DAVENPORT, Fla. (WFLA) – It was a tow truck service that went horribly wrong. Sandi and Ron Solsky ended up stranded in a campground with an RV so damaged they couldn’t drive it home to Connecticut.
They love RV life and the memories they’ve made traveling the country with friends. But on Jan. 3, on their way to Tampa Bay, the alternator died and the RV had to be towed. Moments after it arrived at a mechanic, they got a call from the tow truck driver.
“He said, ‘I messed up, you need to come back,'” Sandi Solsky said.
They ended up with an estimate for $17,000 in damage after the front end was torn off, exposing wires.
The couple had to pay nearly $1,000 to tow the now-damaged RV to their Davenport campsite. They can’t leave Florida until it’s fixed and they say officials at the tow truck and insurance companies gave them the runaround.
“I said, ‘It’s a home and you damaged my home and you need to fix everything, and you need to put us somewhere,'” Sandi Slosky said. “And he said, ‘well, let me talk to my boss and I’ll get back to you.’ Never heard from them again.”
So she knew she’d Better Call Behnken to get answers. I started with AAA, the company they called to arrange the tow service.
AAA tells me it was a contracted third-party towing company from Volusia County that damaged the RV and that company is responsible for fixing it. A spokesman said that when the couple filed a claim with their insurance company they had to stop mediating the claim and let the insurance company handle repairs. The insurance company will then seek reimbursement from the tow truck company.
AAA has now agreed to reimburse the couple for the tow back to the campsite and for their deductible. AAA also agreed to pay for lodging if they are unable to live in the RV during repairs.
The couple’s auto insurance also stepped up and agreed to arrange for repairs to start onsite this weekend. The job is expected to take a couple of weeks.
