Need Reliable Towing Co. for Barstow, CA Pickup

I won a nice-looking M923 out of GL in Barstow recently, and got my EUC approval on Tuesday morning. I made arrangements with a local towing company to pick up the truck this morning, but they dropped the ball and never dispatched their driver. I didn't find out until I called the office at around 15:30 to see if the driver had an ETA, and they said that they accidentally lost my paperwork (instructions, map, paid-in-full invoice with pick-up authorization) under some other papers. They tried frantically dispatching their driver to attempt the pickup, and I had to explain a couple times that they can't just show up at the locked gate of a contractor's yard on an active military base on Friday evening, and expect to pick up the load. That, and that Saturday was out, too.

So, I burned a vacation day waiting for a truck that was never dispatched, and now I need to set up a new pickup next week. Which is extra fun since I'm doing a 3-way schedule negotiation between GL, the towing company, and my employer to make it all happen. Yeah, I'm a bit steamed and disappointed, to say the least!

There's another towing company I'll call by default on Monday, but I figured I'd ask if anybody can recommend a reliable towing company somewhere between Riverside and Barstow, California, who has experience making pickups from GL yards (preferably Barstow), and who has a Landoll or equivalent equipment to pick up a 5-ton 6x6 that may or may not start and drive. The tow will be about a hundred miles one-way.

If any of y'all can refer me to any good companies to use for this recovery, I'll be really thankful! I probably could have guilt-tripped the company that missed the pickup into giving me an obscene discount, but that's just not my way. I'd rather just find a company that'll provide reliable service, and send my dollars their way.

What company did you use?

What company are you going to call on Monday?

You can pm me if you do not want to put it on the main site

I have two companies locally that can do it but the travel time might cost to much

Sending pm...

nf6x said:

I won a nice-looking M923 out of GL in Barstow recently, and got my EUC approval on Tuesday morning. I made arrangements with a local towing company to pick up the truck this morning, but they dropped the ball and never dispatched their driver. I didn't find out until I called the office at around 15:30 to see if the driver had an ETA, and they said that they accidentally lost my paperwork (instructions, map, paid-in-full invoice with pick-up authorization) under some other papers. They tried frantically dispatching their driver to attempt the pickup, and I had to explain a couple times that they can't just show up at the locked gate of a contractor's yard on an active military base on Friday evening, and expect to pick up the load. That, and that Saturday was out, too.

So, I burned a vacation day waiting for a truck that was never dispatched, and now I need to set up a new pickup next week. Which is extra fun since I'm doing a 3-way schedule negotiation between GL, the towing company, and my employer to make it all happen. Yeah, I'm a bit steamed and disappointed, to say the least!

There's another towing company I'll call by default on Monday, but I figured I'd ask if anybody can recommend a reliable towing company somewhere between Riverside and Barstow, California, who has experience making pickups from GL yards (preferably Barstow), and who has a Landoll or equivalent equipment to pick up a 5-ton 6x6 that may or may not start and drive. The tow will be about a hundred miles one-way.

If any of y'all can refer me to any good companies to use for this recovery, I'll be really thankful! I probably could have guilt-tripped the company that missed the pickup into giving me an obscene discount, but that's just not my way. I'd rather just find a company that'll provide reliable service, and send my dollars their way.

Click to expand...

Your a few miles outside my kill zone Brother, but I'm gonna tell you this.
If my company dropped the ball like that I would insist we recover your truck and only charge actual fuel used and driver's commission...which would be paid by the dispatcher that farkeled up the mission...not you.

If that tow company is anything better than riff raff...they will recover your truck and offer an "at cost" price.

Of course...that's just an ole fart's opinion...and means absolutely nothing...LOL

I like the way you think PB.

Thanks, papabear! Yeah, if it was my company, I'd do the recovery at-cost, too. I wouldn't necessarily dock the dispatcher, depending on the circumstances. In my industry (semiconductors; I'm an electrical engineer), we say that if you haven't made a million dollar mistake, then you're still just a beginner. Well, I may still be a beginner, and I plan to stay that way, but it gives me some perspective anyway.

I probably hosed any chance of getting an at-cost recovery out of them when I told the lady on the phone that I'd be making my new arrangements with a different company on Monday. I didn't raise my voice or anything, but I still kinda closed that door. We'll see if the boss-man calls and offers some make-up tow after he learns about the snafu, but I'm assuming for now that I'll be making new arrangements with somebody else on Monday morning.

I'm more disappointed than angry, because I'm just not patient at all, and I was really excited about getting my new toy. I figure it was an honest mess-up on the dispatcher's part, so I don't feel inclined to publicly ream the company by name.

Pm sent

I would send those idiots a bill for your vacation time.

nf6x said:

Thanks, papabear! Yeah, if it was my company, I'd do the recovery at-cost, too. I wouldn't necessarily dock the dispatcher, depending on the circumstances. In my industry (semiconductors; I'm an electrical engineer), we say that if you haven't made a million dollar mistake, then you're still just a beginner. Well, I may still be a beginner, and I plan to stay that way, but it gives me some perspective anyway.

