Awful, fair weather friend

John Submitted this review about State-By-State Transporters
Review made Live: 1/23/2014 1:19:00 PM
Based on the other reviews, when State By State (SBS), has an available person, things seem to go relatively smoothly. However, under adverse situations, the people at SBS disappear.

When Max first contacted me on Monday, he told me that the car would be picked up on a Friday and likely dropped off later the same day...Saturday at the latest. It's a 4.5 hour drive. I said OK and naively signed the contract. It turns out that they did not have a driver for that day, and one never came. I then made multiple calls and sent multiple texts and emails to get an update. On the few occasions someone responded, they said they would look into it and call back. Of course, they never did. I told the people at SBS that I did not care if the job was delayed, but I needed updates. How simple is that? Anyway, due to very poor communication, I emailed SBS to cancel my contract which was OK since they did not assign me a driver...yet.

After requesting cancellation of services, what did SBS do? Assign me a driver! By contract, I was now obligated to use their service. The technicality is that I did not fax them the cancellation request. They were completely aware of this. I later find out from their office manager that SBS does not do much business in the northeast region, and so they didn't have a driver who could conveniently pick it up. As a result, SBS commonly hires another company to do the job. It would have been nice to know this beforehand! Not surprisingly, this subcontracted company is likely the first available lowest bidder. As expected, the subcontracted company had poor reviews and delivered the car after the agreed to date.

My strong recommendation is to not use this company. Should anything bad or unexpected occur, you won't be able to get in touch with them. Do not sign a contract until they have assigned one of their own drivers for the pick up. If they have to subcontract with someone else, then make sure you approve of the company before signing. Lesson learned!

