Company Response Review Report Review
$250 Fee . . . for what?

Michael Short Submitted this review about Auto Shipping Group LLC
Review made Live: 10/6/2014 9:15:00 PM
My Experience
1. The Process
I dealt with three different people- the broker, the driver, and the company. This is the main issue. When you have problems, the broker can point to the company; the company points to the broker; and the driver points to both. If possible, I'd advise dealing directly with United instead of going though a middleman broker.

2. My Broker
I worked with Stephanie Hamilton. Personally, she was friendly and helpful. But in terms of the $250 fee I paid her, it seems like too much money for the service I got. As far as I can tell, all she did was put in a bid for my car to be picked up on some online bidding site where shippers agree to pick up cars for transport. She said things like no driver would take my car across the country for under $1400, but that was misleading. The actual driver/shipping company took my car across the country for $1150. The other $250 was the fee she took for typing my bid in.

After my shipper accepted the bid of $1150 and I signed the contract, I really didn't hear from her again. I called her once when I found out my shipping pick-up location would be twenty-five minutes away from my house. She did call the shipper and got back to me, telling me the shipper would pay for a taxi. But after that, I just interacted with the driver and shipping company. Had I called Stephanie, I'm sure she would have followed up for me- but the driver called me directly so I just communicated with him. I might have felt better about the $250 if I had some kind of follow up from Stephanie. But Stephanie never called me again- not to let me know where my car was, to ask if there were any problems, or even to see if my car got delivered.

3. My Driver
Tyrone drove my car across the country. Personally, he was a great guy and I enjoyed interacting with him. Professionally, he did a great job delivering my car- not a scratch. But I did have major logistical problems with pick-up (below).

4. My Shipper: United Auto Transport
I called a bunch of times and spoke with different people. They were all friendly and helpful. So they get 4 stars for customer interaction, but the logistics, the actual substance of their business, was not good.

(1) On paper, I was given a two day pick up window. But I was told- personally by the driver- that I'd get the car picked up Tuesday night. It didn't happen until Wednesday afternoon. Instead of driving down to me on Tuesday, the company decided to hold up my pick-up to accommodate another driver who was late and ended up not getting his car to Tyrone until 3AM in the morning. Good for the other driver, but it created a problem for me- I couldn't pick my girlfriend up from the airport the next day as planned. This was something I specifically told my driver and shipper about. They assured me I'd have the car picked up Tuesday night.

(2) I paid a lot to do this. About $1400 total. I was told door-to-door service, or as close as possible within the limits of the big truck they use. I understand there are limits. But they couldn't find a place anywhere within my entire town.

Instead, my pick-up spot ended up being a 25 minute drive from my house. That means I had to impose on a family member to follow me in their car. Sure, I could have used the taxi service, but I don't live near a major city. There aren't lots of taxis just driving around. I would have had to coordinate a taxi, then cancel when I had to change pick-up locations to a new town, and then gone through the hassle of submitting paperwork for reimbursement.

When we got their, the driver couldn't find a place to maneuver. It was too tight. So we waited around for 45 minutes while he tried to figure out how to get out of there and find a new spot. We ended up driving another 15 minutes to a town even farther away to drop off the car. All told, the pick-up took over 2 hours. And remember, this gets advertised- at least by the brokers representing and working with these guys- as door-to-door within the limits of road load.

(3) I specifically requested a Wednesday delivery and my broker told me that was when it should be pending an incident with the truck which could delay it as late as Saturday. A four-day window on getting a car is not good enough for $1400.

Moreover, my driver told me he'd make it across the country by Sunday- two/three days before delivery from a local driver on Wednesday. Instead, my car didn't end up getting there until Friday. Not a big deal if you have other wheels or don't need them. But this meant I had to drop another $100+ on a rental for two days while I waited for my car.

The actually delivery on Friday was great. This was door-to-door and the process was smooth. So the company must be capable of a smooth pick-up as well.

I want to give these guys more stars and better reviews because everyone I dealt with was friendly and helpful and cool. But when you pay $1000+ to a company that specializes in logistics- i.e. in understanding where and when they can pick up and deliver your car- it's got to be better than these big two to four day windows that end up costing the customer money and time.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
Connecticut
Pickup:
Late
Destination State:
California
Delivery:
Late
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
#1011816
Quote or Order Cost:
$1400

Company Response
Terry Williams from Auto Shipping Group LLC Submitted this response.
Response Date: 10/10/2014 11:17:00 AM
Michael, I apologize you felt that we/I did not earn the money both the driver and my company received. However, being the drivers need to make some money for living expenses, Possible truck issues (putting wear and tear on their trucks daily), and fuel to haul your vehicle and others vehicles, I don't think their price was unreasonable also being they were hauling the vehicle across country over 2,000 miles. The carrier was in contact with you throughout the process the entire time. We expect delays due to traveling thousands of miles and dealing with more customers than just your self. That's the main reason we tell you its a ESTIMATED pick up and delivery date. There's no way for anyone to know that our carriers truck is going to break down half way through the US and might have to wait for repairs, or a customer is not going to be ready to release their vehicle or receive their vehicle when the driver arrives to their location, etc. Also, I feel I provided good service to you being you had a short window of time to pick up the vehicle and you wanted to go with a lower price and i agreed to assist you with that. The original price ASG quoted you was $1465, and we price matched another company for you, so we actually SAVED you money from what we originally quoted you (the average rate we have been getting cars picked up for). I didn't just post your vehicle out on a national load board, especially being when you placed your order you needed to have the vehicle picked up within a couple days (which on average with Standard Shipping, the service you chose, generally takes anywhere from 1-7 business days to get a carrier arranged After placing your order). So with that being said I and my dispatch department made calls to our preferred carriers to see what we could get for the best rate and quality service carrier. Which we did provide that to you. I am very upfront of how the industry works and I also went over all those details with you about the industry and that the lower the quote the less likely it would get accepted by a carrier. I don't like to throw low quotes out to customers to just get your business, I have been in the industry for almost 7 years and maintain 5 star service average being i am honest with the industry and don't try and convince my customers to place their order with me cause my price is low and over promise what i cannot deliver. So our fee I felt was worth it being I did personally work on the order for quite some time, putting some of my other customers back a little to focus on the more urgency of what you were requesting. Normally with lowering the quotes it can take longer than 7 business days to get a carrier arranged but my daily goal with my customers is to get your vehicle picked up in a reasonable time, with a reputable carrier, and for the best rate possible, and try very hard to make customers experience go smoothly. Unfortunately, we cannot always make every customer 100% satisfied. Again, i am sorry you were not happy with the service, but i am happy your vehicle was shipped to you safely and was transported across country without any issues. Take Care