Klaus Towing review: scam they're part of 23

This is the most horribly run business I have ever experienced. My mom and I were in downtown with my 2 and 4 year old. I accidentally parked in the wrong lot (it was only $6 to park, so I wasnt trying to be cheap, just didnt see the sign on the other entrance). When we came out of the restaurant at my car was towed. I begged the guy to help as it was freezing cold and dark out. He did not care if we had to sleep on the side of the road, he just wanted his money and left us alone. I felt so helpless and my poor kids were crying. I pray that no one ever gives this terrible human being any business (the owner, Jerry Klapiac is the one who towed us, so he could have helped if he had any heart). I wonder how he would have reacted had this happened to his children? I guess thats whats being money hungry can do to you.

-Jennifer Weisheit

First, let me state that if you are in any parking lot downtown, even if it says "Public Parking", it is a private parking lot and is either a pay for parking or assigned parking type lot. After six p.m. the on street metered parking is free but this does not apply to the parking lots. All properties are clearly marked and if you are illegally parked you are subject to being towed without any notice. The rates that are charged are set by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, not the tow company. We provide a service to our customers, the property owners, at their request. In fact, we are contracted with Nor'wood Development and not Standard Parking. We have a staff of drivers who respond to calls from area businesses and apartment complexes for private property removals, Colorado Springs Police, State Patrol and Fountain PD accident rotation tows, along with several automotive shops in the area and we are the local service for State Farm Insurance. We are regularly yelled at, cursed at, physically threatened or assaulted and yes people do try to drive off of our equipment and people threaten to sue us on a daily basis. I can assure you that everything we do is by the book and if you are unhappy with the overall situation then may I suggest looking around a little better before you park to see if you are allowed to park there and if you need to pay for the parking or have a permit.

BS! Your company employees are RUDE! Not until they noticed today they are the ones that made the mistake...did he change his attitude. So unprofessional. bbb will be hearing from me about this company...and referring to the first post...hmmm that sounds about right...doing your job or not there is a way to be professional about things...heartless is right...I hope any and everybody steers clear from there money hungry folks!

Klaus employees...you can try to use all theSe big words to intimidate people but it wont work for me...you people do illegal things and are so rude! Don't think I won't spred the word either... learn to run a business and get some manners!

i completely agree. I've recently had a run in with these rude poor business running people and have recently launched and investigation via kktv. I truly hope Betty Sexton can bring these terrible people to their knees.

I had recently had a run in with this so called business on Easter Sunday of 2011. I had been parked in a no parking zone because of the limited parking situation (and believe me the parking here is no joke). I was already in my vehicle to move it when they came around the corner and deliberately blocked me in the spot i was, and while i was in motion i might add which is neither safe for them or I who was pregnant at the time. they Continued to force me to leave my vehicle in the position it was by backing up a mere couple feet from the back of my vehicle. I got out of my car and proceeded to stand between my vehicle and their tow truck as to prevent them from attaching, as they'll charge a ridiculous $200+ fee just for being attached. The other driver who was attaching to a car the opposite side of the street was obviously trying their hardest to not alert the other owner. However, he failed due to the fact that he set off the alarm by breaking into her car! the driver i was was dealing with immediately was rude to me despite my sincerest effort to be polite. he proceeded to contact local law enforcement and tell them that i wasnt in my vehicle at the time and that i "just ran out there". Obviously being a tow company the officers wouldnt ever hear my side or what really happened even though i had four witnesses. The man continued to be exceedingly rude and was not satisfied till he had cash in his hand. heaven forbid he would man up and admit what he did was wrong. I'd completely understand his situation and his argument had he not lied and deliberately put me in a position of which benefited him. the man did not provide his name and made it a point not to. he kept his name tag out of vision and wouldnt talk to or reason with me. He decided getting police involved and getting money was more important. I contacted the property manger the next day and he confirmed that he called the tow company, However he was not aware of the whole situation and did not agree with what had happened as a man who is trying to accommodate a fairly nice neighborhood. He advised me to take up the issue with the company its self and said himself that a refund should be in order. I contacted Klaus and spoke to the female co-owner or at least that's who she claimed to be. She proceeded to call me a liar even though the only witnesses available to her were conveniently her tow drivers...go figure huh? I continued to try and explain the situation to her and she continuously cut me off mid sentence and tried to tell me what happened when she wasnt even there to validly speak for the situation. I told her my biggest problem wasnt being refunded my money but i wanted an apology for the rude and unethical way i was treated by both her employee and she herself as she thought it was ok to raise her voice at me when i wasnt attacking her or insulting her...even though she continued to insult me and raise her voice and call me a liar. she proceeded to tell me that i wasnt even getting so much as an apology and hung up on me. I called back immediately after and gave my name and with not so much as a word she hung up on me again. This is most definitely is no way to run a business nor treat not just customers or tow victims but anyone for that manner. Any business whos' owner even conducts themselves in such a manner shouldnt be operating or running anything. these people seriously need some lessons in manners and business. Since no one in the company would comply or even so much as listen to a full sentence of what i had to say, even though i would have been happy with an apology, I contacted KKTV for a launch of an investigation and sent a formal complaint to the BBB. hopefully these terrible money hungry ### people finally get whats coming to them after all the reports and complaints ive read.

