Outrage Builds with Pat’s Towing
Thursday, March 08, 2012
City officials say they are reviewing Pat’s Service Center Towing’s $170,000, five-year towing contract, but are waiting to see the outcome of legal charges before determining whether to take action.
The city’s reluctance comes even as AAA has suspended its contract with the towing company and the Better Business Bureau of Central Massachusetts has handed Pat’s Service Center an F for failing to respond to several customer complaints.
“Everyone has done everything to me except run me over,” he said.
But Santa-Maria’s claims come amid a growing pile of complaints from former customers and criminal charges against former employees, including his own son. Patsy Santa-Maria Jr. faces an array of assault charges stemming from a beating that allegedly took place on Dec. 13 at Pat’s Service Center, located at 5 Shrewsbury St., according to police. Three other former Pat’s employees face charges related to another alleged beating that took place at the station in 2009.
AAA Suspension
Albert Lloyd, a spokesman AAA contends it has decided stop using Pat’s towing services as the criminal proceedings play out.
Lloyd said it is very rare for AAA to suspend a towing contractor, with safety being a top concern. "We never want to dispatch a call where the safety of our members could be jeopardized,” Lloyd said. “We have several measures to rate a towing contractor. It is very rare to suspend a contract."
"Pat's is a substantial partner in the Worcester market," he added.
More than 60 Complaints Posted to Facebook
Along with the allegations of beatings, Pat’s faces an avalanche of complaints and comments from angry customers and city residents. A Facebook query seeking input about Pat’s towing by GoLocalWorcester was deluged with dozens of complaints in less than ten minutes.
The issue was not so much the volume of the complaints, but that there was no response. “The fact they did not respond would trigger that F a lot sooner than the volume,” said Nancy Cahalen, president of the Better Business Bureau of Central Massachusetts. Santa-Maria, however, contends he was never contacted by the BBB.
City Can't Take Action
And as far as customer service goes, stranded motorists can always count on finding someone answering the phones at Pats, even at 3 a.m., he argued. Christina Andreoli, a spokeswoman for City Manager Michael O’Brien, called the allegations of beatings “shocking and disturbing.” But she argued that since the assaults did not take place while Pat’s was performing its towing duties, it can’t take action until the courts take action.
“Due process has to take place. If these allegations are proven true, we will exercise all options available to the City, including termination of the contract,” Andreoli said, in a statement. “If this was a city tow or something that was directly related to the contract, we would be able to exercise these options in a shorter period of time.”
Still, at least one city councilor is pressing for more immediate action. City Councilor George Russell said the Pat’s case is all the talk at the coffee shops and events he has been to over the past few weeks.
Russell wants city officials to explore criminal background checks on employees at towing companies and a broad range of other contractors doing business with city. While he supports legal reforms aimed at trying to let former offenders reenter society, he also argues the public should not have to worry that a tow truck driver has criminal background. “By the same token, we need to draw the line,” Russell said.
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