Lady on the phone was nice and patient with my questions. she also gave some directions that helped us find the place. drove around for an hour!! gps can’t find the location which is under all the ramps.if you’re lost try:- GPS to 400 East South Water Street (Drunken Bean coffee shop)- then drive to the stop sign and take a right.- next stop sign, take a right. and you’re there. look out for the big white sign that says “City of Chicago Central Auto Pound” under the bridge

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW--especially how to get here:1. Do not call the number provided on the website--no one will answer or if they do, you wont get full, reliable information.2. They only take cash--$175 is the base, an extra $25 per day that your car sits there.3. V IMPORTANT--if you are not the owner of your car and your license doesnt match the address of the owner of the car, you HAVE to get a notarized letter that states the owners name, who theyre giving authority to to pick up the car, car make, license plate, and VIN. It also has to be printed out. You dont want to take a chance on a worker telling you they wont print it out for you.4. If you were towed for your parking permit being expired, they will not let you pick up your car until youve gotten a new parking permit from city hall or anywhere else that gives them out.5. HOW TO GET THERE-- when you take the Grand Avenue exit from LSD south or north, head towards Lower Wacker and stay in the left lane. The first signal to turn left is Columbus Drive and youll see a small sign in red and white that says Auto Pound

Very Bad ...they tow cars from 10pm pretending it is a Tow zone ..its a Trap to get at least 175 $ or more each car ..i am ok if you break the law you have to pay ..but i disagree those traps like there is a paper sign thats someone took it ..no way sucking people blood specially Pandemic time🙈🙊🙉 Such a shame ..

Wish it could be easier to get to... But the people there actually were awesome. I wont say it was worth the trouble getting there, but they did soften the blow a little.

Towed my car even though I wasnt parked in a tow zone. It was very hard finding the impoundment lot.

As good as a tow place could be. Front desk staff were friendly but the security guard who let us out was not at all. Car was towed without any damage.

Ignorant and rude people down there. The company that is running the operation there for the city needs to be replaced! They’ve got no idea what they’re doing. And are completely incompetent. It ran better when the city ran things!

I was told my car was towed cause the sign displayed no parking mon-friday from 7am-4pm but the sign displayed was actually NO PARKING ON SCHOOL DAYS FROM 7AM-4PM, FUNNY PART SCHOOL IS NOT IN SESSION,TALKED TO TEACHERS AT THE SCHOOL AND THE INFORMED ME THAT SCHOOL STARTS BACK 3/9/21 THE CITY IS SO WRONG FOR THIS ON ALL LEVELS

Great place to walk to after your car gets towed...😪You can take the river walk right to it.

Can’t even find the place, probably designed that way to keep your car and make more money off of it. Took maybe 40 mins to find it, don’t even bother with gps but to get you in the area then you can look out for signs.

Place was impossible to find. The address they give does not make sense. There are some signs that are supposed to lead you to the place, but even those are not very clear. Off Columbus you take Water st. At the stop sign you take a right and keep going until you see it on your left

Why it was towed is a mystery to me as its a place where myself and others have parked tons of times without issue. Anyways, Im able to locate where my car is via an app so I knew it was here. I called in and the gentleman on the phone insisted the license plate # I was giving was wrong and my car was not at this location (I was reading it off a pic I have of my plate, so I knew the # was correct). I was told to call another location, who in turn, re-directed me back. This time around I gave the gentleman my VIN which in fact showed it was here. I then was yelled at saying I need to know my license plate number next time and he proceeded to read off the wrong license plate # they had associated with my car. I was right all along. Its painful enough dealing with getting the car towed, let alone trying to get it back. Once I found the place, the woman at the check-in desk was the saving grace; wish I got her name as she was extremely nice and welcoming. Other than that, the experience with the pound was miserable.

Its difficult to find. Its lower lower wacker drive. Our urber driver couldnt find it. If youre on foot you take the staircase at Columbus and wacker all the way down and walk east. Its underneath lower wacker where the river walk is. At the moment they only let 2 people in the structure and theres no waiting room. Theyre nice enough and we got our car back quick.

They wouldn’t release my car because I wasn’t the registered owner, but then said, if u pay cash, they would release the car, i only had my cc so, I walked to chase and grabbed the cash . And wel . Ya . Lame

Hi guys, check your car catalityc converter prior to pick up your towed car. Just phisically take a look under your car and check for potential welding places on the muffler.

