If I could leave zero stars, I would.
Places like this are why Chicago has such a bad reputation. The entire experience was unprofessional beyond belief and was maybe even criminal.
First of all, I am not complaining because I was towed. I parked in a handicapped lot but did not see the small signs marking it as handicapped at each side of the long lot. Fair enough, my bad. Although I think those spots should be much more clearly marked, so people can avoid them.
The place was nearly impossible to find. The poor Uber driver did his best but had to drive around the block about three times before finding the way in. The place is dark, bizarre, and looks more like it's run by a gang than by the city (maybe it is).
Upon arriving at this tow lot, I walked in to meet some of the rudest, disconnected people I have ever met. They shoved some paperwork at me with little explanation what it was for or what I needed to do. They did this while staring at their phones or the table with clear distain for the people trying to get their cars back. I witnessed a younger girl in tears, trying to get her car back, and they showed her zero respect, concern, or help as she tried to give them what they were demanding.
After filling out some paperwork, they wanted to see my vehicle registration, which I retrieved from my car. Several people are listed on the registration and my name was listed as an initial, not my full name. They saw this and said because my full name was not on there, I now had to pay CASH to have my car released. I'd love for anyone to provide an explanation behind this besides that they were taking some of the cash under the table.
After providing the cash, they released my car. $175 cash tow fee and I have to pay $250 later for the ticket. Absolutely ridiculous fee for accidently parking in handicapped.
I am a traveling artist who was visiting Chicago to sell my work and this experience has left such a bitter taste in my mouth I likely won't bring my business back to this corrupt city. I'd rather bring my business to areas with a basic level of human respect and decency. Disgusted
It’s fine that I got towed. The problem is everybody is so rude. They wouldn’t tell me where they towed the car too. I mean I’m out of state person and you have no information. There’s no phone number or information on the sign as to who to contact. The police couldn’t help me. The other numbers couldn’t help me There was a there was a young man who happened to hear was talking and knew what we were talking about and he was nice enough to bring me here. Then yeah, they ignored me for a while and then no hurry to help.
While the staff is friendly the lack of bilingual communication, comprehension, and transparency over the phone is inconvenient.
If your plate tags are expired know that you must get a 7 day extension.
Also- having to find the location of this place is ridiculously difficult. There are no signs or guidance.
I work for Cook County with the Sheriff’s office for the COUNTY and my vehicle was towed in the back of the courthouse where we are authorized to park. There was a 175$ tow fee plus a city parking sticker that I was told to purchase although my vehicle was registered in Alsip, IL. I broke down in tears, mother of two kids (2yrs old and 1 yrs old) and was told “I’m only doing my job”. I got my vehicle BACK! Oh and trust God seen it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish there were an option to leave zero stars. Unfortunately, this review will likely go ignored since it’s clear the City of Chicago doesn’t care about how its employees treat people.
Out of the four employees who were “working,” only one even acknowledged me. The rest were either chatting among themselves or glued to their phones, completely ignoring my presence.
When one woman finally decided to interact with me, she immediately threatened me with a charge that wasn’t even related to towing. She claimed I was required to purchase a Chicago city sticker to retrieve my car—even though my vehicle is legally registered in DuPage County. That is absolutely false and not legal. When I explained this to her, she laughed and told me I could “try again another day” if I didn’t want to pay, essentially holding my car hostage unless I bought the sticker.
When I asked for her name, she refused to give it and wasn’t wearing any identification—clearly intentional. She knew exactly what she was doing, and I doubt I’m the only person who’s been treated this way.
It’s practices like these that give Chicago such a terrible reputation. The people running this operation seem more focused on exploiting citizens when they’re most vulnerable than on providing any real service. It’s all about power, ego, and squeezing every last dollar and ounce of patience from you, just to get your car back.
WARNING-Chicago Ordinance. One sign per block. Tourists BEWARE. Get towed . …I parked in between to green parking zones. But read the one signage details. Rush hour blocks off parking. 4 PM. Spoke with meter Parking officer who said he lives in Chicago vouching it was very confusing signage. No arguing. Seek civil law support. Do not accept Apple Pay google pay. This place is lower level dock level. Follow red signs. However, Rene was the best. I appreciate her professionalism and courtesy.
Our car was towed from a metered spot with no clear or obvious signage indicating towing enforcement. The “no parking” sign was printed on a small piece of white paper—nearly invisible when the entire block was filled with cars. The tow truck was going at it all day, towing one car after another from the same stretch. If that many cars are being towed from the same area, it’s clearly a trap — not a fair or transparent system.
To make things worse, we were told the parking meter system and the towing company aren’t even connected. So even if you legally pay for parking, you can still get towed. In Seattle, you physically wouldn’t be allowed to pay for a spot that’s restricted — and no parking signs are posted clearly and visibly. Chicago needs to do better. This just feels like a setup to make money off of people who are trying to follow the rules.
