They are liars!!! I called before five to get my car and they said they were open 24 hours. I waited two hours to have someone show up. Then they charged me 390 for an after hour pick up and the gate fee charge of 177. I called before five and should not have been charged that. And since the receipt is online, they changed the fee descriptions after I reviewed it then send it to my cell phone!! Extremely deceitful and don't trust them. They also do business under different names. Do not use city towing or specialty towing read more

On Nov 6th, 2024, in front of the Specialty Towing yard on 1st Ave in San Mateo, our dog Scrappy was viciously attacked and mauled by the Specialty Towing Pit Bull. One week later Scrappy died of a burst spleen and massive internal bleeding. Specialty Towing has refused all letters and phone calls to discuss the tragic event. They refuse to take any responsibility. They will be taken to small claims court but what kind of company does that? Total disregard for the safety and well-being of their neighbors and neighborhood. No respect or sense of decency whatsoever! One has to wonder how they treat the vehicles they tow, and the owners of those vehicles! Scrappy was a great dog, loved by all! read more

Specialty Towing - Specialty Towing has refused to respond or take any responsibility for the vicious Pit Bull mauling. Many witnesses. History of complaints - Towing Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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This is a piece of crap company. I got to the location before the stated lunch hour but still had to wait over 40 minutes. Had to call the main location and the Alameda location multiple times. When an employee finally came out he lied about his name and then said a name proud of it. Said if I complained use his name. Sad ass company. Dont use them if you can avoid it. Employee's name was Niko/Vin, if that can be believed. read more

Specialty Towing - Towing Near Me - Palo Alto, California

First off they're NOT at 264 Tara St. They haven't updated their address on Google. They're new address is 2851 Spring St, Redwood City. Secondly, CHP Redwood City towed my car there for a 30 day hold. By the time I was in the backseat headed towards the jail, my car was already hitched back to the tow truck. Mind you, "back up" had left already and I was leaving at the same time as the tow truck. My friends pulled over in front of my car and sat there watching the whole thing and didn't leave until I left. CHP was very detailed with my property list and for that I'm super grateful. I also took my time to read and signed off all my property. Car owners know what's in your car, you know? They wrote down everything ( I had sex toys, panties, a camera, a coloring book, tmi but they did a thorough job) . Friday, August 26th, 28 days and 3k later, I get my car back. My car was a mess, and I'm assuming it's because they searched it. Before I even got there I felt the need to look for my Apple Watch. Idk why, but it was the first thing I did before I looked for my registration. (I was asked to get my registration out my car to do the paperwork to get my car out the impound.) I left it in the driver side door. It wasn't there, but since my car was a mess I figured I'd look for it after. Once I got home I realized Theyre was a handful of things missing. In the Chp paperwork they listed 4 out of 5 things missing in my car. 1.) My Apple Watch was missing. It has a Damier azul LV strap from the driver door. 2.) Chanel sunglasses in their case from the glove box 3.) Versace sunglasses in their case from the glove box 4.) a box of change from the driver side. 5.) YSL libre parfum from the trunk The only thing not listed was the change but I'm convinced someone at the tow yard took my things. Lastly, my driver side door panel was loose. Well when I came to pick up my car they told me they had to move my car and the whole side panel came off. So they stole over $1000 in my belongings & broke my door. Wish I had pictures of all my belongings but most ppl don't think they need to take pictures of them in case someone decides to steal them. Side note, every time I called, the girl would always give me miss information. For example, "yes you can come pick up your belongings" but when I got there, "oh sorry you need a property release form from Chp" "it's also $150 because we're closed weekends and this is considered after hours." like she couldn't tell me that over the phone. We went back and forth for a while because she really wanted me to pay 150 because she pulled up but I couldn't grab my belongings without the form. Like no. The second time I called a guy answered. The guy was super rude. He answered my call then told me to hold on to answer his cell phone and after his cellphone call was over he was having a conversation with someone in person while I was still over the phone. He had a careless demeanor like "what do you want". Overall, don't. Just don't. read more

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News videos are interesting when they involve a Specialty Towing driver trying to back into a car in a drive lane at a light, trying to tow the car. then the truck chases that car read more

Specialty Towing - Towing Near Me - Palo Alto, California

I was literally in my car, parked in a parking lot, waiting for my wife to exit a store, and their tow truck swooped in and hauled my car off with me in it. This was not a repo issue because my car has been paid off for a while. When I finally arrived to the tow yard, the driver could only say that he didn't know someone was in the car. I can at least say that he let me drive off without any further incident. read more

They damaged my car beyond repair....completely totaled and would not pay for repairs. Had to sue them to get my money and won

Will tow your car illegally and then sell it back to you. Con men. They are Completely unprofessional read more