To find this place, head to Columbus towards Illinois (if you are heading north) go towards randolph if you are heading south but turn on the ramp of e water street (before randolph), on Columbus dr and e water street there’s a ramp that takes you to the lowest level then make a right and go through all the construction site.Always check your car when picking it up and get your insurance involved if you find damage that was caused by the towing.

The lady didn’t know how to give directions and hung up the phone. The employees are very unprofessional and rude.

Bro, I straight up had a bad time getting extorted for money with my car held ransom. TOTAL SCAM

This is the worst place ever. staff are extremely rude and don’t want to help at all. don’t disclose all options to get your car back and don’t disclose all the full information you needed. another woman was trying to get her car back at the same time and they were extremely disrespectful. told her to “get away from my window” and walked to other staff to speak about her. you can tell they want to keep your car and make money off of auction. do even not treat people as human beings.

Just go in and talk nice to them. They deal with everyone in bad moods daily. Go pay at the cashier. Take your little slip to security. Hell/shell let the owner go and no one else. Take your car and leave. Congratulations. Stop crying and giving bad reviews. Im sure they have a worse job than you. PARK IN CORRECT LOCATIONS AND DESIGNATED TIMES NEXT TIME.

1 star out of 5. Didnt have a nice time. Would not recommend.

Biggest racket in Chicago is like the mob still running it

Those stillers got my car towed make me trouble to go and pick it up

Although I can understand that it can be difficult to find this location, the staff were all very pleasant, friendly, and informative. I used the directions of another reviewer to find the place relatively quickly, and I only needed a few minutes before I was on my way out.From Columbus and Wacker, take the stairs all the way down to the Riverwalk. Walk along past a few of the rental shops until you see a gap in the fence. Pop through there and on the left youll see the sign for the Auto Pound and a clearly labelled Entrance sign. The staff will walk you through the rest of the process. Good luck!

The location is incredibly difficult to find if youre unfamiliar...this is how to get to the pound (Im sure there are other ways, but heres what I did):1. Driving southbound on lower Columbus Dr., you will turn west (or your right) on Water Street. It is directly south (first light) of Lower Wacker and Lower Columbus Drive. There will be a ramp that goes down to Sub Wacker Drive (Lower Lower Wacker...?).2. Turn right at the first stop sign.3. Turn right at the second stop sign.4. Drive straight until you see a trailer (this is where the office is located). Its roughly below the intersection of Lower Wacker Dr and Lower Columbus Dr.General tip: If the title of your car is in a parents name you will need $170 ($150 fee and $20 per day) in cash and THERE IS NOT AN ATM ON SITE.

Cant say no one likes visiting here, but the process was smoother than most. Make sure you have your valid license and name on credit card matches name on your tags.

Dont believe the five star ratings. It will take you forever to find it (30mins++), the staff is rude and unprofessional, and your car is probably damaged from the tow. The only reason they get a second star is that it was fast once I got there to get out.

WORST SERVICE EVER! Got my car towed and I paid for parking and it was gone before my time was up. Overcharged too

If you end up in Chicago hell do yourself a favor and take a cab here. It is impossible to find (3 level of Lower Wacker). Make sure you have Cash or Credit, your valid license, the registration (in car) must match your name and address on your license. For most normal cars your experience will only cost your $270 ($100 for the ticket and $170 for the service of towing).Youll also experience the most friendly and fastest city workers in Chicago. Plan on hiking 1+ mile since your be going back and for to your car which is parked in the furthest possible spot in the top lot even though there are plenty of spots near the trailer.Thanks for the experience. I hope my donation can be used for better signage to find and exit hell.

I thought the experience would be terrible but everyone was professional. I didnt want to pay $250 between towing costs and the violation but hey I broke the law. At least they were nice.

My experience here was positive one. Because I didnt go in with a bad attitude c a n t blame them. I was very positive to them and they were very positive back. Going with the right attitude get your business handled and move on.

Bad service not so helpful opponents, I mean employees. Yes service is very bad for the image of Chicago. One, the police sent me to wrong pond (lower wacker drive: Hell). Two, Sacramento pond, the people are very unfriendly, inflexible, illogical, border line aggressive. This is not a place to serve our beautiful city of Chicago. I am ashamed and appalled. This is not way to treat a law abiding citizen who might have made a mistake.We can do better.

