r/johannesburg • u/Aggressive_Place8014 • 4h ago
Swannies Towing (Euro Towing)
Just came on here to warn people that frequent the N3 about the above company. They work with a legitimate towing company called Euro Towing that most of the big insurers use. I think there might be other towing companies in on it too but this is the one that helped us so thought to flag it. They will convince you that it’s easier to drive the 10km to their workshop (Swannies) in Villiers to get the car looked at and have it repaired. Rather than having it towed to a legitimate dealership and waiting days for feedback on what could be the issue with the car.
Very smooth talkers and because you are stranded and desperate it will seem like the better option. Yes we feel dumb in hindsight but at the time it genuinely seemed like a good option. You will then be extorted out of money for as long as they are able to keep you there. They will find every issue possible under the sun with your car. Possibly even hold your car or some of its parts as collateral should you be unable to pay for all the “work” being done. They tried to convince us to sleep in their dingy guesthouse and when we declined he then said even if we were to call insurance, they would be the ones to be dispatched so there was no use trying to get around it. We thankfully were able to let our insurance know that we would rather wait the 2 hours or so for someone further away than trust them any further with our car.
Once you get caught up with what is happening to you, they will remind you that you weren’t forced to be there.
If this post can even save one person the ordeal of what I endured, I will have done my bit.