A-1 Citywide Towing

Getting towed sucks. At least these guys were helpful and straightforward.

The drivers at A-​1 are so overzealous that they’re not even checking electronically paid tickets. Be very careful if you see this name. They illegally tolled my car after I paid through SpotHero. I had to wait in the freezing cold for a ride, go north of town from where I lived, wait more in the shivering cold to talk to the guy at the «office,» because it’s through a bulletproof window. After I informed him that parking was paid, he checked their records and validated that I was telling the truth, he suggested «don’t use SpotHero — use ParkWhiz,» because of how they show up in their system. There was no apology about their mistake nor did he make seem to believe that corrective action was needed. If they are allowed to charge $ 175 for unauthorized parking, I should be reimbursed $ 175 for unauthorized tolling!

They towed my car by mistake, but they get more than one star because they admitted to it right away and didn’t try to pull anything on me.
I parked with SpotHero and left my license plate number. I came back to find my car gone, so I called A-​1 Towing, whose number was listed on the sign at the parking lot. They said they had my car. I inquired why exactly they had my car because my reservation had not yet expired. They explained that the driver had made a mistake, told me to take a cab to them, and they would reimburse my cab and return my car.
I did as I was told. Towing companies have a bad reputation, so I had my phone ready to record my interaction at their facility. Sure enough, they took my ID and the cab receipt, gave me cash for the fare including the tip, and let me take possession of my car, which aside from being muddy, was not damaged.
I was pleased by their admitting their mistake and not trying to pull anything on me. They only get two stars, though, because they mistakenly towed my car in the first place. And they also never apologized.

This is my first post to Unilocal and everyone needs to read this. I parked my car on Clinton and Lake in the city of Chicago after paying the $ 10 fee and put the receipt on my dashboard. After a nice dinner and mingling with friends, I returned to the spot and my car was gone. Frantically, I looked for the car and it was nowhere to be found. I called the number on site for the towing company and low and behold, they had my car. I had to go to their office to pick it up.
We pulled up to the «office» of the towing company and sat out in the cold while talking to a woman through glass as she reiterated the same lines. There was no discussing and no reasoning for the fact that we had our receipt and proof even charged on our credit card statement. We paid a $ 175 fine just so I could get my car. Either that or be without a car even though I paid my parking ticket in full including having the receipt.
They wrote on my receipt that there was not a ticket and they checked twice. However they failed to mention the next few lines:
They went into my unlocked car and threw the parking ticket away
They stole over $ 15 in change out of my car
Stole left over food from a prominent steak house in the city
This place is a joke and a criminal enterprise. Next time anyone parks in one of their lots please double and triple check that you locked your doors. Unbelievable.

i actually didn’t park illegally. my car was towed after a car accident as i went to this hospital. i was called by someone who was surprisingly friendly and compassionate and told me when to come and pick up my personal belongings from the car. i couldn’t — because i was in the hospital, so my sister went instead. i wasn’t able to tell her everything that was in the car at the time, but was concerned specifically about the phone. of course the phone was missing and she had to raise hell and demand a manager when suddenly the truck driver appears and says he kept it with him «so no one would take it». bull-​ish. once things calmed down, i realized among my missing items were a bunch of cds, a brand new umbrella, a phone charger, iPass, parking permit and remote to the garage at work. i know no one chooses to use these businesses purposely, but just be forewarned about what to expect if your car is in their possession.

Towed my car from the CTA lot by Midway Airport. I paid and sent them a screen shot of my active PAID PARKING. The operator indicated they made no mistake but I could just come and pick the car up. Midway is located at 5500 South Cicero, and the towing company is at 2900 N California. I asked them to bring my car back, she said she didn’t have authorization to do that. I said send the tow truck driver back to give me a ride. She said she didn’t have authorization to do that. I paid $ 45 for a taxi to get me there. And finally I said I want my money back for the Taxi and she said she didn’t have authorization to do that.
I’m looking for an attorney who has experience either with dealing with this company or in illegal parking/​towing issues.
Please send me a message or email me at
Thank you