I am the driver that was out there that evening. I was called to tow a full size van that had repeatedly been parking in a fire lane. The manager signed for the removal of the van and one other vehicle that was also parked in the fire lane. After getting the signatures I had to drive past the van in question and find a spot to turn around. I came back to the vehicle as a young lady was coming across the street to the van and then her boyfriend/husband tossed her a set of keys and as I was backing up to the van, she proceeded to get in the van and start it so she could make the claim that she was coming out to move the van before we got there. She then placed herself between her vehicle and the back of my truck, I explained to her that she was being towed for being parked in the fire lane and she could pay a $70 dollar call out/drop fee which the state says is due to us if we release the vehicle on site, hooked or not; not a $200 + fee as she states. This is to cover our time and vehicle use to respond to the call. In this particular instance, I had to respond at night and drive 18 miles to get to the call. I explained this and was then verbally assaulted by the woman and her man, who was very aggressive and was yelling and cursing. They refused to pay the $70 and refused to move from in-between the vehicles so I could hook up to the van so I had to call the police to come out to keep the peace. Upon the arrival of the police they talked to each party individually and then told the lady and her man that they needed to pay me the $70 fee or move so I could tow the car, when the woman started to complain to the police he told her that if you have a problem with not enough parking that she should have parked out on the street instead of parking in the fire lane. She finally paid the fee and throughout the entire process I did talk to her and her man and her friend even. However her man thought he could talk to me in a very aggressive manner and that with the fact that the woman just couldn't admit that she was wrong to park in the fire lane and accept the consequences of her actions, so she just stood in between our vehicles preventing me from doing my job so tensions were high and I am sure my tone of voice reflected that. During the time that all of this was going on the Manager that signed for the removals was parked about fifty feet away watching the entire confrontation and had no problems with how things were being handled then or a couple of days later when we called to try to verify the story the girl told. The other driver had the vehicle owner come out for the vehicle he was hooking up to and they were understanding of the fee and paid with no drama and thanked the other driver for giving them the option of getting their car back on scene.

Oh ye of little intelligence, I tried to explain that we are contracted with the property owners and we are following all of the rules as they are written and still you don't understand. You were the one parked illegally and you just can't accept the consequences of your actions.

I agree %100, Klaus towing are very rude! I was with my mother, who rents an apartment on Jamboree drive in Colorado springs, Co. I was giving her a ride home from the doctors, We parked in "her" assigned parking space, went upstairs to take a piss and get the parking permit that you have to have visible on your rear view window, (took me 5 minuts) came back down to go home and my car was gone, I called Klaus towing and asked them to bring my car back because it was ILLEGALLY towed and they said "NO CAN DO" they billed my mother $256.47. They are a rip off, It doesnt cost $256.47 to ILLEGALLY tow a car! I am not surprised that they get yelled at, cursed at, physically threatened or assaulted on a daily basis, I am not threatening to sue Klaus towing, I am promising that I will press charges on them, they do not need to be doing this to people, this is WRONG! If you have ever been towed by Klaus, please post your complaints. Don't let these people keep doing this BS!

