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An 80-year-old Ottawa widow was charged $1,200 to tow her damaged car from a garden centre on Carp Road to the Woodroffe/Iris area.

Then it got worse.

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Doreen Clay and her son Matt, 54, are upset at how a call intended for the Canadian Automobile Association, where she had free towing coverage, ended up in the hands of an unfamiliar tow operator who demanded payment before lowering her car, which drew the Ottawa police, which led to a two-hour dispute and an extra $400 for the operator’s “wait time.”

Total bill: $1,608.94.

And there are yet more bizarre twists.

“I feel terribly sorry that any of this happened in my new neighbourhood because it’s a good neighbourhood,” the elder Clay said.

“I feel absolutely dreadful that all this has happened.”

She let her son do most of the talking. Matt Clay, a construction project manager, said the tale began with a phone call from his mother at about 2 p.m. on June 15. His mother had driven her compact Hyundai into a large boulder in a parking lot, damaged the grill and wrenched the radiator out of place.