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! Saturday night my water pump went out in my car. A friend gave us the phone number for these guys and since it was from a friend we trusted we thought we would get good service. My car is All Wheel Drive and these guys decide to pull the car with the back end on the street resulting in major damage to axles/​transport case. Obviously realizing they broke my car these A**holes stop to put my car on the lift with dollys… the right way, and take a picture of it to «prove» they towed the correct way. Problem is that I have a picture and witness who seen the way the car left the original spot the wrong way PLUS the background in the picture is nowhere close to where they picked the car up. People obviously don’t realize you can do a goole image search proving the location where the pic was taken. I call the company and Jose basically tells me I’m an idiot and the damage already existed. Big difference between a water pump going out and a car that has wheels that don’t work. Anyway, They broke my car and when I called I wasn’t even asking for them to fix it I just wanted to know what happened and right away they were on the defense. There is no way its our fault and how do we know you didn’t damage your car and are blaming us!!! You broke my car Jose. I know you broke it and YOU KNOW you broke it. It’s too bad you would rather lie than just step up and be a real man and admit you made a mistake and we could have come to a nice solution. No hard feelings. But you’re a liar and dodge responsibility of the mistakes you make. We are human, humans make mistakes. You just made my shit list buddy. I’ll see ya in court and I can promise you I won’t let this drop. Good day Liar!
p. s. I’d give you negative Five stars if possible

Scum of the earth towing company. This company operates a major scam in Chicago (go figure). I was parked illegally (my fault), and was told that A-​1 had my car. I went to A-​1 and gave the «oh soooooo helpful» chain smoker at the window my car’s info. She told me that my car wasn’t there. So, I decided to walk around the building and check to make sure because something about this wonderful «lady» told me she wasn’t being honest. THERE WAS MY FREAKIN’ CAR!!! This company needs to be shut down.

I never received a call from management to find out why the do not monitor the lot, despite having left three messages with disbatcher #1077. The lot that A-​1 Citywide has signs placed in remains a lot where unauthorized cars continously park.
If you are a business that is looking for a tow company to keep your lot free of pesky cars who aren’t doing business with you, look elsewhere. These people don’t even bother calling you back.

I would give them 0 if I could !!
The scam company took my car even thought I’m paying monthly parking! When we called they said that there is no tag # that is supposed to be in the car. They double checked if the tag was on the seats or on the floor and said NO!
When I got there I had to insist to see my car because I new the tag had to be there! Finally they allowed me to see the car, and I went there with one of their guys and of course! The tag was there! It was sitting down by the seat! I took a picture of it but nobody wanted to listen and that didn’t mean anything for them! I ended up paying the fee in order to get my car back!
They are scam company!

5 Stars For A1 Citywide Towing — 1 Star for me.
I get one star for being stupid enough not to believe the signs that are posted telling the world that if you park here A1 may tow and impound your car. I ignored the signs and got towed to the tune of $ 200.00. Shame on me.
Was I angry at first? Sure I was, but after thinking about it, they were just doing their job.
But that is not why I am giving them 5 stars. I gave them 5 stars because when I went to A1 and paid the $ 200 I found that my cars engine was leaking oil like sieve. Chris the driver showed me the leak and reassured me they would take care of it and guess what? They did.
They took my car to a shop in Glenview where they had it repaired — I picked it up the next day. Regarding the damage, it turned out to be a crack in the oil pan which the shop fixed no questions asked.
We often read about these slimy tow companies and how they rip people off. I’m sure there are many like that — but A1 Citywide is not one of them.
I made a mistake for parking where I shouldn’t have — and things didn’t go quite right for A1 when towing my car. We both ponied up and took responsibility for our mutual errors.
In this day and age when everyone wants to duck responsibility and say not my problem man — A1 said it was their problem and did the right thing.
I wish I didn’t park where i did — and I’m sure A1 wished my car wasn’t damaged.
If I had to be towed — I’m glad it was A1 Citywide Towing.

!!! SCAM … Illegally towed my car from Rosemont CTA parking even thought I’ve paid parking fee and had the receipt with me. When I tried to explain, they won’t listen at all. Charged me $ 100 to release my car.

