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Matt's Off Road Recovery what a bummer.

Riverfamlee

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Just saw that too, pretty crazy. They did say the total was 15k in disputes IE towed a RZR, not covered so they put down the tow vehicle instead.
 

King295

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Sounds like he was hooking people up (see what I did there). I follow this channel and enjoy his content, hopefully he gets it resolved easily.
 

Riverfamlee

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Sounds like he was hooking people up (see what I did there). I follow this channel and enjoy his content, hopefully he gets it resolved easily.
Agree, he would get paid either way.
 

Sleek-Jet

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I figured if he got in trouble it would have been over dragging that FJ through a stream in California...
 

rrrr

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If you're going to break the law, it's probably not a good idea to post YouTube videos of the Rzr being towed that essentially prove it.

Winder is an AAA affiliate. The state also alleges Matt towed vehicles, then colluded with the owners to have them join AAA after the tow and submit falsely dated invoices for reimbursement.
 

HB2Havasu

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if your gonna do shady deals, you sure as fuck dont put it on youtube..
Right. Have a buddy who is an Insurance Fraud Investigator. Believe Me - I am 100% sure that the insurance companies fraud investigators watched his YouTube Channel to see which vehicle was actually towed. Play Stupid Games - Win Stupid Prizes !!!
 

RVR SWPR

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Matt wife comes across really sharp on the admin end of the business. She seldom on site,everyday office.
No doubt nothing gets past her. Invoice or expenses.
Is Liz their daughter?
 

sintax

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What was the cliff notes version. The vid is down
 

Sleek-Jet

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Matt wife comes across really sharp on the admin end of the business. She seldom on site,everyday office.
No doubt nothing gets past her. Invoice or expenses.
Is Liz their daughter?

Lizzy is either a niece or a cousin I believe. Big mormon family so he's probably related to 1/2 the people in Hurricane.
 

sintax

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Lizzy is either a niece or a cousin I believe. Big mormon family so he's probably related to 1/2 the people in Hurricane.

That is a cool town though. I remember going through there on the way to powell as a kid. We'd always stop for lunch or hang and get a ice cream
 

Ol Man

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I enjoy his channel and look forward to the three videos he releases weekly. I hope this is just a bump in the road. He does not seem like the type of business man to do this sort of thing. I would think he has too much to lose.
 

TPC

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"Matt Wetzel, a towing pro in Utah whose business doubles as a YouTube content driver, has been charged with insurance fraud. The man behind Winder Towing and Matt's Off Road Recovery is accused of fraudulently collecting money from AAA, allegedly totaling more than $15,000. His arraignment is scheduled for next week.
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Wetzel and his crew have built up a huge YouTube following that's nearly 900,000 subscribers strong. They've attracted tens of millions of views pulling impossibly stuck cars and trucks from wicked Utah Jeep trails. This usually makes for quite the visual—it's not every day you see a Hyundai Tucson rental get drug over boulders and survive.

One of these YouTube videos is alleged to show a tow that's cited as fraudulent. According to charging documents, Wetzel recovered a Polaris RZR and the owner purportedly used a friend's AAA account to pay the bill. Those vehicles aren't covered by AAA, as the same documents explain, and the owner reportedly claimed that Wetzel's company towed a truck instead.

Another instance included a job that Wetzel allegedly completed for someone else without a AAA membership. The charging documents say that Wetzel told the customer to sign-up for the emergency road service and then report the tow after waiting a few days. Additionally, investigators say this involved moving the vehicle from Apple Valley to Washington County, though the claim says it originated in Las Vegas.

Lastly, charging documents bring up one more case where AAA covered three claims for a tow to Salt Lake City. This totaled $2,800, and the person who submitted the claims admitted to the Utah Insurance Fraud Division that their vehicles were not towed. Instead, Wetzel is understood to have delivered construction materials to the individual, who used AAA for payment rather than paying Wetzel directly.

As The Salt Lake Tribune reports, an investigator said Wetzel admitted to these false claims with "material misrepresentations" in a phone call. Documents attribute Wetzel with saying his company was "wrong on the front end, but fair on the back," while the investigator added, "Wetzel maintained he never turned in a job that did not have a legitimate service tied to it."

