Denied damage claim

John Wantiez Submitted this review about NAO Auto
Review made Live: 7/2/2015 10:51:00 AM
Noa Auto was commissioned to deliver my 1958 Desoto to Iowa from British Columbia, Canada. When the car arrived, it had oil all over the top surfaces of the car and when I first saw the car in the truck trailer, I noticed that it had been shipped with the front windows down causing dust and dirt in the interior. I noted the oil to the driver immediately and he signed off for the oil on the car. I looked around the car for any obvious other damage, but was so concerned about getting all the oil off the car, I failed to make the driver sign on the bill of lading, saying that, because of the oil, the final inspection was subject to removing the oil. After taking possession of the car and completely washing and cleaning the dirty oil from the car, I noticed two small dents, one each on the top of the quarters. I immediately called the shipper the next day to tell them that I had discovered some additional damage. It was then that I was told my car had been picked up by one truck, taken across the Canadian border and then dumped at some trucking terminal in the U.S. to be picked up at a later date. After submitting an estimate to repair the damaged quarters, I waited a month before contacting them to see what the delay was. I was put in touch with Alena, who is the claims handler at NAO. She wanted more damage estimates along with a copy of their original paper work. After reviewing all that, Alena said they were denying the claim because I signed off on the bill of lading sheet at the time of delivery. It didn't make any difference that the oil had been noted the day I signed the BOL. Alena told me that NAO auto was not responsible for the oil that dripped from the car above mine. They don't bother to cover any of the cars that they ship. The truck and soft sided trailer the car was shipped in was dirty and old. I would not recommend this transportation company to anyone as they don't appear to follow honest business practices.