Boston man’s rental car repossessed without notice due to ‘incorrect tow’

NEWARK, N.J. — It wasn’t the trip back home Tarikh Campbell had envisioned. The 33-year-old who currently lives in East Boston was staying at his family’s home in Teaneck, N.J. when the white Toyota Camry he had rented from Avis disappeared off the quiet, suburban street.

Although he hadn’t received any tickets or violations, he thought the car might have been towed. Police, however, confirmed there had been no impound order and instructed him to call Avis to see if they could track the vehicle by GPS.

Avis told Campbell they could not track the car, Campbell said, and told him to file a police report, which he did.

“It was scary because I thought that maybe the car had been stolen,” Campbell said. “I was told I would be liable for the vehicle if it never came back, the cost associated with its loss of use, administrative costs and such. So, I was pretty freaked out about that.”

Campbell got a few hours of sleep, took a Lyft back to Newark Liberty International Airport, turned in his keys and flew home to Boston. Suddenly, it occurred to him to check the toll activity on his own E-ZPass transponder that had been in the rental car. The log showed immediately after disappearing, the rental car went back to the exit at the Newark airport where Campbell had checked out the car.

“That was the first piece of evidence or clue we got,” Campbell said. “It was almost too coincidental, if it was stolen, that the thief would drive it back to where the car came from. That’s bad on the thief.”

Then, surveillance video from his family’s Newark street showed a tow truck picking up the car. About the same time – 90 minutes after Campbell had arrived home in Boston – the Avis app showed the rental car had been returned. It was clear: the company had had the car towed. But why?

Campbell tried calling the company for days and was given an out-of-service number for an Avis-Budget representative, he said. He finally turned to social media, detailing his “amateur detective work” on Twitter.

The “traveler beware” thread got Avis-Budget’s attention – and Campbell a refund.

“Within, like, a day, it had over a million or two million impressions and thousands of retweets. And I think it just struck a nerve with a lot of people,” Campbell said. “I definitely credit social media and all the folks who echoed what I was talking about on social media. I credit Avis for finally stepping up and reaching out to address this issue.”

A representative for Avis-Budget Group told Boston 25 News its investigation found “there was an incorrect tow triggered by an administrative error on a previous rental.”

The company apologized to Campbell and issued him a refund and a coupon for future use, as well as reimbursement for costs incurred, including the $50 Lyft he needed.

“Mistaken tows occur infrequently but we are taking steps to prevent situations like this from occurring at all in the future,” the representative said.

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