On the first snowy day this year, Mylea Howard got into an accident on her way home from work.
The 18-year-old was driving with her mother southbound on I-29 approaching the North Oak exit when she skidded into another car.
"I did a complete 180 and my passenger side door, where my mom is we sitting, hit their passenger truck," Howard said.
It was a wreck involving three cars, two of which crashed before hers.
According to Howard, the first to arrive on scene was a truck from Good Times Tow LLC.
"I've never been in an accident before and I was like, 'OK, cool,’” she said. “I thought he was trying to be a nice guy, trying to help me out. I really had no idea it would amount to this.”
Howard said the company offered to tow her car to a nearby auto body shop in Riverside, no more than four miles away. 41 Action News confirmed the distance by driving from where the accident happened to where the car was towed.
But the bill, Howard was told, totaled $1,072.
"That's the price of a new car for me,” she said. “I've been without a car for a month and I can't afford that.”
Howard tried to get a receipt for the tow and a breakdown of the bill. She called he company five times and either got no answer or was told no one was at the office to help.
41 Action news called the company twice. The manager said he "would not comment."
This isn't the first time 41 Action News has questioned the company about prices. More than two years ago, Good Times Tow charged 86-year-old Margaret James $913 for a five-mile tow.
The Missouri Attorney General's Office says it has only received two complaints against Good Times Tow - one complaint from 2013 concerning the price the business charged, and one from 1994 concerning being charged for storage.
Within Kansas City limits, it is illegal for a tow company to solicit business without being called.
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