Council asks staff to add customer‑complaint tracking to tow‑service procurement
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Summary
Council signaled support for adding a customer grievance process and objective complaint-tracking standards to a tow-service RFQ after staff described existing grounds for contract cancellation and scoring criteria.
City staff asked the council Sept. 10 to approve moving forward with an updated request for qualifications to qualify towing providers, while adding language to address a pattern of customer complaints about a particular company.
Staff explained that police-ordered tows and private-property tows are distinct, and that the police chief (or designee) has the authority under the existing contract to suspend or revoke tow privileges for cause. Staff and procurement staff recommended adding explicit complaint-tracking language to the RFQ and contract, and suggested objective standards for termination (for example, verified complaint thresholds) so the city could act when repeated customer complaints are validated.
Procurement staff noted customer-service history counts in the evaluation under a 15-point criterion (successful completion of similar service arrangements). Councilmember Reddy pressed staff to ensure complaint history is visible in the evaluation and to include a grievance process for customers regardless of whether the police or private property owner ordered the tow.
Why it matters: multiple council members said tow complaints are a recurring public concern; council asked staff to add clearer homeowner/customer complaint mechanisms and to track verified complaints as an element in contractor scoring and termination clauses.
Ending: Council approved staff's recommendation with the instruction to include complaint-tracking and grievance-process language in the RFQ and contract; staff said they would return with the revised procurement language.