Levine's car stopped running on the highway, and a passing motorist called a service station for him on a mobile phone.

Levine's car stopped running on the highway, and a passing motorist called a service station for him on a mobile phone. The service station called an independent tow truck operator, who soon towed the car to the service station, some 5 km distant. A mechanic examined the car, and realized that a wire had come loose from the distributor cap. He snapped the wire back into place and wrote up a bill. Levine was charged $5 for the repair and $175 for the tow. Levine was outraged and refused to pay.