Michigan woman charged $9K towing bill after snowstorm pileup

REDFORD, Mich. — A Michigan woman caught in a snowstorm that caused a large vehicle pileup last weekend is angry at a blizzard of towing charges she received.

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Kellie Rockwell said she was charged $9,048 in towing fees after she and about 50 drivers collided on Interstate 696 during whiteout conditions on Feb. 13, WXYZ-TV reported.

Rockwell said the bill from 10G Towing and Recovery of Redford included a $2,195 towing charge, a $200 mileage charge, a $250 “extra person” fee, a $650 charge for special equipment, $800 for labor, $525 for storage, a $395 COVID-19 fee, $50 for fuel, a $1,900 “gate/admin” fee, a $300 flatbed charge and $275 winch fee, the television station reported. The company also added a 20% “processing fee.”

“I’m past infuriated at this point because I still don’t know where my vehicle is located,” Rockwell told WJBK-TV.

Rockwell told WXYZ that during the wreck, “You just heard one thump after another after another.”

Troopers with the Michigan State Police were first to arrive on the scene, along with fire and EMS units, the television station reported. Also arriving were towing companies, including 10G Towing, WXYZ reported.

Rockwell said she thought the company doing the towing was with the state police.

“Our insurance company said to use the tow truck drivers that police had on-site,” Rockwell told WJBK.

Rockwell was not alone in experiencing sticker shock from 10G Towing.

Timothy Vanhaverbeck said he also was involved in the I-696 pileup, and the towing company removed his vehicle. He added the tow company still has his vehicle.

“The next morning I gave them a call and he verbally said I got a $4,000 bill,” Vanhaverbeck told WJBK.

“I was in a pretty vulnerable position being in a ditch and being there for so long,” he told the television station. “And I really did feel taken advantage of.”

Rockwell has insurance through Progressive, but she said the company was not going to pay $9,000 for one towing fee, WXYZ reported.

According to Rockwell, Progressive officials said the towing company dropped the bill to $2,500, and the insurance company will pay the claim, the television station reported.

Rockwell said she has been unable to retrieve her vehicle.

“It’s being held for ransom,” Rockwell told WXYZ. “My vehicle wasn’t that damaged. I wasn’t in a ditch. It wasn’t wrapped around a pole. I was on the freeway. I was simply rear-ended.”

Efforts to reach 10G Towing officials for comment have been unsuccessful, WXYZ and WJBK reported.

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