If youre into going on a wild goose chase meanwhile seeing new sides of Chicago then this is the place for you. After it took 30 minutes to find this facility in the bermuda triangle of lower wacker, I was welcomed by friendly faces. Although it sucked being there, the experience ended well with friendly staff. 2/5 would come back just for the staff.

Really hard to find the place 😕

Don’t bother trying to reason with them, even with the same last name and Home address as the owner I required a notarized letter or the owner present. If you are not the owner, you need to bring cash - $170 if your vehicle was towed that day. No ATM on-site, closest Chase bank is .3 Miles south on Ohio. Not a debit card, not a credit card, bring cash.You do have the right to grab your personal belongings from the vehicle. If you’re going to need to leave it there overnight (for which you will incur a $20 daily fee), I highly recommend taking anything remotely valuable with you. They assume no liability and your things will get stolen.Avoid having to deal with this place at all costs.-edit- back 1 year later, thank you Chicago for the New Years Gift. Still $170.

My car was towed for an honest mistake I made on South State Street. My new car sustained over $2,000 in damages. The front bumper was damaged and they put a hole in my radiator which left the car undriveable. I discovered the radiator leaking out coolant as I was trying to change a tire that was punctured. I had already paid $170 for the towing services and was told to drive the car outside of the pound. They rendered my car inoperable and basically threw me out on the street. Thankfully I have roadside assistance. I still cant get anyone on the phone three days later to help me make a claim and file it with my insurance. This is a racket. The City of Chicago allows it to happen with the no-bid contract from United Road Towing. Such a great city but what terrible corruption that is apparently tolerated.

Too hard to find.. But process was fast,nothing like city pound on Sacramento,much easier process!!

I like the fake 5 star reviews lol.Nobody in their right mind would ever rate this place more then one star. Worst customer service ever!!!!

Completely unprofessional and a total rip off. No one knows if they have your car until it arrives. Im sure it wont take much effort for the tow drivers to report ahead of time what vehicle they have. I had to wait outside with no car for an hour until my car finally showed up at their impound, then get a can ride over to an address that doesnt show up on a map. When I arrived employees were sleep at the window. So happy Im paying fees and taxes for city employees to sleep on the job.

Bad for my Aunt who got towed, but fast service to get us out of there. Polite staff.

Must say had to remind myself that it wasnt there falt for my situation but they were helpful in getting me my car

Hey the people were nice, they were not the ones who parked my car in the wrong spot.

Im here today so glad to make it out alive. Location is pretty hard to find. Its actually in lower-lower Wacker. Not just Lower Wacker. Thats right, its two levels down from the surface where there is practically zero moving traffic. It also does not feel safe whatsoever. Im surprised there were no anarchist factions down there to confront me. I feel bad for the employees that have to work there. Employees arent customer service experts but they get the job done which is to handle the due tow bill and vehicle recovery and not the parking citation itself - a separate expense - while working in a crummy little trailer office in a very dingy dungeon. Why anybody would attempt to negotiate their parking citation here is beyond me. Its an auto pound for the city. Not the parking citation office. I think it would help if they thoroughly explained that in a recording just before you speak to the representative on the phone - also post a large sign in the parking lot explaining it. It would mitigate the tenants annoyances with people constantly wasting their breath saying they were wrongfully towed.

Best way to get there, unless your cab driver knows precisely where it is, is to drop off at the corner of Columbus and Wacker (see red arrow in attached map grab) where there is a tourist booth and take the flight of stairs going to the lower level where the river sidewalk is. Then walk in the direction of the lake until you see a green tarp and a hole in the fence on the right. The entrance to the pound is hidden in there. Dont expect any signage. If in doubt call the phone number and beg for directions from whoever answers. Do not under any circumstances let the cab driver drop you off at any signage that says auto pound if you are not actually at the pound ie you see the box that serves as office, and a parking lot full of cars. There are weird ancient signs around lower wacker that say pound and are nowhere near it. If you drop off and try to walk around this subterranean hell, then God help you in the winter..Its a totally awful and ghetto place, but the people are professional and as nice as you can expect them to be. One lady stayed on the phone with me till I found the place. I got my car out in minutes. Dont give them a hard time they are just doing a job and they didnt make the policies. Good luck.