My car was towed by klaus because they said that my car was not driven enough. They took my car with good tags, insurance and registration, from my parking spot just because I do not go anywhere very often. Apparently after the HOA Associa investigated they found it was illegally towed and told klaus to return my car. When I went to pick they were Irate at having to return the car without payment. They were so mad they dented my hood so bad the paint peeled off, cracked my bumper in 2 spots, and ripped the face off my radio. When confronted with the damages he had done during their illegal towing and hostage of my car. he laughed and told me he hoped I had him on video while he damaged it because otherwise I could not prove it. I told him I proved the fact it was illegally towed and I will prove they caused the damage in small claims if necessary. He was so mad he followed us to our car yelling, cursing, and threatening us. I was honestly worried he was about to become physical and feared for my families safety. When driving away he spat on my window.

I don't use big words to intimidate people and our employees are courteous to those people who are courteous to us. As far as, "I was only in there 5 minutes", yes we tow out of Academy Manor on Jamboree and are under strict instructions from management that anytime we are in the area that we are to check for vehicles without parking permits and tow any we find. This is done under contract and there is nothing "illegal" about it. Upon arriving at the complex we have to park our large white diesel trucks, get out and walk the entire parking lot and then if we find someone illegally parked we go back to our trucks and hook up to the vehicle. Trust me when I tell you that there is no way we can hook up to your vehicle and get off property in less than five minutes, so your timeline may be off a bit. Sorry that you had the unfortunate experience of being caught not following the rules but it is not our fault. Maybe in the future when giving your mother a ride she could bring her parking permit with her so you don't have to go through this again.

Colorado Guns, your vehicle was towed because our company was called by the HOA for your complex and given a signature to authorize the removal of your car. The vehicle had been previously stickered by the HOA and you did not contact them to address the issue so they were under the assumption that the vehicle was abandoned. Under Colorado law a vehicle can be considered abandoned after 24 hours. When the vehicle was found the doors were unlocked and the faceplate to your stereo was on the floorboard, when trying to put put the faceplate on the stereo it was noted on our previous damage form that the faceplate would not stay locked in, along with the damage to the bumper and hood you claim we caused. When you contacted our office on the phone you were very rude and yelled and cursed at our employees and then you called your HOA and yelled and cursed at them until they felt so threatened that they agreed to pay for the tow charges to avoid any further conflict with you. So we were paid for the tow and were not out the money as you claim and your car was not illegally towed, so you haven't proven anything of the sort. When you came to pick up your vehicle one of your tires was low so we aired it up for you and then when your car wouldn't start we even jump started the vehicle for you. Gee, that doesn't sound like the actions of someone who was irate about having to return your vehicle to you. Also, at no point did you say anything about the bumper and hood damage while at our business. After you drove out of the storage lot and back around front you came into the office and started complaining that we had unlocked your car and broken the face to your stereo that you had just had installed. When we tried to tell you that we did not damage your vehicle you became very verbally aggressive and began yelling and cursing at several of us in the office and then exited the office and spat on our front door. When we came outside to confront you about your childish behavior we were almost run over by your wife/sister and you almost hit her car when you backed out and then screeched out of our parking lot yelling and cursing the entire time. You were correct on two points in your comments; we did tow your car and someone did spit in your window. We won't deny that. It was only returning something you had done to us. Since the time this took place you placed BBB complaints against us and your HOA and when both replied with their answers that didn't match your delusional rants you refused to accept the answers provided and complained to the BBB again. It seems as if you can't stand to be wrong, so you keep telling your version in hopes that eventually someone else will agree with you. It's time to accept that it's not going to happen and move on with your life.

