Hi everyone,
I need help!!
I have a 04 Ford Focus which had a starter failure so I called roadside assistance. It was 8pm and the nearest dealer was closed and did not have a holding area. A Roadside assistance vendor came and took the car to their lot and then took it to the dealership around 8am the next day. When I got there at 9am I found my oil pan and oil filter damaged and leaking alot of oil. The car was parked on the sidewalk at the time. My manager and I quickly took a few photos hoping that we could use that as evidence.
2 weeks later I am still stranded, dealing with damage claims which alleged that the damage was not towing related and the vendor claimed that they used a flatbed that morning. The car was immobile and I have never bottomed out the car, and right away my first instinct was to blame the people that had last possessed the car. The damage claims manager also said that it was possible that the jockey at the dealership could have caused the damage (but the car was immobile).
So my question is: could the oil pan (Crack right in the middle) and filter be damaged from a flatbed? How about a sling-type tow truck?
All help is appreciated.
Thanks in advanced
First, I would have to start by saying that anything in life is possible. But, in this case I would have to say that it is unlikely that the damage was caused by a flatbed (if the vehicle was loaded onto the deck) however it could have been caused by the stinger of a boom truck. I know that some Chryslers have trans pans that can be damaged if proper equipment is not used. I can't say for certain though with the Focus (I drive a flatbed) Little help on that one guys?? 
Yea, I agree. Almost impossible to do that with a flatbed or a sling tow, but very possible with a wheel-lift type truck. Keep in mind that a flatbed tow truck also has a wheel-lift on the rear for towing a second car. Perhaps you were the second car on the flatbed.
Thank you for all your help I just needed an expert opinion for my peace of mind. Its just a normal stressor in the concrete jungle I live in... The damage claims manager closed the case just by examining the photos and saying that the damage was not caused by towing with a flatbed (no witnesses but as the vendor charged them).
Hope everyone has a warm Thanksgiving.
I had a problem in the past with a plymoth neon we had towed and the company that came out TO tow tHe vehicLE used a meduim duty tow truck to tow the car. when the dealer pointed out the problem i knew wHAt had happened so i called the towing company and they sent the same driver out with the same truck he towed it on and re hooked the vehicle and i showed him right where the oil pan was hitting HIS WHEELLIFT when he drove over a dip or in the road. needless to say they admit to it after a heated argument.
now i heard someone say they don't think it can be done on a flatbed ,well it can i have cracked one first hand and i never thought i would have this problem using a flatbed. what happens once in a great while is your oil pan might just line up perfectly with the whinch cable hook where it connects to the j-hook bridal and when pulling the vehicle up it will force the hook up against the oil pan and put a small crack in it. now i had this happen on audi with a aluminum oil pan and did not notice until the dealer called and said i owned a 800 oil pan. i then went to the dealer and reloaded it and swore up and down i did not damage it until i reloaded it with out the plastic cover o it and could se clearly that i caused the damage .
so i threw all my short bridal straps in the garage and only use nylon now and very long bridal straps now so i can make sure i cause no damage and als use a wheel skate on each side turned upside down to give that added pitch while loading some of the lower vehicles out there god luck with you claim. 
When I first was being trained using a flat bed, my trainer was unloading a small car to show me how it was done. the oil pan bottomed out on the edge or lip of the bed as it came off the truck, same thing when winching it onto the bed the lower clearance cars, always bottomed out right on the bed. I use 2x4s now so this don't happen to me.
I towed a car yesterday that someone was not thinking about at all when they hooked it. I pick it up from a PD impound lot going to a body shop. The car had been involved in a fatal shooting. The vehicle was an '88 Mercedes 300. (Rear wheel drive) When I got where I going there was a good size puddle of oil on the deck of my truck. I looked and there was a hole in the oil pan. On those they are rather large and low to the ground. It was obvious that when they either towed it to the impound lot or when they moved it in the lot they wheel lifted it from the front. I showed this to the shop owner, and someone is gonna buy an oil pan, if not at tranny too! Least it wasn't me.
Like PlanetTowing said, depending on the configuration of the bridle and where it is attached, the hook can hit between the deck and the oil pan.
Flatbeds are not necessarily the safest way to transport all cars, or necessarily damage free (if proper procedures are not followed).
Just to add my two cents,back in the 80's i worked for company in flagstaff,and it was a very slow day so i rode shotgun with another driver in a flatbed,we towed a car in off of i-40 to the chevron garage,they had the driver unload it on to the alignment rack well needless to say he couldn't get the car off the bed,so as he pulled it back up on the bed he tore the bumper clean off the car,quickly did i walk away,and wanted no part of it!but yes it could be easy to damage a car with a flat bed,or even a hook truck!i bent a bumper on a 3/4 ton pick-up while backing into the guy's driveway! 