And then at the tow lot, the woman working there was extremely rude and unprofessional. I was already stressed about how unfair the situation was, and she couldn’t have cared less. Instead of offering clear help, she gave vague, lazy instructions and acted annoyed when I needed clarification. She should know better — if someone is dealing with a towed car, don’t expect them to do paperwork and decipher your poor communication at the same time. When my cousin politely asked her to be more respectful, she snapped “get out of my window” — even though he wasn’t even standing at her window.
If you’re going to run a scammy system, at least don’t be rude on top of it.
This whole experience — from the shady signage to the broken meter integration and unprofessional staff — is one of the biggest reasons why I don’t plan on ever coming back to Chicago. Other cities do better. Chicago should too.
They towed my vehicle even I have paid the meter. I still have the receipt via text from the pay by phone service. It’s horrible place to earn black money
Horrible experience.
They all say contradicting things. One woman was making fun of an individual for not speaking english.
Ask for a supervisor immediately. They were the only one to help us, and the process moved much faster with them.
This place illegally towed my daughter's Jeep, when she was visiting Chicago, from out of town. They were parked at the same spot for four days, at their hotel. The towing company, didn't have the key and damaged the vehicle while towing it. I have reported them to the BBB and contacted our attorney. No wonder, everyone hates Chicago!
Honestly this place doesn’t even deserve a star, the service is very unprofessional, we paid the parking fee, but our car got towed for no clear reason and we didn’t even know our car got towed and finding the place was very hard. And they charged unreasonable vehicular recovery prices on top of paying our parking fee, please be cautious while parking in this city, and please carry your valuables with you!!!
My cousin and I had our car towed downtown while on a trip to see our favorite artist in concert. Every person at the tow office was SO nice and accommodating. The situation was stressful but they helped ease our minds to get us where we needed to go.
The fact of the matter is that this establishment is understaffed and it shouldn’t take 2 hours to get my car back after queuing up in line. What’s going on back there? The process needs to be streamlined. Embarrassment for the city of Chicago.
Towed my vehicle although we paid the meter. I still have the receipt via text from the pay by phone service. We went to the bathroom and came back 20 minutes later with time to spare. We walked in the cold snow for 30 minutes with a special needs child and they made us wait almost 20 minutes to tell us anything. They were so unprofessional just laughing and having a blast, no sense of urgency. This was the worse experience from a business I have ever experienced.
One of the faces of the City of Chicago...what a complete disappointment. Illegal impounding is a crime in itself. Let alone when others follow directives from subordinates that will put them in a tough and compromising situation — accomplices to a crime. This is why, we, the people, have a duty to our city, our state, and our country to make a change for the better. And it starts with YOU. Yes, You. You will be audited, fined, and pay grades will be under review on the basis of your honesty, integrity, and loyalty to your city, state, and country. The one star is for hesitantly allowing me borrow the Android charger. Cordially, Govea, B.
Car was towed on 11/3. I spoke to an officer where the vehicle was towed who told me to call 311. They had no record of my vehicle. I spoke to another officer who advised all cars were sent to this location. The officer suggested that I call the facility first to make sure. I called and confirmed they had it. Spent 10 minutes waiting and 30 minutes driving to get to this location only to be told they don’t have it. They’re now sending me to a different location on the other side of town which is closer to where the car was towed. The fact that I called and confirmed, spent time and money to travel here, and then told no go somewhere else is crazy.
HORRIBLE!
These people have no customer service skills. They are mean, rude, and extremely disrespectful. I do not understand how is it possible for them to get a job!
After I got my car around 9 pm, they didn't let me inspect it first and yelled at me to take the car out although I saw it was damaged. I did take it out and then saw it also had a flat tire (passenger front).
Went back inside and they asked me why didn't I see the flat tire when I took the car and started talking to each other about how I was "an opportunist" and laugh about it.
- yes, these people are so bright they think I got the tire flat so I can complain to them about it.
I hope you never need to go to that place.
My car was towed today - my fault for not paying attention to the no parking / tow zone sign that was put up on my street. However, I called them, gave them my plate, and was told they didnt have it and my car must have been stolen and to file a police report. The police were able to see that they had inputted the wrong license plate into the system and that my car was towed and relocated to a random parking lot in the city (which I could have found had my plate number been inputted correctly). For future - maybe give them you make / model just in case this happens to you too!
How is this legal to operate? Company tows cars illegally left and right and we can not do anything about it .