Rude and unprofessional . My vehicle was towed December 18th 2019 I am getting calls from them trying to scam me for more money since. Although I got my car out immediately they deny it’s the same company calling me!

For starters I had no reason to have my car towed, I used a meter a picked 2 hours for parking. An hour and a half goes by and when I come back to my car it was gone. There was no sign or any type of information saying I couldn’t park there. It wasn’t next to a hydrant and I didn’t even exceed my parking limit. Secondly, when I finally found out where my car was and tried explaining the situation to a man over the phone, he literally said “I don’t care, what’s the license plate number”. I was thoroughly disgusted by their attitude and posture. And on top of all of that, their location is almost impossible to find if you’re not a Chicago resident. Only if you had an opportunity to pick who towed your car.

Damaged my car

Lets face it...getting your car towed sucks. And the money you have to fork over to get it back is even worse! But I do have to say, the auto pound in Chicago at least makes it efficient and easy to get it back. Most times Ive had to go, there was little to no wait, and Im usually in and out within minutes. Could be worse!

The people I had to deal with this past Saturday 10.13.2018 were the meanest nastiest people I have ever come to encounter. One was a heavy set woman with a big curly wig that was set too far back on her head, the other was a lady named Dee dee and there was a man who I believe was the man I spoke on the phone with earlier named Kenny. These people were over the top disgusting rude and loved every minute of giving me the hardest time . I had to call the police to help me get my car. When we went back in there the entire staff I had dealt with earlier were gone. I eventually got my car back but the service, those people from that morning shift....shameful. They need to be fired .

Impossible to find; but once found they have a more or less straightforward system. You dont feel like you are dealing with frustrating incompetence (typically the unfortunate expertise of many such places)

Scam artist in its finest. Good job Chicago, you make visiting all the worse. I paid for parking and got towed anyway. Confusion is costly and the signs dont clarify justly and these morons specialize at ruining nights. Wanna visit Chicago? Dont! The crooks have initiated all kinds of schemes to keep the cities pockets swollen and you inconvenienced.

Super sketch area. Also impossible to find. But everyone there was nice and they got us taken care of and in/out.

Plan on spending all day here to accomplish a 15 minute task. Seriously... The pace of work here really says I make $7 an hour. But hey...when your city is a trillion dollars in debt you gotta scam those citizens for every penny.

Wow, talk about a topshelf towing experience. This is the best of the worst. Would def get car towed here again. A1 extortion, these guys are the best. You would think they would buy you dinner before screwing you, but they are nice enough to just f#%& you over without dinner - what a great experience! I cant wait to get ripped off by the City of Chicago again!

On new years eve my phone was dead i was freezing the people were very nice let me charge my phone and refused the tip thanks so much for being a good person! We need more people like you!

If you are a big fan of the walking dead and enjoy being scared you have come to the right place. This secret location has very little lighting. No signs posted in a normal spot and gps goes dead here. Heaven forbid you are a tourist or woman attempting to walk here at night. Junkies and mentally ill men litter this area and will demand money. And help will be no where . tow is about 175$ no counting what the parking ticket is. Ticket all average about 100 -200. The staff are from a private firm and are not city workers they are paid very little. Double check the inside of your vehicle if it is there over nite mystery break in happen and nobody seem to know anything. Make police report on scene and ask for supervisor. Tow driver routinely break into cars before they are dropped off. They can get into car in seconds with no damage. Welcome to chicago😈

No stars, but I had no choice, so I had to choose one! The tow truck drivers never get out of the truck, so they never observe the vehicle they are going to tow. Hooking up a car is done remotely to the strapless wheel lift. My car is AWD and they dragged it over 5 blocks. Now my drivetrain is shot because their tow trucks are not equipped with dollies. Also, what the hell is with the $20 daily storage fee when my vehicle was in their lot for less than an hour.

My first experience at this place looks overly bureaucratic. People were not pleasant at all. The old guy at the gate was awesome!

The representatives on the phone says that they dont know if you can get the vehicle back and hangs up the phone. Unspeakable

SO HARD TO FIND THIS PLACE! Not enough signs. On super super lower lower Wacker. All the way back corner. Drove around for 30 min trying to find it. Terrible.

