Misleading Conduct

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against a towing and recovery company, First Help, for what we believe to be deceptive and unfair business practices that took place on 23 September 2025, following a motor vehicle accident in Pretoria. Immediately after the incident, while we were in a state of trauma, we were approached by an individual named Dillon, who identified himself as a representative of First Help. He claimed to know our regular panelbeater and offered to assist by towing our bakkie to his yard and then arrange for it to be moved to our panelbeater. We accepted on the understanding that this would be a short-term, local tow. However, what was not disclosed to us — and what we only discovered afterwards — was that First Help's yard is located in Kempton Park, which is entirely illogical and uneconomical given the accident occurred in Pretoria and our panelbeater is also located in Pretoria. We only managed to reach Dillon on 25 September (as 24 September was a public holiday), and during that call, he insisted that he had told us about the Kempton Park location. If this were true, we would never have agreed to the tow — it is simply irrational to move a vehicle from Pretoria to Kempton Park, only to have it towed back to Pretoria at a later stage. Who would reasonably consent to that? We were later issued a large invoice for the towing service — which we believe was inflated as a result of this unnecessary and undisclosed detour. We do not have insurance, and this added financial burden is severe and, in our view, avoidable had First Help been transparent. We believe that: •First Help exploited our vulnerability at the scene of the accident; •Dillon misrepresented or withheld key information that would have changed our decision; •The conduct amounts to misleading commercial behaviour, taking advantage of consumers in distress;

This makes one wonder is this practice maybe part of a broader pattern int the name of making money? Why was Dillon working in Pretoria and not in Kempton where is company's yard is based?

When I spoke to and administrative representative she rep**** back with a very small discount barely making a difference on the financial burden First Help put us in. We insist on at least 50% or more discount because that is what a local tow in Pretoria would have cost us. Not the exorbitant amount we were invoiced.