As of Friday, Matt's Off Road Recovery remains active on YouTube with a video being posted around 10 a.m. ET." - The Drive
 

TPC

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AAA Club Service franchise is essential to a towing business and he'll loose that and the domino effect other plans will drop him too when they get ahold of that info.
He has a fleet of trucks that work the I15. You don't see that side of the business.

Several YouTube income reporting sites estimate Matts Off Road Recovery YouTube site alone earns between $424,690.00 and $760.450.00 per year based on views and Ad revenue. Then add his merch and towing business,, he earns some serious bank.
These estimates are on the low end they add.
 
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HALLETT BOY

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Yea , I think most people won’t give a rats ass that he got one up on an insurance co . Everybody’s got an insurance co horror story .
 

Brokeboatin221

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That blows enjoyed his vids seemed like a cool dude, aaa has tons of money so he better bend over 🤦‍♂️
 

DLC

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Well that really sucks!

i like Matt and his Vids! To bad the waters got muddy! After watching 100 vids I don’t think he is a BAD KARMA type of guy!
He is stand up but who knows for sure….


show me the money? Yea or Nea
 

paradise

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Yeah, not the "right" thing to do, but if you were getting towed and your company pulled you aside and said "Hey, just sign up for a few hundred dollar AAA membership and we can make this all go away" EVERY person on here would be posting about the awesome service they got... Just saying
 
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napanutt

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AAA Club Service franchise is essential to a towing business and he'll loose that.
He has a fleet of trucks that work the I15. You don't see that side of the business.

I worked for a AAA contract station before I started my gubment career.
Basically an independent tow company on contract to AAA.
We had to abide by their protocols. Biggest was responding to service calls within 30 minutes.
Yea, 3A contract was a big cash cow but not necessarily a game breaker.
 
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rivrrts429

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Haha He’ll be fine. As an example this is akin to the war on drugs. The towing industry operates in the grey with wide guidelines. They’re trying to use him as an example to teach the others. It’s too late for that.
 

Danger Dave

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I wonder why TFL pulled their video down?
 

Pinball

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Matt wife comes across really sharp on the admin end of the business. She seldom on site,everyday office.
No doubt nothing gets past her. Invoice or expenses.
Is Liz their daughter?
If I recall correctly, Lizzie is the daughter of Matt’s since-high school best friend. Lizzie’s dad took over the roofing business Matt started but ended up not liking running that business, and later started the towing company.
 

TPC

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I worked for a AAA contract station before I started my gubment career.
Basically an independent tow company on contract to AAA.
We had to abide by their protocols. Biggest was responding to service calls within 30 minutes.
Yea, 3A contract was a big cash cow but not necessarily a game breaker.
If he looses his certs based on fraud the whole operation shuts down.
 

t&y

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It is a great show. Entertaining without the modern bullshit. Pretty sure he'll be fine, and honestly if this guy starts a gofund me for a legal defense I'd bet it would hit big numbers in a very short time.
 

LazyLavey

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A guy I used to work with and his father had a great idea to vandalize his truck and make an insurance claim...They beat the hell out of the truck with bats and hammers....

Only problem was when he made the claim he found his insurance had lapsed...... Here's your sign
 

Danger Dave

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It is a great show. Entertaining without the modern bullshit. Pretty sure he'll be fine, and honestly if this guy starts a gofund me for a legal defense I'd bet it would hit big numbers in a very short time.

I dug his $25K donation to the local food bank a couple weeks back, it will be interesting to see what their "shop with a cop" collaboration brings in.
 

ka0tyk

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Who hasn’t used AAA to tow vehicles that aren’t covered? Pretty much everyone abuses their service.

The problem is we don’t post it on YouTube for someone to cross reference records against and prove everything was fake.

It’ll be interesting to see how losing AAA will impact his business. Like most said, the off-road side is a very small part. The freeway side and his fleet of trucks is what keeps the lights on. Sell the business to someone else in the family, rejoin AAA and rebrand the trucks. Keep off-road towing as-is. Done.
 

Hermosa

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We used Matt back in January when I rolled my RZR at Sand Hollow coming over a dune. To this day, I don't know how I did that, just landed strange 1 time and bnag! I was on one of his videos, they recovered it and then delivered it to my House in Hurricane by Sand Hollow. It's the video where he gets stuck in the Banana with my RZR on his trailer and a blue Jeep helps pull him out.
 

rivrrts429

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Who hasn’t used AAA to tow vehicles that aren’t covered? Pretty much everyone abuses their service.