This place is horrible. People are rude and are talking on cellphone FaceTime. Talking about men drama. When they should be working. Nice to see how our tax money is going!

This a damn maze and hard place to find! The city can do better

These attitude filled bums are unreal. If you ever have to experience them good luck. Pieces of trash

Worst experience every. The employees are all extremely rude and do not accommodate their customers at all. As I sat in the waiting room for two hours waiting to be able to pick up my car they would not let me use their bathroom. I also asked for a glass of water and they told me no. Worst customer service I’ve experienced in a long time.

The lowest forms of life work there. They stole my phone and bag from there

Staff here makes things very bearable but getting here is a pain bc GPS gets lost. Make sure to go to the right window when you get there bc signage is no good. The city is getting rich from this department. Basically, follow the light reddish/white font ‘Chicago Auto Pound’ signs and go all the way down to river level and all the way to the end of the street until you see a long white trailer with a wooden sloped walkway area. Don’t get out the car until you see the wooden sloped walkway area and impounded cars in the back otherwise you will have to run 10mins like I did to get to the actual place.

Not friendly staff, if your car is towed be ready to go through bad customer service.

So difficult to get to hard to find .they are so quick to tow where I live

It very hard to fine even with gps very poor customer service i dont know if she was tired or just didnt care

They can be a tad difficult to find, but I got my car back without issue once I found them. They processed my getting my car back quickly and I was able to continue with my plans only slightly delayed.

Not too welcoming. A bit rude.

Id imagine most people have nothing great to say about the day their car got towed.. but bad memories aside, this place is a MAZE-ing

Good luck finding this place. Its at river level under wacker drive right next to the river and google maps routes you in circles. Youll want to walk down the stairs to the riverwalk and take the sidewalk much further than you think until you lose all hope and begin to see several trailers. The entrance sign is small and posted in the street very close to the tow yard. Go to the trailer beyond the sign. Good luck. Also, if you are there to retrieve a rental, bring your paper rental agreement. They dont know how to deal with digital things.

Would definitely recommend to a friend.

This probably seems weird after being towed to leave a 5-star review. However I was treated well at their facility, and they did not damage my car when they towed it to their facility.

Why is this the hardest place to find on the entire planet Earth?

City of chicago, in Crook County. A den of thieves, liars, and exploiters. Muh f****** never loved us

This place is absolutely terrible they popped my tire inside their yard and told me they couldnt do anything about it, on top of that they are all extremely rude and unprofessional.

I would give them a zero if I could

Extremely helpful and nice staff. Ended up losing track of my vehicle and S12413 spent a large portion of time and helped me locate it!

Horrible service from lady that works there fro. Sea way bank! She didnt wanna swipe my card again just because it got denied! I was have to go out to look for atm to get cash! And it tool me hell of time to find this place!

EVERYONE IS ON SLOW MODE BUT THE WORK GETS DONE

The cities number 1 revenue maker.As the guy in the tow truck said; doesnt make any difference where you park, we will tow it anyway

Ok, Im still mad they towed my car, so -1⭐, but they were professional, and pretty fast getting me out. I had issues with my license, and was still able to get my car out with a little help 😉😉

Very unprofessional!! They spray painted my sister car in a foreign language and act like they dont know what happened! We lawyered up!! See yall in court! Next time put it in English!

Slow service but nice people

Its so hard to find. Its on the ground level of the bridge. Below the bridge

What do you expect. Why would this ever be a great service???????

They are stupid monkey people with no respect very angry and very angry I hate the person from there an I hate to lose the jobs all

They charge you 2 days if it comes in at 11:30pm and you pick it up at 1:30am. 2 hours is 2 days according to the city

These people don’t get out much. Manners are absent. Difficulty and pain are a requirement

Dont want go there.

This a pure racket and extortion. The state tows over 100k cars per year. The state is a band of thugs writ large. End the state.

Horrible people, horrible place, I think the devil himself lives in the back...... My car will never be the same, nor will I....

No problems

Pathetic people pathetic customer service

If youre here, its bad news. The place is a total dump

This place is so low key😂😂😂. I never even knew it was here until my car got towed

Just went to feed the homeless people near by

Everyone was rude