to a manager to dispute the charge) this was a Saturday) and was told a manager was not available until Monday. On Monday I was charged for storage of my vehicle. I feel that this company made a mistake by not towing my vehicle to the proper place and then charging me storage fees in addition to the towing fee. I am a victim of car theft and I feel that they took advantage of me. Not my fault that they towed it to the wrong place and not my fault that they didn't have a manager or someone who could make an executive decision to waive an unjust fee for several days. I am beyond livid. I feel they should be ashamed of themselves, reported to the better business bureau and I would encourage nobody to use their services. They are a scam and they are heartless. read more

Excellent service today during a busy rush hour time! Larrin (spelling?) was my town driver and he was so helpful and took no more than 10 minutes to get to my location. My car was stuck behind my house in a narrow driveway and he went above and beyond to get it to a safe spot to haul up on the tow truck. Many thanks to him and this company (which has helped me through many AAA incidents)! I always receive great service! read more

It's that time of year again when the people of Michigan wake up to the fact that the Global Warming hoax is not going to save them from having to remember how to drive in the winter. And even if you do remember; you still have to deal with everyone else that can't or won't driving around you. Then you also have to deal with those things that you can not see coming; like black ice, white-out conditions halfway through your trip, and the drivers of 4x4s that think they still own the road and you just are in the way. This year my car was taken from me by black ice. Thankfully I had no emotional attachment to it and had not named it 'Brad' or some other silly name (we won't talk about my phone J.A.R.V.I.S.). Merl's was called on by the State Police, they were on the scene of the horrific demise of my trusty Honda as the motor was still running and the horn that would not turn off. Anthony, the driver, had my car up onto the flatbed tow truck in a matter of minutes and as soon as the police were done with the other car that I had totally missed that had crashed before I got there, we were off. Later, when the insurance company finally got around to totaling my car out, they even helped me get my plates off the car, as they were frozen on because of the weather. I would hope that you and your family are never in need of a tow, but if you are and you are in the greater Grand Rapids area call Merl's and ask for Anthony. You should not be disappointed in their service, but it's ok if you cry like a special snowflake that 'Brad' has 'died' and you have to go to your special safe place before you can find some way of moving on. read more

Great guy. Hunter. Knew my car well. Ride with him. Company kept with shortest route price even though we had to dodge traffic.

Worst towing company I've ever had to deal with. My insurance company transferred me to them and all they did was tell me the name of their company and to please hold. They kept me on hold for almost an hour, without ever telling me what was going on. If it wasn't for my insurance I would have hung up sooner. When I finally called them, while still being on hold, they had the gall to tell me that they didn't know what I was talking about, and that they didn't have anyone on hold. NEVER CALL THIS COMPANY!!!!! read more

1.5 hour response time for a Sunday evening tow request. Clean load and transport, nice tow truck driver with good conversation enroute. Merl's is more expensive per mile, but they were able to tow my trailer along with my trailer where others were not. read more

Worst towing company EVER! I would rather let a team of disabled sherpas dismantle my vehicle, pack it into rawhide sledges, and lose it in a perilous river crossing then do business with this so called company! We were treated rudely, OVERCHARGED, and they would not allow us to remove our personal effects from our vehicle! When we came to retrieve it, they would not allow a truck in their yard to remove the vehicle without a $65 extra charge, so we had to push the 3 wheel car out through the snow! If you haven't taken your vallium today STAY AWAY! read more

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!! These guys were the worst. Got into an accident and the police called them for me. BIG MISTAKE. 1. The first guy from Merl's hauled away the first car and was very rude to both me and my wife. He wouldn't even take 15 seconds to talk to us, when I OBVIOUSLY HAD TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL FOR STITCHES!! He made us wait for the next tow truck. 2. Then, when we weren't looking, he started SHOVELING THE DEBRIS FROM THE ACCIDENT INTO THE BED OF MY PICKUP! Are you serious?!?! He had a bucket with him. He could have put it in the bucket! And if the bucket wasn't big enough, then why are you not prepared for the job you are paid to do?!? Bring a bigger bucket!! 3. Then, they charged us $250 bucks to tow it 8 miles! They charged us for gas, and for mileage! And for every other thing they could think of. 4. We called the owner, who was also very rude. He said that he once saw a police officer put a fallen-off bumper back in someone's trunk. Therefore, it was okay for them to shovel trash into my pickup. It is their policy. Maybe he was the one shoveling that cap into my vehicle. I think I will call News Team 8 Investigates. read more