Car breakdown recovery payment and law

Parsnip222

I had asked a recovery company to take my car to the local dealership. They took my card details over the phone for an initial £50 deposit. They arrived 2 hours later (they said within the hour) to take the car to the dealership. I contacted the company as was not happy with how long it was taking. On the way they to the dealership, they called and were abusive to me down the phone so I hung up on him. At the dealership they refused to release my car until I had paid, this is when they said it was £300. I was not happy and asked my wife to attend the dealers to talk to the company. She went to provide her card to pay the bill but was told it had to be cash or bank transfer. They already had the card details for the initial deposit so couldn't understand why we could not pay that way.
Despite constantly saying we would pay by card, they refused and took my car to their yard. They then phoned and said they are charging another £300 and £50 a day storage.
I had not refused to pay so feel this is unfair.
Is is right they can do that, what can I do to resolve it?

tacpot12

How much did the recovery company say it would cost to take your car to the dealership?

Are you saying that the dealership took responsiblity for charging you for the recovery of your car on behalf of the recovery company? I don't understand why they would do that, unless the recovery company has a business connection to the dealership. 

What did the dealer charge for their services? It's not uncommon for dealers to have a charge for 'storage', i.e. leaving you car with them while you consider whether you want to do any work our your car. 

It is also very common that dealers will not release your car until you have paid their charge in full - which you can dispute in court later if you need to. I've never heard of them refusing to release a car until you have paid your debt to another company. (There's no legal basis on which they could do so). 

Do you have home insurance, and if so, do you have legal Expenses Cover? If you have this cover, you can call the legal helpline provided by your insurer for help to sort this out.