Inglewood, CA, woman allegedly charged $10,000 by auto shop for storage fees

By Web Staff

Click here for updates on this story

    INGLEWOOD, California (KCAL, KCBS) — An Inglewood woman claims her cars are being held hostage due to costly storage fees charged by an auto body shop.

“How am I going to have $10,000 to get my car back and how am I going to fix it,” said Inglewood resident Michelle Davis.

Her ordeal began when both Davis’ and her daughter’s care were rear-ended by a hit-and-run suspect outside her Inglewood home.

“We heard a big crash and squealing tires,” she said.

Davis immediately called the police and within minutes a tow truck showed up to supposedly help her.

“I am thinking he is with the police,” she said. “I have been in an accident and the car goes to the police impound yard, that’s what I thought.”

However, the tow truck was not with the police. Instead, it brought her daughter’s Honda to Airport Collision and Repair, as Davis followed behind in her Range Rover. The body shop told her vehicle wasn’t safe to drive.

“My muffler was against my gas tank, and it was going to blow up,” said Davis.

From that day on, both cars started to rack up all types of fees such as $110 for a COVID cleaning fee, $140 for a Hazmat fee, $275 for a forklift fee, $200 for photos and $225 a day for storage — for each car.

“Way on the high end,” said attorney Steven Simmons, who handles predatory towing cases. “The average in my experience is $100 to $150 max.”

In California, there is no cap on what private businesses can charge for storage fees. Experts claim that consumers have very little protection against suspected predatory towing.

Simmons warns consumers to check things like a truck’s Department of Transportation number and reviews online.

“Very little protections except what they do for themselves,” said Simmons. “Before that car is put on the hook, check all these things.”

The Better Business Bureau gave Airport Collision an “F” rating and according to the Bureau of Automotive Repair, the body shop is currently on a two-year probation for various charges including fraud. On Yelp, they have two stars coupled with a slew of negative reviews from people who said the tow truck showed up without being called.

“A lot of tow trucks will monitor the police scanners and they’ll hear a call about there being an accident,” said Simmons. “And when they do that, they’ll get out there as quick as they can.

The owner of Airport Collision said that his shop did nothing wrong and Davis signed every invoice she was given. They have offered to waive nearly half of the storage fees.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.