This is a predatory towing company. DO NOT PATRONIZE. They attempted to tow my vehicle with no legal basis, and then threatened me by saying, "it will cost you a lot more money if I leave this location with your vehicle" The driver then extorted $150 in cash ( a drop fee), when the law says the company has to UNCONDITIONALLY release the vehicle to the owner if the vehicle does not leave private property. No legal reason or written authorization was provided me. This company was sued by San Mateo County in 2012 and had to pay $42,000 in fines and reimbursement to people they screwed but never had to agree to wrong doing. DO NOT PATRONIZE THIS UNSCRUPULOUS COMPANY read more

8:15 this morning on the surface streets of San Francisco, this crazy idiot is lane weaving, crossing the lane barrier and running other drivers off the road. He started weaving into my lane, like he was either drunk, texting or not even licensed to drive a vehicle of that size. Seriously, are you looking to cause an accident, so you have a vehicle to tow? I would not trust this company with my car on the back. I caught the first part of the CA license plate, 18948, didn't catch the rest as he was weaving in and out of morning commute traffic on Alemany Blvd and Industrial Blvd near 280, 101 and Bayshore Blvd. read more

one of your drivers just tried to tow me illegally hes lucky I didn't have my personal protection device on me today, because if I did he wouldn't be going home to his family, and yall would be short one employee. And I've seen yall's company many times illegally towing peoples cars, this is a warning yall better STOP. I have several lawyers and two federal judges in my family. read more

Wouldn't yield when merging onto the freeway and almost ran me into a wall. Driving recklessly, tailgating cars, cutting people off. read more

Specialty Towing - Driving dangerously - Towing Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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Dishonest business doing predatory towing and charged a high amount for car retrieval.

After seeing the driver of a tow truck recklessly cut off 3 vehicles and almost rear ending another - don't count on this company being professional or sincere. This particular driver seen in my photo was absolutely rude and despicable. After gunning it at the red light, he then honked at other drivers so that he could cut over. Don't let folks from this company endanger others on the road by using their service. read more

Specialty Towing - This is the driver seen road raging through the streets of San Francisco on June 12tha 430pm. - Towing Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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When we wrecked our 40' Fifth-Wheel RV, it was towed to Specialty Towing on Oakdale Ave, in San Francisco. They were called at about 8:30 in the evening. They didn't show up until 3:15 AM! So we spent most of the night in the cab of our truck, parked on the street. When we went back that afternoon to get our belongings (we were living full-time in the RV), we called ahead to make sure someone was there, but when we showed up, the gate was locked, and no one was around. After about 2 hours, someone came to let let us in, but it was late in the afternoon, and we were told that they were going to close up in a couple of hours. So we had to leave a lot of stuff behind. For some reason, they waited 3 weeks before releasing it to the insurance company. I think it was so they had lots of time to clean it out. After the insurance company got possession of it, and had it towed to a lot they use, I made another trip from Portland, OR to SF, in a rented van, to get the rest of our stuff. That's when I saw the totality of their clean-out job. All that was left almost filled 2 medium-sized cardboard boxes, nothing more. And they DID clean it out. We lost 2 TVs, most of our clothing and household items, all the kitchen appliances, ham radio equipment, TV equipment, and a high-end sound system. All together, they stole over $6,200 of our personal property; anything that they could sell for a couple of bucks! This is in the hands of SFPD. And our insurance company is going to sue them for the value of the property. BOTTOM LINE: NEVER USE SPECIALTY TOWING AND RFECOVERY, THEY ARE ALL A BUNCH OF CROOKS!!! BTW, I am NOT from Shingle Springs, CA. I don't know where that came from. I live in Beaverton, OR. read more

I wish I could give this towing company 0 stars!!! We came to San Francisco for a vacation and were given a parking permit for the hotel we stayed at. The parking permit was CLEARLY on display yet they towed our freaking rental car, claiming over and over again that it did NOT have a permit, when it actually did. This towing incident messed up our plans for the day and had us on the phone with the car rental company and Roadside Assistance for 2-3 HOURS. They also refused to let us pick up the car initially nor to give us the exact location where it was impounded. Thankfully the hotel manager knew the towing company and was kind enough to drive us to the impound since he knew where the location was at. He was able to find the permit and get the car back for us. read more

