The family of Sam Gcingca is definetely grateful that he survived a horrific accident on December 20 after a bus driver hit his VW golf.
The family of Sam Gcingca is definetely grateful that he survived a horrific accident on December 20 after a bus driver hit his VW golf.
Gcinga says the bus driver admitted that he was negligent and agreed to repair the damages to the vehicle.
Gcingca says he thought he was equally lucky when a tow truck belonging to Southsite Towing came to his rescue immediately after the accident.
But this was the beginning of his woes.
Instead of towing his car to his house as agreed, it was towed to Blue Chip Towing and Recoveries at 7 De Vos Street in Langlaagte, Johannesburg.
Gcinga says parts were stripped from his car, and the towing company admits this is so.
Blue Chip Towing want Ngcingca to pay R8300 for storage, administration and security fees, even though they did not get authorisation, says Gcingca.
He says Southsite Towing did not want to take responsibility, stating that its employee, Regan Leong, has left the company.
Ngcingca traced Leong to his new employer, Tifflings Towing.
He says Leong has refused to help him get his car back from Blue Chip.
Joe Martin, a spokesman for Blue Chip, has admitted that the car had been stripped and said the parts would be replaced after Ggcingca paid the rental fees, which he says have escalated to R10000 because Blue Chip charges R250 a day.
Ggingca says that at the accident scene, he instructed Leong to tow his vehicle to his house in Orlando, Soweto.
He accompanied the bus driver to the police station while his son Lawrence and Leong would tow the car home.
But his son was tricked into signing a Blue Chip invoice with a letterhead.
"Leong said he did not have his invoice book with him and had to call a colleague who towed the car to their workshop," said Lawrence Gcingca.
He said he thought the car would be towed to Southsite as was agreed between his father and Leong.
Traumatised by the accident, Gcingca's son signed the Blue Chip invoice and only realised later that his consent was not properly acquired.
The car had already been towed away, but Leong assured him that there would be no problem recovering it the next morning because he would accompany him to reclaim it.
But the next day, Leong was nowhere to be found, said an upset Lawrence Gcingca.
He went to Blue Chip and a security guard told him that the company had closed for the festive season and would only reopen in January.
Gcingca claims that Leong was in cahoots with Blue Chip employees and had no intention of releasing his car, but to milk him instead.
"Leong knew that Blue Chip was closed for the holidays when they took my car in and that I would not get it until the company had collected a lump sum in daily rentals by January 8," says Gcingca.
Martin said the company was closed when the car was taken in on December 20, but he denied that Gcingca was tricked into signing an invoice.
He said Gcingca knew that Blue Chip was closed for the December holidays, yet left his car in their care.
"If he wanted his car, he should have notified my security guard who would have called me to release it, but he did not do that," said Martin.
Sowetan discovered that Blue Chip is not registered with the registrar of companies.
We could also not get comment from Leong because Southsite Towing said Leong had absconded and they had found their tow truck deserted at the scene where Gcingca had the accident.
Malcolm (who did not want to give his surname) of Southsite promised to give a formal response later, but he had not done so by the time of publication.
Tifflings Towing's manager (who introduced himself as Grant and refused to give his surname) said he would ensure that Leong responds to all the allegations.
But Grant had also not honoured his word by the time we went to press.
Dragged around
The family of Sam Gcingca is definetely grateful that he survived a horrific accident on December 20 after a bus driver hit his VW golf.
The family of Sam Gcingca is definetely grateful that he survived a horrific accident on December 20 after a bus driver hit his VW golf.
Gcinga says the bus driver admitted that he was negligent and agreed to repair the damages to the vehicle.
Gcingca says he thought he was equally lucky when a tow truck belonging to Southsite Towing came to his rescue immediately after the accident.
But this was the beginning of his woes.
Instead of towing his car to his house as agreed, it was towed to Blue Chip Towing and Recoveries at 7 De Vos Street in Langlaagte, Johannesburg.
Gcinga says parts were stripped from his car, and the towing company admits this is so.
Blue Chip Towing want Ngcingca to pay R8300 for storage, administration and security fees, even though they did not get authorisation, says Gcingca.
He says Southsite Towing did not want to take responsibility, stating that its employee, Regan Leong, has left the company.
Ngcingca traced Leong to his new employer, Tifflings Towing.
He says Leong has refused to help him get his car back from Blue Chip.
Joe Martin, a spokesman for Blue Chip, has admitted that the car had been stripped and said the parts would be replaced after Ggcingca paid the rental fees, which he says have escalated to R10000 because Blue Chip charges R250 a day.
Ggingca says that at the accident scene, he instructed Leong to tow his vehicle to his house in Orlando, Soweto.
He accompanied the bus driver to the police station while his son Lawrence and Leong would tow the car home.
But his son was tricked into signing a Blue Chip invoice with a letterhead.
"Leong said he did not have his invoice book with him and had to call a colleague who towed the car to their workshop," said Lawrence Gcingca.
He said he thought the car would be towed to Southsite as was agreed between his father and Leong.
Traumatised by the accident, Gcingca's son signed the Blue Chip invoice and only realised later that his consent was not properly acquired.
The car had already been towed away, but Leong assured him that there would be no problem recovering it the next morning because he would accompany him to reclaim it.
But the next day, Leong was nowhere to be found, said an upset Lawrence Gcingca.
He went to Blue Chip and a security guard told him that the company had closed for the festive season and would only reopen in January.
Gcingca claims that Leong was in cahoots with Blue Chip employees and had no intention of releasing his car, but to milk him instead.
"Leong knew that Blue Chip was closed for the holidays when they took my car in and that I would not get it until the company had collected a lump sum in daily rentals by January 8," says Gcingca.
Martin said the company was closed when the car was taken in on December 20, but he denied that Gcingca was tricked into signing an invoice.
He said Gcingca knew that Blue Chip was closed for the December holidays, yet left his car in their care.
"If he wanted his car, he should have notified my security guard who would have called me to release it, but he did not do that," said Martin.
Sowetan discovered that Blue Chip is not registered with the registrar of companies.
We could also not get comment from Leong because Southsite Towing said Leong had absconded and they had found their tow truck deserted at the scene where Gcingca had the accident.
Malcolm (who did not want to give his surname) of Southsite promised to give a formal response later, but he had not done so by the time of publication.
Tifflings Towing's manager (who introduced himself as Grant and refused to give his surname) said he would ensure that Leong responds to all the allegations.
But Grant had also not honoured his word by the time we went to press.