Well, coming from being a former employee of Klaus' towing, and previous to that I worked in the repossession industry for years, there is NOTHING illegal or fraudulent about Klaus' Towing, in fact to the contrary. Everything this business does is legal, and backed up by the owner. Klaus himself runs a very tight ship, his employees are good tow truck operators, their equipment is in perfect working condition, and far and above the standards of any other tow company I know. Very disciplined working environment, and respect for others as well. People do become irate and horrible when they come in to retrieve their vehicle, so who really is getting the bad end of the deal? The office staff who has to deal with some pissed off customer, mad that they got their car towed from an ILLEGAL parking spot. And now onto the care of the towed vehicle and some claims I have read of people saying their vehicle was damaged. I highly, highly doubt, based on my career at Klaus', that your vehicle had any damage. The standards that Klaus hold for his drivers in handling these vehicles is second to none. He treats them as his own and will not tolerate anything less. If you drive an all wheel drive, it will be picked up on dollies. If its a low profile vehicle, the flatbed will come out to retrieve the unit. I can assure you behind the big gate, nothing criminal goes on there. And I too myself had to air up tires, or jump, or even tow a persons car out of our lot as their car wouldn't start. It's all about attitude. If you go in there acting a fool, being rude to the front desk girl and his wife, then yes, watch your ###, Klaus don't take lightly to that. However, if your a soldier with hardly money and made a bad decision on where you park, but you talk with respect to the office staff and to Klaus himself, I have seen him cut breaks. Look at their facility, what they have invested into their equipment, and drivers and property, and you will see they are fully abiding by any state law and city regulations... Thanks, Gareth

I Sergio also got my car towed from palacio view. Western terrace appts.. I forgot to put my permit on and my car got towed.. yes I was pissed and everybody was wrong expect me at the time. We are only human people but Kluas towing didn't become as big as they are by scaming people. Rules are rules! Use your permit. Park right and they won't touch your car. Everybody gets pissed when our car gets towed but they are just doing there job. Sergio C.

AGREE: KLAUS YOU ARE LYING CONARTISTS. I GOT YOU ###! Don't think I didn't look up the State Department of Regulatory agencies and find out all the LIES you tell. Don't think I'm not reporting you to the commissioner. You messed with the WRONG person. IRS, COMMISSIONER, BBB and everyone else, this girl is reporting YOU to EVERYONE! NICE JOB RIPPING PEOPLE OFF LOSERS, and I have that receipt we DEMANDED from you to prove it. Did you mention to your OTHER customers that YOU are the LOT owners? Yeah, easy bucks when you own the dam lots. And while a person may OWN the lot, keep in mind, if it's a business, and no signs exist that prohibit parking, any REASONABLE person is allowed to park there. You also violated my CONSTITUTIONAL rights to practice my OWN religion when you preached to us! Weird people! WE GOT YOU THIS TIME!

It is obvious that Klaus Towing has a racket going and they can call it legal all day long but when so many citizens are angry at a single company something is wrong. Is Klaus Towing willing to make public their financial records? Does Klaus Towing pay "kick backs" to property owners, managers and/or maintenance workers who call the company to alert them of a vehicle they can tow? How does Klaus Towing justify the enormous cost of their tow service when an average tow costs less than $100.00? A vehicle in an abandoned or vacant lot at night is of no harm to anyone. I know of an instance where Klaus Towing towed a vehicle from an apartment parking lot, not visible from the street, and parked in the owner's assigned space because the sticker was expired. The almost $300.00 fee that was charged is extortion and does nothing but create hardship for those who are struggling in these hard economic times. Those who cannot pay, do they lose their vehicle? I cannot fathom how anyone could sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror while engaged in a business like Klaus Towing. One would have to be a sociopath to do this to their fellow humans. I was raised Christian and I am far from perfect but I do things for people every day for no money or praise but only because it is the right thing to do. I will pray for Klaus Towing in the form of contacting my representatives in Denver as they do work for us and are accountable. The PUC is just as guilty since they allow these practices to happen so they will furn a deaf ear I am sure. Of course, I say to the person who praised Klaus towing on having the best equipment, any idiot can figure out why that would be so. This is America and we have the right to speak out so after you are done on this website go to a search and find out how to contact your representatives. It should take a couple of minutes and be persistent, do not stop until this travesty is rectified. You might want to also look for a song written by the late Steve Goodman called "The Lincoln Park Pirates" about a towing company in Chicago!

