Tow Company Destroys Woman’s Car Then Threatens To “Come After” Her.

On February 4th, I was driving back from Jasper, TN. My car was making a noise. I pulled over into a gas station to check it out. Since I have AAA and a tow would be free (and I still had over 30 miles to drive) I figured better safe than sorry and just get it towed. Zachery Brown with Monteagle Truck and Tire pulled into the gas station right after me to pick up another vehicle. He said he was contracted with AAA and told the AAA rep over my phone that he could tow my car as well.

I gathered names and numbers of some of the men that were in the parking lot trying to help before Zachery came over for my car. It was later on that I found out they had specifically told Zachery to NOT pull my car with the front wheels down. He did it anyways. Zachery took pictures of the car after it was hooked up, so even without my picture, Rodney knows Zachery towed it incorrectly. My car is front wheel drive, so his negligence caused the transmission to explode, melt the insides of the car, shred the tires, melt the undercarriage, leak oil and other issues.

Also throughout the drive, I felt incredibly uncomfortable with Zachery. As discussed in my initial post, it got so bad that I gave several people my location and updates. When he initially asked if I was married, he was asking if I was married to any of the guys at the gas station to which I said no. When he said “oh, youre not?” is when I said “Yeah, I am.” I kept ignoring the comments about him asking about my body or taking me to a club. I pretended like I didn’t notice him staring at me half the drive or swerving on the road while he was checking messages from a female with several hearts by her name. He was not paying attention to my car or the road. I kept stating I wanted to go home. He showed me his “mood setter lights” in his truck. Would not quit asking about us going somewhere even though I kept saying no. When he kept insisting that I save his number in my phone and text him right then and there, I asked a friend to do it and pretend to be me. I gave him a fake address and when he dropped me off, he tried to come in for a hug (maybe a kiss, I’m really not sure.) He kept watching me and wouldn’t leave. Homeowner came outside and I asked him to pretend I live there to make the guy leave. He left and I walked home crying. I wondered if I should have been more rude, but I also know how dangerous it can be to be stern when turning a man down.

I emailed the Tow Owner a detailed account of what happened, provided the mechanic statement deeming it tow damage, as well as the other evidence. I gently asked if I could get his insurance information and if he could just have a discussion about professional etiquette with his employee. Not fire him. Not press charges. But just talk with him. He dismissed the employee issue right away (pretended I didn’t even say anything about the employee) and then said “You’re not getting my insurance information. I don’t answer to insurance. I don’t answer to AAA. I don’t answer to anybody. Does that make sense to you?”

He said all he would do is pick my car up and do some work on it. I told him that I’m not comfortable with his company working on my car, but that I would consider it if he could type up a written agreement that we both sign. It’s always recommended to have an agreement in writing. At this point, I was unaware of how severe my car damage was. A number of things could go wrong if I passed my car off to him and just took his word for it. I asked him to include that he will cover a rental (he fought me on this, but insurance would have covered a rental and he refused to provide it) and that if the car is not fixed sufficiently or safe to drive, that he will pay the car off and cover a down payment for a new one. He finally said okay. I emailed him right after to have in writing what we had discussed and said I would hold off on taking any other actions if he got me a written agreement. He ignored me for weeks.

I worked tirelessly with AAA to do a mediation. I placed and took upwards of 200 calls concerning my car over the next few weeks. AAA kept being difficult and I had to twist their arm to do the mediation despite having sent everything they asked for. Less than 10 minutes after they supposedly held the mediation, they called to tell me that “unfortunately, the other party is not willing to do anything beyond what’s on the paper.” Here, she is referring to an estimate we received with just SOME of the damages on it. And by this point, I had already gotten a new car. A cheap rental from Hertz was going to be over 2k for the month. I had already been paying people for rides and even missed some work. I needed a car. And I had multiple professionals tell me after seeing my car that they felt confident that it was totaled and I would need a new one. Also note, the car cannot even move in neutral and I had to pay 75.00 dollars to have it towed into the shop to be partially assessed. The entire tow was recorded so that Rodney and AAA could not try to blame the 2nd tow for the car damage.

Ive had used cars before and had to pay thousands in repairs almost every single time. I can’t have another car that breaks down when I have a job and children that need to get to and from school. Used cars were still higher priced. I went to a dealership and asked what their cheapest cars were and snagged one on that cheaper end that had a good warranty on it.

I filed a police report. I called my insurance dozens of times to have them tell me they can’t do anything. I tracked down Rodney’s insurance and spoke to Russ, the owner of Russ Hood insurance. Russ told me I cannot file a 3rd party claim even though I have Rodney’s policy number, DOB, address and proof of damage. AAA did nothing. I spoke to some lawyers that are certain I have a case, but would need the money up front to pursue. I took off of work to drive to small claims court. The ladies there were vaping, texting and ignoring me and I ended up being told that day that I cannot take him to small claims. We spoke to the bank multiple times to see if there was a way to let GAP insurance cover the rest of my KIA, and without an insurance adjuster report, it can’t. They won’t take a mechanic statement. My insurance won’t even just send an adjuster to just look at the car and write the report.

While I have been working on a resolution 24/7 for almost a month, Rodney has been posting about his extra cars he has been fixing up for fun for car shows. After digging, I found out he has tried (and failed) to sue multiple people. He tried to sue highway patrol and claim they are the reason his business was suffering. He tried to sue a lawyer for defamation after she pointed out that the day after an emissary of Rodney told a guy to “watch his back” that guy’s family members business got burnt to the ground. He tried to go after a guy for sexually harassing an employee of his. This is confusing to me since I brought up a similar issue involing HIS employee being the issue for this instance, and it was ignored. Even if my car could be fixed after thousands of dollars in repairs, the value has significantly diminished and I would not be able to sell it for much.

I was very transparent with him about the situation that he put me in and how it affected me. His attitude about it was “screw you. I’m a business owner and that means I can do whatever I want even though I’m at fault.” Had he provided insurance information, GAP would have kicked in and covered the cost of the car and also helped with a rental. They also may have provided enough of a write off check that it would have covered the old car and the thousands that had to be put down for the new car. I am now facing a total of 3 car payments right now. I am a frugal person. I do things cost efficient and like to save money. When I bought my KIA, the plan was to pay it off and keep it while tucking that extra money away to save. A KIA soul is not my dream car, but it was cheaper and reliable. Same with the new car.

It just ASTOUNDS me that I have solid proof of what has happened, have made well over a hundred calls, have driven all around and yet everyone’s answer is “Nothing can be done.” I’m sure not everyone that deals with his company has issues. But just know that if there ever is an issue with them, it will not be taken care of.

The tow company owner, Rodney, called me this morning and threatened me due to someone else commenting on his fb page about the situation. He also told me “f—k you, b*tch” multiple times. “I’ve done a background check on you, too, you pole slinger.” “I’m coming after you.” Told him if the worst thing I do is take an occasional pole exercise class, then I guess I’m doing alright. He Cussed me out, told me he was coming after me multiple times (again, due to someone posting an honest review of what he did) and then kept calling me back to back when I hung up. His wife or some woman was in the background saying things as well. I do not feel safe and I will be taking action on this, but I’m here to warn everyone to stay away from being involved with this man’s business. At no point did I swear at him, call him names or threaten him. Not only is this man unreliable with business conduct, but he is dangerous.

Here is the family gofundme:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/97twp-jensens-car-destroyed-by-tow-truck?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet-first-launch&utm_medium=social&utm_source=messenger

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