A small North Carolina trucking company says the price of their tow doubled after their driver warned others to move. 

Back in May, a truck driver was early to a delivery,, so he parked along West Pointe Drive in west Charlotte, North Carolina to wait for his delivery window. West Pointe Drive has prominently displayed ‘no parking’ signs, but the driver stayed with his semi truck, and thought that he could get away with staying there for a bit. 

“He did see that it was at a private towing area,” said Lisa, whose family owns the small trucking company that employed the parked driver. “Since he thought it was just a short time that he was going to be there, probably a few minutes, he didn’t really think that there would be any towing.”

Soon, Ingram’s Towing and Recovery hooked up to the semi truck and said it would be $3,000 to drop it. The truck driver refused to pay and tried to drive it off the lift, but eventually called Lisa, who came to the scene, reported WSOCTV.

As Lisa negotiated with the tow truck driver, first for $3,000 and then for $6,000, the truck driver walked up to at least five other semi trucks and warned others to move their rigs to avoid the situation that he was in. The other drivers soon left, so the tow company raised the bill to $12,000 to compensate for the lost business they say was caused by the driver’s warning. 

“I feel nauseous,” Lisa said. “I was … We could not sleep that night.”

The signs posted along West Pointe Drive state that semi trucks may be charged up to $15,000 for parking illegally. North Carolina is currently considering implementing more strict rules for tow companies. That bill is still in committee.