@BOBWYMAN- DUDE, they OWN quite a few of the lots. They ARE the owners . How else do you think they 'know' they need to tow someone and then arrive within minutes? Most workers don't bother with stuff unless they see the car parked for more than a couple hours or overnight. ESPECIALLY if someone goes in and says "Hey I broke down, someone's on the way" Who would bother calling on the owner of the car unless...THEY ARE THE OWNERS or work for them?! Seriously, they are scam artists and we're going to the media with it. If you guys would like to come with us, click my user name and send me an email. We have pictures of the lack of signs. They think they're slick, but they violated at least 3 rules in MY case alone. Let's see how many rules they violated in your guys' cases! I was raised Christian too, but you know they violated my RIGHTS by trying to preach Jesus to me and tell us how to raise our kids. YOU DON'T DO THAT in business! RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION! They don't know my religion nor whether or not I even believed, and it wasn't I who said anything about it, THEY brought it up! Then they proceeded to INSULT us. Yeah, crazy lady was the one who brought up the religious preachy stuff. She was told in no uncertain terms that this is a HUGE violation of my civil rights. Person who praised Klaus WAS Klaus under a fake user ID, obviously. EVERYONE else, even repair shops around town, the cops in Fountain, CO and some in Springs CANNOT STAND THESE LOSERS!

And our car was not illegally parked. We were in a space in front of a salon, that was OPEN ( a business). We had PERMISSION to leave the vehicle there after it broke down by the person who was working the shop until our tow guy arrived. Now, KLAUS wants to say that the lady who gave us permission didn't give us permission and said they never spoke to her, but then said that the lady told them that she never spoke to us. BS because then the crazy lady preacher also admitted she DID indeed not only speak to the lady but then slipped up and said "even if she gave you permission, I own the lot" I told her that we're not mind readers and would NEVER suspect that the salon owner was also the tow company owner, and that this information in it of itself is very suspicious, & that nothing indicated we couldn't park there...not only that, it was AN EMERGENCY, not a situation where we even wanted to be in that lot... and the lady giving permission had already tried to call the landlords and got no response so told us it'd be ok for this situation. The worker also knew we had arrangements made and told KLAUS(AKA salon owner) this, but KLAUS tries to deny this and said that WE told her we WOULD NOT be picking up the vehicle til late that night, but that was NEVER said to anyone. We said we had someone coming to get it and that they'd be there WITHIN a couple hours. No sooner do we leave the lot to take care of a couple things, the tow truck is there (according to the worker and a couple other witnesses). When my husband goes back to check on the vehicle, notices it's missing. We find out the repair guy DOES NOT have the vehicle. We're looking for it. The salon owners ALSO Klaus Towing owners tell us they don't know where it is! With the threat of cops, they finally reveal THEY towed the car. They refuse to tell us WHERE they just say it'll be over $200 to get it back. When we PAID them they tried to refuse to release the car too! They demanded cash only. We had a credit card. The STATE says ALL tow companies MUST give credit card options effective 09/1/12 and they FAILED to do that, which was violation #1. . Violation 2. they charged us $9 more than the MAXIMUM as allowable by law. Violation 3. They lied and told us that the MINIMUM allowable by law is $169 for a private lot. NO SUCH LAW, folks. 4. They own the lots, this is a HUGE conflict of interest and the law does address that. I'm having the lawyer interpret for me because while I'm GOOD, I'm not a lawyer. 5. They started talking religion. BIG mistake . 6. They stole our money and refused to refund 7. We submitted to our insurance company for reimbursement and we're letting them join in subrogation to collect their moneys, and they're assisting us ALSO with launching an investigation. 8. We had to DEMAND a receipt. Think about all the people who DO NOT get a receipt because they forget to ask and aren't offered one! They are scam artists and this is why we're blowing up this whole thing. Additionally, I took the reviews from here, PRINTED to show how these people insult people "Oh Ye of Little intelligence?" REALLY? No WONDER you get yelled at. You cannot insult people when you run a business. You don't like your review, but saying insulting things to people? Seriously? WHO ARE YOU TO PREACH TO ANYONE? These people are weird and have some serious issues running their business. Well, now they're going to have everyone looking into their records and MORE.