Specialty Towing - Towing Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Thank you for giving me respect unlike the entitled pigs who keep parking in our spots to visit the next door overpriced ugly (yet new) townhomes (at least 1.5 million dollar town homes that were built after your apartments were built in 2015) or eat at the restaurant and can read the million signs warning not to park in tenant parking. By the way...street parking is FREE and there is plenty of it!! But nope. This is the 3rd time. YES THREE TIMES when I come home at night that I unfortunately had to ruin someones (hi...you clearly dont care about the tenants who work and barley getting by thanks to all the transplants who are dumb as rocks hoarding the area) by calling these superheroes. My favorite is when they have "MIT Alumni" you think reading signs and putting it together that the numbered spots are not just for anyone to park would be easy task an MIT alumni...but more proof that these universities are just pushing out entitled fools. I can only imagine is any if us tenants parked in their spots or excuse me drive way/private garages! Yup! We would be arrested for trespassing! So please...go cry about having to pay to get your car when all your genius and talents had to do was respect your neighbors , read signs, out two and two together and oh....btw street parking is FREE!!! read more

do not use!! very terrible service especially customer service the owner or manager is not understanding or accommodating even though I told him the registered owner of the vehicle is disabled and unable to physically retrieve belongings from the vehicle herself. A baby's car seat he wouldn't allow for us to pick up!! no compassion at all terrible service and company read more

This is the most Cracker Jack robbery towing company I have ever dealt with. Slime ball take advantage of customers in need. Don't ever use these people if you don't wanna get robbed. My truck was towed 1 mile to their tow yard and they had to keep it for 14 hours. And they charge me $684 to get it back. Because they're greedy bastards. I can't believe the police department uses these people! read more

THIS TOW TRUCK DRIVER REAR ENDED ME. Police report filed. Very unprofessional and rude. There was no damage to my vehicle so we could've dealt with it honorably. But this dude is wack read more

Specialty Towing - Towing Near Me - Palo Alto, California

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Unprofessional. Extremely unprofessional. I wish I could just remove my review overall.

My car got towed and you would normally would think it would be a bad experience but they were amazing. Really kind and caring crew that they have. If I ever you service they are the ones you need! Best experience I have had with a towing company! read more

https://www.specialtytowingbayarea.com Parked in local shopping mall parking lot. Got towed for some reason. No signs anywhere indicating parking was restricted for belonged to any particular business or that there was construction and parking closed. Plenty of other vehicles to tow also. I can only assume that it was a slow day and many of the vehicles probably weren't worth towing or they have someone helping them out to spot vehicles. Some sort of predatory practice. Legitimate companies that need a tow company should not associate with a business this unethical. I actually thought the car was stolen and called the police only the find out it was towed. When I called about vehicle they claimed it was not there problem and they were only following procedure of parking lot owner, but didn't say which business it was. Also, claimed that they were closed and I had to wait a day or so to retrieve car. I told them I would take them to court and low and behold someone was able to meet at tow yard right away and woman said I could pay with credit card. To give and idea of the what kind of lowlifes work for this place, when I arrived at tow yard, the live-in yard troll told me only cash and they don't accept credit cards. I just gave him a "your stupid" look and handed my card and told him to open up yard and call the office. It would have been difficult to the idiot to argue with me anyways as I had texts from tow firm if where to go for car and what payment forms they took. Guess what? Card was processed. 550 dollars for 90 min of doing "work". Not a bad semi-scam they got going. I feel bad for those who can't afford to take the hit. As my time is too valuable to go to court for something like this I can only put out this review and hope businesses are warned. As a part time employee of a property asset management firm, I will definitely hard post this warning for the companies clients of my experience and opinion of this tow firm. read more

This Driver of theirs was at my Gas Station trying to get gas Dt 2/20/22 ,Before getting his gas he was insistent about asking me about my Nationality .I tried to Ignore him 2-3 times but he seems to be obsessed with my Nationality ,I went out to reboot the turbine and the driver again got after me about my Nationality .It seems this company just doesn't give training to their drivers how to behave in Public .What has my nationality got to do with Getting Gas .After this I tried to call the company and they wouldn't put me to the owner about this racial misbehavior .Very poor behavior on the part of the driver . read more

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Definitely would recommend them to friends and family. I was caught in a jam in Richmond and two other companies made me wait close to four hours to get a tow and no showed. When I was in contact with specialty towing, John reassured me that he would be there and help me out. Can't thank these guys enough. read more

Oscar saved me this past weekend! I'd sat in my car with a flat tire and dead batter for almost 3 hours. Oscar arrived and quickly and kindly got me on my way and gave me a few words of wisdom for the next time I'm stuck in that situation. Thank you, thank you!!! read more

Long overdue review for this! Over summer my car got a flat tire on the side of 101. Due to having special wheels, my boyfriend and I were unable to replace it ourselves and had to call insurance for a tow truck. After almost 5 hours of communicating with insurance and cancelled tow trucks, Specialty Towing came to our rescue! Unfortunately, my insurance sent 2 tow truck companies by accident and the 2nd tow truck driver was extremely rude. He threatened my boyfriend and I, was yelling profanities and being completely unprofessional. Considering the situation, Specialty Towing's driver Enrique was extremely professional and helpful in all aspects, including dealing with the 2nd tow truck driver. Enrique even escorted us to a nearby gas station to put air in our spare tire since it was at risk for popping and us not making it back home. He definitely went above and beyond what was required of him in terms of service and saved the day. Thank you so much Enrique! read more