I probably hosed any chance of getting an at-cost recovery out of them when I told the lady on the phone that I'd be making my new arrangements with a different company on Monday. I didn't raise my voice or anything, but I still kinda closed that door. We'll see if the boss-man calls and offers some make-up tow after he learns about the snafu, but I'm assuming for now that I'll be making new arrangements with somebody else on Monday morning.

I'm more disappointed than angry, because I'm just not patient at all, and I was really excited about getting my new toy. I figure it was an honest mess-up on the dispatcher's part, so I don't feel inclined to publicly ream the company by name.

Click to expand...

I'm sure it was an honest mistake and I agree the company should not be publicly reamed.
As far as the dispatcher is concerned...she (in my case, they are all female...all shifts) makes a verbal contract under my name which I feel honor bound to fulfill every time she commits to a service...and we provide many services.
It's her job to know her commitments, capabilities and assets BEFORE she makes that verbal contract.

In 16 years I have only charged a dispatcher twice and both times they agreed they let the company and the customer down and had no problem eating the damage.

We do alot of stuff for folks who are out of state and are basically helpless here so we do our best to get the job done. That's not to say things don't happen...but if they do it's the dispatchers job to contact everyone concerned and work out an acceptable plan.

When I have to get involved excuses have a range of zero meters in most cases.

I recommend you at least call the wrecker service and ask to speak to the owner...who knows...he or she may surprise you...and maybe he or she does not even know this happened.

I have a firm rule with my folks...all 22 of em.
If you mess up..let me know when it happens and we will fix it...if I find out some other way...we gotta problem!!

Thanks for the referrals, quickfarms, and thanks for the insight, papabear!

Yes, you're right that that owner may not know what happened. I talked to one guy on Tuesday to make the towing arrangements, and a lady today when I called for an ETA. The lady said that the boss dropped the papers on her desk and left, and then they got buried and forgotten. Maybe I should give them a call first on Monday, to at least make sure the boss knows that I wasted (*) a day of vacation and burned up a substantial chunk of my 10 day pick-up window, after which GL keeps the truck and my money. I don't know if the guy I talked to on Tuesday is the boss there, or just another employee.

I don't plan to publicly tar and feather them by name for this one screw-up, but if I do call them, and they do make things right, then I might just "out" them for that! Anybody can mess up, but not all of them will make things right afterwards. Doing the right thing after making a mistake is something I respect.

(*) Ok, a day of vacation isn't entirely wasted. I didn't have to make my usual 80 mile round trip commute today, and I spent time at home with my dogs rather than at work with my cow-orkers. They're a fine bunch, but I still like my dogs better. And on top of that, if my pick-up window closed then I could probably get my money back through my credit card company; I just wouldn't be able to buy from GL any more in the future. I'm not sure if that's good or bad...

Here is an update: I got the manager on the phone after a few tries this morning. It turns out that he was the guy I originally talked to when I set up the tow, and he was out on vacation when his employee lost my paperwork. He's agreed to do the pickup himself on Wednesday morning, at a discount (note, no actual dollar amount has been discussed so far), and to hold the truck at his yard for an evening delivery so I don't need to take another day off work.

So, this may turn out ok after all, and the company may even end up getting more business from me in the future. I'll keep y'all posted on how this turns out.

keep us posted on your progress

Will do! Thanks again for your advice, folks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a satisfying outcome for everybody involved.

thats good ... and as a side question how did you get that hmmwv? the only way i have found was in chunks.

Several hundred USMC surplus HMMWVs were released to the public through dealer-only auto auctions in Riverside, CA and Atlanta, GA back in 1999, if I recall correctly. Those trucks are now in the hands of private owners all over the US. Mine is one of the Riverside ones. They're out there if you want one, and can be found fairly often on eBay... and presumably in the Steel Soldiers classifieds, too, though I haven't been watching for them there recently. In my experience, I've seen them generally sell in the $20k-$40k range, depending on condition and configuration, but I haven't paid as much attention to their prices in recent years.

Thats what they are still going for. Too bad I know where hundreds of them are sitting in the Nevada desert just rotting away untouchable... Wouldn't I be able to get a used h1 for less? I have seen them go for about 10k

I haven't paid any attention to civilian H1 prices, but if you can get a running one with a good drivetrain for $10k, that sounds like a cheaper starting point. There are some differences, but the basic body, frame and drivetrain are about the same, I think.

Truck is due at my house in about an hour. I hope to have an update soon!

GRIPPED by the story saga! do tell us how it finally worked out, and if you are (now) more than pleased.

I'm on my cell phone right now, so I can't type too much. Waiting on the front porch for the truck to arrive. Will post a lot more later! I'll try to at least post a cellphone picture when it gets here. I'll post a metric crapton of pics on my web page by the weekend!