Company Response
Lance from State-By-State Transporters Submitted this response.
Response Date: 12/23/2013 10:43:00 AM
Ive been waiting for this review. Yes, he has no life and insisted on calling me(20 times) on thanksgiving asking about his car. Well i told him to call me back the next day which was friday 11-29-13. Unexpectedly, my daughter was born that morning and we were in the hospital. (Check my facebook page, MaxTyson for proof) but this heartless guy failed to mention all of this in his review. Not to mention, he paid the same price that we originally quoted him and he was picked up that monday (12-2) and dropped the same day. His scheduled pick up was 2 days before. How self-hearted you can be???? Here is some of his emails below, Setting up the order jlee2ks@yahoo.com On Nov 23, 2013, at 3:19 PM, wrote> Projected pick up date should be Friday 11/29. Thanks, John Lee Hi Max, Seriously, what is going on? How come no one has contacted me? Congrats on your new baby. I have three kids myself. But I did not ignore my responsibilities when they were born. Please contact me ASAP. I would lie to go with another company due to poor communication and disregard of your customers. I will definitely be posting negative reviews of your company on line. Do you blame me? I have left multiple phone messages and texts. Virtually no response. I have been told on multiple occasions that someone would be calling me back in 15 or 30 minutes. Nothing. You have no excuses except that your company has been completely irresponsible and unprofessional. Please contact me to confirm that you have not taken any money from my credit card. If so, I will ask AMEX to reverse all charges. I would love a call from a supervisor, John Lee Sent from my iPad John, as i previously told you before on the phone that i am still in the hospitall, as you heard my newborn crying, and we were close on friday. Kelly will be contacting you asap. Max Seymour John Lee Dec 2 (4 days ago) to State No thank you. Please cancel. I am going with another company. I have already told you this on previous emails. Sent from my iPhone On Dec 2, 2013, at 9:23 AM, "State by State Transporters Inc. - Max Seymour" wrote: John Lee, We want to let you know that we have dispatched your 2009 Toyota Land Cruiser and you should be hearing from the driver soon for scheduling the pickup. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call us at 561-758-5673, or email max@statebystatetransporters.com. We are here to answer your questions from 8am to 5pm Eastern Time. We look forward to serving your auto shipping needs. Sincerely, Max Seymour State by State Transporters Inc. 561-758-5673 max@statebystatetransporters.com Drivers Information Transporting company: We Can Transport Name: Elizabeth Farr, , pascal Phone Numbers: 717-810-1899, (717) 810-1911, Email: morganemeka@yahoo.com Max Seymour Dec 2 (4 days ago) to John A driver has been assigned within the 10 day window. your deposit is non refundable at this point and we will show your amnex credit card company this email that you have replied to in proof that we complete this transaction and you have chosen to cancel on your own terms. have a nice day. By the way, you have no human morals.. Knowing i just had a newborn, took the time to pick up the phone and you repeatedly called my cell phone... Max Seymour Dec 2 (4 days ago) to kelly John Lee Dec 2 (4 days ago) to me Hello Max, Why would you assign me a driver after I said that I want the delivery cancelled? Do you want the deposit that badly? You appear to deal with your problems by deflecting fault to others. I did feel bad for calling you Friday morning, and I am still happy for you and your new child. But as I said before, business is business. My car was supposed to be picked up that day, and I had made multiple calls and left multiple messages without response. As I said before, I don't mind the delay in getting my car picked up, I just needed an update...some communication. I didn't know that you were having a baby that day. You should have just called a co-worker to deal with this small issue. I apologize for repeatedly having to call you. I did this because nobody at your company would give me a response. You were the person that I initially dealt with, and I was hoping that you would take ownership of any issues. Obviously, if I am repeatedly calling you, this must be for a reason...hopefully a good one. I just wished you would have been responsible enough to either call me back or have someone else call me back. I am the least bit confrontational. All I needed was one phone call to tell me that no driver was assigned and that someone would try hard on Monday morning. I would have been 100% content with that. I'm disappointed in your service and still wish to cancel. I am still happy for you and the new life you have brought in to this world. I really mean that. Interestingly, I work with kids for a living. If there is an issue...which there rarely is...it's usually with the parent.... Best wishes, John Lee Max Seymour Dec 2 (4 days ago) to kelly John Lee Dec 2 (4 days ago) to me I called a person at your company and explained the situation. After hearing me out, she said that it would be OK to cancel and re eive my deposit back. But this would require a fax...as stated in the contract. And in all honesty, I could care less about the deposit in this situation. Interestingly, everyone who said they would call me back still has not called. I then called the driver, Chris, to cancel...but he seemed like a nice, straight forward guy...so I won't be cancelling. Plus, I don't have a fax machine at home, and I'm too lazy to go to work to fax a cancellation letter. So when Chris arrives with the car, do I pay him by check or cash? What is the remaining balance? Thank you, John Max Seymour Dec 2 (4 days ago) to kelly John Lee Dec 4 (2 days ago) to me Max, Your driver from We Can Transport picked up my car on Monday and told me it would be delivered by yesterday. No delivery was made, and the driver did not answer any calls or messages. I called We Can Transport this morning who stated that the truck was having electrical issues and was being fixed. The person there said it was the secretary's fault for not contacting me. The person said it would be here by tomorrow, but I don't believe them. Can you have another one of your trucks finish the delivery? Alternatively, if I go pick it up myself, can I have my money back? Please call me, John John Lee 3:56 PM (10 minutes ago) to me Hi Max, Everyone is entitled to their opinions, so be it. However, please take off my personal info. You put my cell number on there which I do not appreciate. My personal phone number is for your business only. You seemed to be confused by something though. I called you 20 times on Friday, not Thanksgiving. Your kid was born on Friday morning...or have you forgotten already? I know this because I spoke to you from the Christmas tree farm that was not open on Thanksgiving.... Please correct this in your comments. Keep in mind, this is not personal, it's business. I never stated in my review that you broke the contract. I just complained that you had poor communication...AND I DON'T SEE YOU EVER DENYING THIS. Accept it, learn, and move on. Yes, the car eventually arrived within the 10 day window that your contract stipulates. But what I said in my review is true. The communication was very poor. Like I said before, the delays don't bother me much, but not giving me updates is very irritating. You could have emailed or texted me. I am not asking for your first-born child...who I hope is doing very well. I was expecting my car to be picked up on Friday as you had told me. I heard no word of when it was going to be picked up until you sent me an e-mail on Monday. And that's the last I heard from you. If you would have once emailed, called, or texted me and apologized about the poor communication, I would not have given you a poor review. It's as simple as that. Best wishes, John Sent from my iPad Sent from my iPad