You were not a customer of the salon lot, they don't have to do you any favors, For a towing company to tow a ride there should have been signs in the lot. Then you should have got written permission from the owner of the salon business or lot, not just told an employee "hey my car broke down, my tow truck will be there in a few hours to pick up the car." Honestly, your repair guy should have beat the salon's towing company there, if he would have been called in time. Your car was a liability being broke down in their lot and the owners had the right to remove it..

The proper way would have been to wait in your vehicle for the your tow truck to arrive. That way they can't tow it and it would have not been abandon. If there was a real emergency, you would have mentioned what the emergency was in your complaint. I'm sure you are "really" getting a lawyer, because it will be your money going down the drain over a $169 fee, Lastly there is no rule that a business has to be nice to you. The only people a towing company should be polite to is their clients. You are not a customer or client, you are a violator that was towed from a private lot. Just like a police officer doesn't have to be nice to a criminal or someone breaking the law.

I live in an apartment complex where they sneak in at night and have a tow-a-thon without any written permission. My landlord contends that they are an invited guest and do what she authorizes then to do. I was told by my landlord that I cannot harass them or I will be evicted. What they do is not not within the guidelines of Colorado Laws and is illegal. We need to address this issue withe Colorado DORA. Please read the law tow drivers: Code of Colorado Regulations
A towing carrier shall not tow any motor vehicle unless one of the following conditions is met:
(A) The towing carrier is directed to perform a tow by a law enforcement officer;
(B) The towing carrier is requested to perform a tow by the owner, authorized operator,
or authorized agent of the owner of a motor vehicle; or
(C) The towing carrier is requested to perform a tow from private property upon the
authorization of the property owner.
(II) Property owner authorization. The authorization from the property owner shall be in writing;
shall identify, by make and license plate number (or in lieu thereof, by vehicle
identification number), the motor vehicle to be towed; and shall include the date, time,
and place of removal.
(A) The authorization shall be filled out in full, signed by the property owner, and given to
the towing carrier at the time the motor vehicle is to be removed from the private
property.
(B) A towing carrier shall not accept or use blank authorizations pre-signed by the
property owner.
(C) A towing carrier shall make the written authorization available for inspection by the
owner of the towed motor vehicle or his or her authorized representative.
(D) The written authorization may be incorporated with the tow record/invoice required
by rule 6517
What they do is criminal according to Colorado Towing Carrier Rules. From what I understand the owner also owns 4 other towing business and he did not know that Klaus was conducting themselves this way. A girl came to me and wanted footage from my camera that was on my patio, hence it was deemed harassment to her duly invited guests. The Colorado Attorneys General should look at this conduct.
You are illegally towing vehicles. Please STOP!

Klaus Towing advertises $150 admin fee specifically for the purpose of notifying owners, courts and others (as required by law) after vehicle has been left for 48-hours. I have been towed twice in the last six months by Klaus and the total charge for my vehicle left for 4-days was $530 and most recently $470 after 3-days and neither time was notified by mail, phone or otherwise but in actuality I reached out to them. I questioned the policy the most recent time and was told “...the fee is still applicable” which leads me to believe the lack or absence of filing not to mention the inflated price to do so.

Charging ppl $45 dollars to air a tire up is a scam.

Just towed by klaus towing from my own home where I have lived for over a year. To make it worst it was from my assigned parking spot 30 minutes after I parked! Reached out and was disrespected, treated like trash then told I can get an uber and pay 220 for my vehicle that was wrongfuly towed from MY PLACE WHERE I LIVE AND PAY TO LIVE! Klaus towing is a fraudulent company and doesn't care for law and regulations set by standards in Colorado. Read any of their reviews on Google and you will see hundreds of fraudulent tows they have committed or tried to commit from illegally towing peoples cars.