If I could give a negative 5 Stars I would. This so called towing service is a racket. They scam people out of their hard earned money. I parked at the Rosemont CTA station and paid for parking and I had the ticket (paid for the right stop, not an idiot) and got towed by this scam of a company. Oh they said you paid for the wrong stop but if you show us your ticket we will take 50 dollars off. I asked them to prove that the tow guy wasn’t scamming me which I already new, did you guys take a picture or anything of that matter, no says the dumb ass. The Chicago Transit Authority should be ashamed by using this scam of a company. This company is a scam and be careful parking at the train stations you never know when this A1 Towing is going to need some money. Enough said about this embarrassment and racket of a company!!!

If you are coming here for a review it probably is not in the best of circumstances. You never want to go back to your car and find that it is gone.
I parked my car at the CTA Rosemont station for the night and came back next morning and it was gone. I came to find out that I paid for the wrong parking spot. This required me to go all the way back to the city to this location on California. I explained what happened, showing the clerk my ticket and she said that they can only accept this mistake for one spot to the left and one to the right. As I was two spots off I was out of luck and out of $ 200.

It’s been 6 more months and nothing for these horrible people. There are obviously people giving fake 5 star reviews. Who in their right mind would give a towing company a 5 star review even if they were helpful?

Last week, I parked my car at 9:30 in the morning at the Rosemont CTA for the first time because I was going to meet up with friends in the area after school. Usually, I go to Cumberland but anyway when I first got there, it was really confusing to see where I should park. So I parked in 511 (at least I thought), paid for it at the kiosk and headed to school. Around 10:30, my friends went to the station to drop me off but my car wasn’t there. So I called A-​1 and to my surprise, they towed my car because I was in stall 512. I went there and showed them my ticket and they said the best thing they could do was take off $ 50 and pay $ 150. Basically, they robbed me without a gun.
The next morning, I called the manager, Therese, who was just a complete bitch. I didn’t even say a mean thing to her and she was just rude. When I told her if there was a number I can call to complaint, she said the numbers fast. I mean, what the hell did Sean B. give a really good review to these crooks? Did they hire him and told him to give the company five stars? I will say this again, A-​1 Citywide Towing are crooks and I cannot wait until the day their crooked activities are spilled. I wish nothing but this place bad luck and hope Therese chokes on whatever she has in her mouth, she deserves it.
Do these people just wake up one day and go «I want to work for a towing company.» These people are poorly educated, foul mouthed and lack anything from being human. Whenever I’ll see their tow trucks, I will salute it with my middle finger.

This place shouldn’t even get 1 star… I’m a restaurant manager and they towed 2 of my servers cars from our PRIVATE lot! Where they had no right to tow! And they still charge $ 200 a car to get the cars back. You bet they won’t be done hearing from us!

I was parked at the Harlem & Higgins CTA lot to help a friend with his bags (he was going to the airport and he insisted to take the «L» instead of me dropping him off) and not even 5 minutes later after I walked back my car was gone!
I thought someone stole that piece of shit car of mine. I called the cops to inform them my ride was stolen. They gave me option to send a car on the scene (30 minutes since it wasn’t an emergency) or to come in the station and file the report. I took option 2 since my brother came there after I called him (he could not believe someone actually stole the car within 100 feet of me).
When we arrived to the station and I gave the officer at the desk all my cars info she told me it was towed to A-​1. FUCK! Why would they tow it when the lot is almost empty? The officer gave me the number to A-​1, I called them up and the the broad on the phone told me that the vehicle was in a «private pay lot» and since I didn’t pay they had the right to tow the vehicle. Then she told me its $ 170 to get it out and she hung up.
Since when did the CTA become a «privately funded company»? Doesn’t the CTA get funded by our tax dollars. This is bullshit!
Now off to 2954 N California Ave. When I arrived and started arguing to the cunt behind the bullet proof glass, she basically ignored me and all she kept on saying if «if you want your car this evening it will be $ 170» over and over again.
No win, I needed my car for work in the morning and I could see my brother wanted to leave so I paid the fucking $ 170, when through there gate, got in my piece of shit and left.
I will be filing a complaint with the ICC and the CTA about these practices.