Got to my car exactly at 10:58 and was shaken by how deserted the whole st was I thought I was in the wrong place. I took a video exactly at 10:58 of where my car would have been . I walked up and down trying to find it thinking maybe I didn’t park where I thought I parked. I got to the impound by 11:19pm and they told me cars start being towed by 11pm . BULLSHIT I had a video of the street at 10:58 and there was not a single car or a single soul there meaning they had to start towing WAY before . They won’t let you contest , just keep brushing you off to look at your receipt later and follow the steps to fight the charges later . I am visiting Chicago and it was a rental so that’s just never going to happen.
The fact that police can’t help you or anyone is insane . They literally can charge whatever they want and you have to pay it otherwise they steal your car. This is the most insane thing that a company can legally operate like this and as society everyone just accepts it .
Got my car towed okay my fault. But tell me how I locked my car had my keys and my entire car was tossed apart. $2,000 stolen, my fiances wallet, and front end damage to the point my doors won't close. Made a claim but of course that won't happen until Sept 18th. Talked to a lady at the City who claims she at least gets 5 phone calls a day of stolen and damaged property from these tow trucks. Given these guys 1 more days to correct their mistake and it's WGN news and the police.
These rude, corrupt, unprofessional towing company people damaged my car. I really hope karma gets them bad and I will laugh if they do. My underside splash protector got ripped off and warped and when I came back to complain, one employee even tried to say they couldn't have done it because I came back minutes later. I have photo proof with time stamp of the damage!
Also to help people get to this dungeon of a place, by car/taxi: easiest way is not to put this address in the gps. Rather, navigate towards Lakeshore East Park. Once on Randolph, turn north on the street that leads to the center of the park. On the other side of this rectangular park from where you came in, you'll find the turn which takes you to lower Wacker Dr. Turn right and you'll see the pound.
If by walking, at the southwest corner of the Columbus Dr-Upper Wacker intersection, you'll find the stairway that brings you to lower Wacker. Walk east at the lowest level to get to the pound.
My wife's car was borrowed by someone. They parked it somewhere dumb and got it towed.
Since the car is registered in her name, they were not able to get it out without a notarized letter giving permission to do so. Since its my wifes car, I was able to go there with my ID and get it (this is only if the last name and address have to match) I'm not the registered owner, so I had to pay $175 cash, only the owner can pay with a card.
It is a little difficult to find, but it is not impossible if you have more than two brain cells. Those who are crying about it, learn how to navigate.
I was actually surprised that the employees were very friendly and polite, and everything went as smooth as it could have.
99% of you parked your car illegally, and you got busted. This isn't Lincoln Towing. They're not just snatching cars up off the street for fun. This should be a lesson that there are consequences for your actions. You can't park anywhere you want. Pay the fee and get over it. If you don't like it, move out of Chicago and to somewhere more your speed. It's embarrassing to see how fragile some people are.
With all respect to the business please teach your employees customer service skills. My girl is on her phone working hard all night ignoring simple questions asked. The older woman in the back informed us that they are working short which is a big no no in customer service. I’m a nurse so I know this is not how you treat customers. When we called for directions the woman rudely kept saying “just keep turning right until you get here” without even letting me finish saying where I was. I still can’t believe it’s acceptable to treat human beings this way. God is watching you all.
This place is doing shady business. They refused to show photos to prove that we were parked incorrectly, when I asked to contest, they said their system was down and they weren’t sure when it would come back online maybe in the next 14 days. They continually discouraged me to contest and forced me to pay the ticket without any proof. This was straight blackmail. Reporting them to police but they should not be allowed to exist as a business. It is a scam. It’s illegal to not let someone contest their ticket. And they took pleasure in it and were extremely rude. Hope they get closed down
It's just an Auto Pound, people in there are doing their job nothing special but what was annoying was trying to find the place. Maps tells you that it's on the street on Wacker but when you get there there's nothing. So to get there you go to St. Regis Chicago, ask the people who work there where the public elevator is, once you find it take the elevator down to LL5 and then once out you head towards North where Wacker would be and then turn right and the Auto Pound will be there.
Don’t use google maps - follow this route to the auto pound:
Driving northbound on Michigan Ave, turn right onto Randolph.
Continue straight until you see the stone pillars (on your right in the park) which will be across from Field Blvd.
Turn left onto Field Blvd then right at the next stop sign onto Benton.
Proceed to follow the one way around the green area in the circle until are to the other side of the park opposite from where you entered.
Turn right at the stop sign following the black sign pointing towards The Tides parking and proceed straight essentially going under Wacker.
At the next stop sign, you will see the auto pound shack slightly to the right. The parking area for the pound will be directly in front of you.
The address says it 400 e lower Wacker but it is 500 e lower Wacker drive, which caused our lyft driver to drop off us at different spot. Got towed in a 15 min unloading/loading zone by hotel when we were getting our luggage even after valet staff tried to stop them. And still had to pay $175. And tow truck drivers get commission, which is systemically wrong and capitalistic.
Apr 11, 2022
Nearest Junkyards to City of Chicago Central Auto Pound
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