The problem is we don’t post it on YouTube for someone to cross reference records against and prove everything was fake.

It’ll be interesting to see how losing AAA will impact his business. Like most said, the off-road side is a very small part. The freeway side and his fleet of trucks is what keeps the lights on. Sell the business to someone else in the family, rejoin AAA and rebrand the trucks. Keep off-road towing as-is. Done.

Rudy, his son, along with his wife are all licensed I’d imagine. This shit happens with construction companies all day every day. This literally will have zero effect on his business. Close one license and open with the other at the stroke of midnight. Even more so that he’s so well known now and his abilities are beyond what most tow companies are capable of or willing to do.
 

Taboma

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Who hasn’t used AAA to tow vehicles that aren’t covered? Pretty much everyone abuses their service.

The problem is we don’t post it on YouTube for someone to cross reference records against and prove everything was fake.

It’ll be interesting to see how losing AAA will impact his business. Like most said, the off-road side is a very small part. The freeway side and his fleet of trucks is what keeps the lights on. Sell the business to someone else in the family, rejoin AAA and rebrand the trucks. Keep off-road towing as-is. Done.

Well that is disappointing that you think that's acceptable and you know or think others agree.
Theft is theft, the line isn't gray or dotted or vague, you're either a thief or you're not.
 

lbhsbz

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Well that is disappointing that you think that's acceptable and you know or think others agree.
Theft is theft, the line isn't gray or dotted or vague, you're either a thief or you're not.
While I agree, if there ever was a type of outfit to be fair game for a good fucking, it's insurance companies. They deserve it often and without lube.
 

Taboma

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While I agree, if there ever was a type of outfit to be fair game for a good fucking, it's insurance companies. They deserve it often and without lube.
I suppose the same could be said about the various levels of Govt. But most of us take exception to those committing welfare fraud, because we're all paying for it.
Same can be said for any form of thievery because in one way or another, we're all subsidizing it.
I pay enough for insurances, especially considering the vast number of complete morons behind the wheel, because I'm paying for their negligence as well.
I'm paying extra $$ for my marine insurance thanks to that thief who blows an outdrive, but claims he hit a rock, or think's it's OK to push on the sticks and kill folks.

It's not the insurance company who's ultimately taking it up the ass, it's me and it's you too.

Steal a little, steal a lot, a thief is a thief.
 

Ziggy

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Reading the article it's rather clear he was doing all the clients a favor and just asked for compensation in a different/creative way.
 

Singleton

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Reading the article it's rather clear he was doing all the clients a favor and just asked for compensation in a different/creative way.
Every client should be on the hook as well. They had to approve the towing claim before it could be submitted.
 

Singleton

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While I agree, if there ever was a type of outfit to be fair game for a good fucking, it's insurance companies. They deserve it often and without lube.

AAA Towing is a separate entity from the insurance company. Owned by the same parent company, but operated as 2 separate entities.
 

Dana757

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Who hasn’t used AAA to tow vehicles that aren’t covered? Pretty much everyone abuses their service.

The problem is we don’t post it on YouTube for someone to cross reference records against and prove everything was fake.

It’ll be interesting to see how losing AAA will impact his business. Like most said, the off-road side is a very small part. The freeway side and his fleet of trucks is what keeps the lights on. Sell the business to someone else in the family, rejoin AAA and rebrand the trucks. Keep off-road towing as-is. Done.
I haven't and in today's AAA I couldn't imagine being able to do so. Heck, I have a hard time getting them to tow what I have on the policy.
 

Flying_Lavey

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I haven't and in today's AAA I couldn't imagine being able to do so. Heck, I have a hard time getting them to tow what I have on the policy.
I had a buddy break an upper ball joint on his Ranger one night and he called his AAA. The company that showed said they wouldn't tow it cause it had fiberglass fenders and bigger tires on it (no suspension modifications at that time) and they were telling us the AAA policy is to not tow any modified vehicles.

I asked him why they just towed my truck with a 6" lift a month prior and got the glazed over look.
 
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