Sandra An employee here was rude. She was going to let us take our car out if we paid $650. She was willing to accept a cash amount of $500.,With great regret, we decided to let our car go. In order to process paperwork we'd have to drive four hours back to where registration form was left in home office. We could not afford the $700 that was being charged for one more night. This Specialty Towing Company essentially stole our vehicle. There were so many fees attached to the car being towed there. Towing fee, gate fee, storage overnight fee....crazy ass business! read more

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They have damaged my front bumper and radiator(leaking coolant now) and now they don't admit..!

Let me point out to a couple of false claims by you: 1. There was no call from our manager at the time of the towing! I asked 3 times from your driver and he said he was just driving around when he saw that car and stopped by to tow it. If you don't know the law let me remind you that it is illegal to tow a car from a residential building with just the general authorization: cvc22658:"(E) (i) General authorization to remove or commence removal of a vehicle at the towing company's discretion shall not be delegated to a towing company or its affiliates except in the case of a vehicle unlawfully parked within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or in a fire lane, or in a manner which interferes with an entrance to, or exit from, the private property." 2. The car was not fully hooked up-we have pictures of that as a proof. The driver should have immediately released the car without charging based on law: "Upon the request of a vehicle owner or owner's agent, the towing company or driver shall immediately and unconditionally release a vehicle that is not yet removed from the property and in transit." Furthermore when I called your office the next day, Jessica accused me of removing the towing signs from the location, however, a week after the incident your company installed the signs in our building (have pictures from before and after that too). It looks like you guys need a reminder on how to do your job lawfully and correctly. We have evidence from everything and all we asked for was to get our money back which you charged illegally. We described the incident to several agencies, including California Tow Truck Association and they ensured us that the payment took place illegally and advised us to file a complaint in the small claims court. I really warn property managers and individuals who want to work with you since they might be taken advantage of if they don't know the details of the law. read more

Edwin was amazing, really helpful when i needed my car picked up. Got my car up quick without any difficulties. Cool and funny guy, very fast and quick read more

Towed my car and I had no placers at the hotel I'm low income can't afford have baby and out of a car. read more

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For sure not recommending this crazy ppl, I've seen them on the HWY driving with no respect at all when they supposed to drive carefully, sharing the road to other drivers with small vehicles, good luck to y'all if calling this guys for any services read more

I recently legally parked at a shopping center to do some errands. I returned only 20 minutes later to find that my car had been rapidly towed. The police identified the culprit as an employee of a nearby store who called Specialty Towing, posed as "Security," which is non-existent, and then, without verification, executed a surprisingly quick tow. The police described this action as "Highly unusual." Be very careful if you see this company's name posted. read more

I had my car towed from this business about a month ago. I didn't have my ID, but was inside the car. They would not let me get it out the car. I went to the DMV to get a new one. The day comes to check out my car. They don't answer my call. I'm 100% positive they blocked my number for whatever reason. They junk my car without notifying me or letting get my property out my car. I even missed a couple daysof work to get in contact with them. This business is very unprofessional and very poor communication. read more

My partner and I we're having a great start to our beautiful sunny Wednesday morning. A ad posted on a phone application called "5 mile" the seller described the car as: "strong V8 engine drop top, etc.....will post screen shot. Traveling from the beautiful city by the bay - San Francisco, our morning turned into a upsetting and disappointing afternoon. Unfortunately enough, our mistake of not test driving the piece of garbage costed us. Everything that you thought could go wrong went wrong. The car will start but once you turn it off and turn it back on and apply gas - the car stood still and if it could - laughed it's Volvo ass off. Future buys, please ask to take the car for a test drive. Photos in ad were taken at all the right angles. Trust me, you will save money, time and confidence in your decision making skills. Thanks for reading and I hope this helps. *Keep your fingers crossed that we make it to SF. #takemehomebabe read more

These guys I'm mounded my car for 2 days and wanted to charge me 720$ talk about buying a license to scam then they couldn't even give me a jump start to get my car off their lot read more

This team helped me move my non-running motorbike across town with zero incident. Super painless from the quote to the arrival and drop-off, etc. In retrospect they did not ask for ID or a registration, or even to see a key- etc., which makes it super easy to steal a bike in broad daylight I guess. read more

Love how one of your many drivers were trying to intimidate me by sitting in their truck acting like they were going to tow me. Honestly is sad. read more

These guys are amazing! came through super early to get my car out and got it out fast with no troubles. Thank you guys!