City of Chicago Central Auto Pound

My car was towed today - my fault for not paying attention to the no parking / tow zone sign that was put up on my street. However, I called them, gave them my plate, and was told they didnt have it and my car must have been stolen and to file a police report. The police were able to see that they had inputted the wrong license plate into the system and that my car was towed and relocated to a random parking lot in the city (which I could have found had my plate number been inputted correctly). For future - maybe give them you make / model just in case this happens to you too!

How is this legal to operate? Company tows cars illegally left and right and we can not do anything about it . Got to my car exactly at 10:58 and was shaken by how deserted the whole st was I thought I was in the wrong place. I took a video exactly at 10:58 of where my car would have been . I walked up and down trying to find it thinking maybe I didn’t park where I thought I parked. I got to the impound by 11:19pm and they told me cars start being towed by 11pm . BULLSHIT I had a video of the street at 10:58 and there was not a single car or a single soul there meaning they had to start towing WAY before . They won’t let you contest , just keep brushing you off to look at your receipt later and follow the steps to fight the charges later . I am visiting Chicago and it was a rental so that’s just never going to happen. The fact that police can’t help you or anyone is insane . They literally can charge whatever they want and you have to pay it otherwise they steal your car. This is the most insane thing that a company can legally operate like this and as society everyone just accepts it .

Car was towed on 11/3. I spoke to an officer where the vehicle was towed who told me to call 311. They had no record of my vehicle. I spoke to another officer who advised all cars were sent to this location. The officer suggested that I call the facility first to make sure. I called and confirmed they had it. Spent 10 minutes waiting and 30 minutes driving to get to this location only to be told they don’t have it. They’re now sending me to a different location on the other side of town which is closer to where the car was towed. The fact that I called and confirmed, spent time and money to travel here, and then told no go somewhere else is crazy.

The address says it 400 e lower Wacker but it is 500 e lower Wacker drive, which caused our lyft driver to drop off us at different spot. Got towed in a 15 min unloading/loading zone by hotel when we were getting our luggage even after valet staff tried to stop them. And still had to pay $175. And tow truck drivers get commission, which is systemically wrong and capitalistic.

It's just an Auto Pound, people in there are doing their job nothing special but what was annoying was trying to find the place. Maps tells you that it's on the street on Wacker but when you get there there's nothing. So to get there you go to St. Regis Chicago, ask the people who work there where the public elevator is, once you find it take the elevator down to LL5 and then once out you head towards North where Wacker would be and then turn right and the Auto Pound will be there.

Took my vehicle even though i came and was standing right there !!despicable company and city , something will happen to these careless clowns who do this while the individual is right there !!!

The people was good but I think something needs to be dead about city of Chicago towing

Our car was towed from a metered spot with no clear or obvious signage indicating towing enforcement. The “no parking” sign was printed on a small piece of white paper—nearly invisible when the entire block was filled with cars. The tow truck was going at it all day, towing one car after another from the same stretch. If that many cars are being towed from the same area, it’s clearly a trap — not a fair or transparent system. To make things worse, we were told the parking meter system and the towing company aren’t even connected. So even if you legally pay for parking, you can still get towed. In Seattle, you physically wouldn’t be allowed to pay for a spot that’s restricted — and no parking signs are posted clearly and visibly. Chicago needs to do better. This just feels like a setup to make money off of people who are trying to follow the rules. And then at the tow lot, the woman working there was extremely rude and unprofessional. I was already stressed about how unfair the situation was, and she couldn’t have cared less. Instead of offering clear help, she gave vague, lazy instructions and acted annoyed when I needed clarification. She should know better — if someone is dealing with a towed car, don’t expect them to do paperwork and decipher your poor communication at the same time. When my cousin politely asked her to be more respectful, she snapped “get out of my window” — even though he wasn’t even standing at her window. If you’re going to run a scammy system, at least don’t be rude on top of it. This whole experience — from the shady signage to the broken meter integration and unprofessional staff — is one of the biggest reasons why I don’t plan on ever coming back to Chicago. Other cities do better. Chicago should too.

I wish there were an option to leave zero stars. Unfortunately, this review will likely go ignored since it’s clear the City of Chicago doesn’t care about how its employees treat people. Out of the four employees who were “working,” only one even acknowledged me. The rest were either chatting among themselves or glued to their phones, completely ignoring my presence. When one woman finally decided to interact with me, she immediately threatened me with a charge that wasn’t even related to towing. She claimed I was required to purchase a Chicago city sticker to retrieve my car—even though my vehicle is legally registered in DuPage County. That is absolutely false and not legal. When I explained this to her, she laughed and told me I could “try again another day” if I didn’t want to pay, essentially holding my car hostage unless I bought the sticker. When I asked for her name, she refused to give it and wasn’t wearing any identification—clearly intentional. She knew exactly what she was doing, and I doubt I’m the only person who’s been treated this way. It’s practices like these that give Chicago such a terrible reputation. The people running this operation seem more focused on exploiting citizens when they’re most vulnerable than on providing any real service. It’s all about power, ego, and squeezing every last dollar and ounce of patience from you, just to get your car back.

I had a very helpful clerk and a really positive experience! Thanks for the helpful info and instructions, I really appreciate it!