Pimping for towies a fast way to make a buck

The bank statement showing Vehicle Recovery Group paid for a tip-off that a vehicle was parked in a private parking area. Photo / Richard Robinson

The tow companies may have denied it, but readers have told the Herald more tales of people being paid as "spotters" for illegally parked cars.

One Newmarket business owner came forward with a bank statement showing that Vehicle Recovery Group paid $25 last May after colleagues called in a job.

VRG was patrolling the building's carparks on behalf of another tenant, the man said, and it was the only time his office had a vehicle towed.

"We don't pay them for patrolling the parks, but if we ring them to get a car removed then they pay us $25."

And the former owner of a business in the Courtside building in Albany said that three years ago, a VRG towie offered him and other tenants the chance to be paid as spotters.

Another man said a towie asked him and other tenants of his North Shore office building to act as paid spotters, and another was surprised to receive a cheque in the mail after calling in a job.

VRG chief Craig Burrows said he was unaware of any commission being paid into the bank accounts of people who called in tow jobs, and doubted that it had happened.

"Why would we give them $25? ... People don't call us on that basis. They call us to remove the car because it needs removing, not because they're trying to make money."

Asked if he was denying his company ever paid spotters, he said: "I'm not saying anything. I'm not giving you any comments, because it's just getting out of control."

Mr Burrows said the Herald's publication of the claims and of his decision to refund Auckland lawyer Dan Dwyer a $230 tow fee would push up the cost of being towed.

"We've got a business to run. We can't run at a loss. Can you imagine? We're going to have every Tom, Dick and Harry ringing up and saying, 'Hey, I want $100 to tow a car away'.

"How we spend our money, and who we give our sponsorship to, and who we employ and who we don't employ, is our business like it is any other business," Mr Burrows said.

Auckland Towing director Antony Ashford said he had been told that one recently established firm was offering kickbacks. "I think it's to build their business up. It's just what I heard."

Two former employees of towing firms have told the Herald of kick-backs to spotters.

"There was an apartment block near the Foodtown in Customs St, and there were a couple of guys in there that made sure the towies were looked after," said one.

Another said he saw kickbacks being paid to a petrol station manager.

TOW-TRUCK TROUBLES
* Landowners have the right to remove illegally parked vehicles from their property.
* But Consumer Affairs spokesman Alastair Stewart says it is illegal for landowners to profit from doing so.
* "If a commission was paid to the landowner, this could be deemed a profit and beyond the reasonable costs of rectifying a contractual breach of trespass."