Corsia comes through in the clutch!
David Goldstein
Submitted this review about
Corsia Logistics
Review made Live: 7/20/2014 12:16:00 PM
Corsia, and Luke in particular, were AWESOME. Lifesavers, really. After doing a ton of research I narrowed my search for an auto shipper down to 3. Corsia was among those, mainly after reading so many great reviews about Luke.
However, I ended up going with a different shipper (Stateway), mainly because they are a broker and a carrier. I (apparently mistakenly) assumed that, being their own carrier, they'd have a better chance of finding me a carrier, since they wouldn't have to look very far.. They gave me a great price and then lowered it slightly to match another, lower quote. They promised me a 5-day pickup window, traveling from Bend, OR to Yarmouth, ME, door-to-door! Sam, the salesman, was great and open and honest and responsive throughout the process, answering or returning my calls and emails immediately. Once the contract was signed, I was passed off to Zack, my personal contact for the rest of the shipping process who promised to be there to help me throughout.
Two days before the start of the pickup window I emailed Zack for an update. (Mysteriously, from this point on, Sam was nonexistent. I am all but certain that, once a contract is signed, the salesperson's phone and email are set to automatically shunt that new customers calls to voicemail and emails to the trash.) Zack eventually responded assuring me that when they have a driver, I will be notified, that this takes some time and not to worry as "we are still a long way out." (2 days is a long way out?)
When I hadn't received any notification of their having secured a driver on the last day of the pickup window I emailed them again. This time I eventually received a response from someone named Pam who is the only one I ever heard from from this point on. Now Zack, too, had disappeared. Pam said they were working on it, that the usual pickup window was 7 business days (not the 5 calendar days they had contracted with me) and that they would continue working through the weekend to find me a driver. After that weekend - now 3 days past the pickup date - they first told me that Maine just wasn't a popular destination, there was only 1 other car coming or going to Maine and so they were having trouble finding a driver who wanted the job. So, I agreed to travel as far as Boston to meet a driver (rather than having the car delivered to my door in Maine) if that was going to make the thing happen. I was assured that would help and that they would now find a driver in the next few days.
Still nothing for a week. I asked at what point are you going to simply say you can't find a driver and leave me in the lurch? How long will this go on? I was told, "Oh, we never stop looking. We will stay on the job until we find you a driver." Which sounds nice, but here I am with two little kids, 3000 miles away from my car, indefinitely renting a replacement van at exorbitant summer rates. What to do?
Tail between my legs, I called Luke and explained my situation. He said he'd get right on it and call me back. He called back within a few minutes! He informed that Maine was not the only problem, but that Bend, OR was also too remote and nobody wanted to go there. Could I get the car to Portland, OR? I thought I might be able to find a friend there who could drive my car to Portland, but probably not. Luke said he'd see if he could solve that, too. He called back again a few more minutes later saying he'd found a driver (some guy named Wes; thanks Wes!) who could put my car on a flatbed THE NEXT DAY and drive it to the Portland terminal, where another company (Motion Auto Carriers) would load it on an open carrier THE SAME DAY and take it to Boston or as much further north as possible. The catch, so to speak, was the added $205 it would cost for the flatbed trip! (Plus my expense to get to Boston, of course. Which was about $30 in bus fares and an extra 6 hours of my precious time.) How awesome is that?! Luke also apologetically let me know that he could have gotten be a much better price had I booked the trip with him earlier, that it was only this expensive because it was last minute. Did I mention that it was only $205 more than Stateway had quoted me (and only $165 more than Corsia had originally quoted me back during my research period!) to not get the job done?
From that point on everything went as smoothly as possible, as planned. Wes picked up the van the next morning, flatbedded it to Portland where MAC loaded it onto Alex's truck and departed to Boston, estimated to arrive on 7/19. Rockin' Alex got the car to our meeting point in Boston on 7/17 - 2 days before the estimate - in perfect condition and with a smile. Thank you Alex!
Throughout the process, any time I called Luke for and update or with a question, he either answered the phone asap, or responded to my voicemail within minutes. Every time. Never left me worried and wondering, like they did consistently at Stateway. When I was waiting in a random apartment building parking lot in Boston unable to reach Alex by phone (because he was stuck in some nasty and challenging Boston traffic nearby) and beginning to panic a bit, I called Luke who answered immediately, was able to reach Alex, and called me right back to let me know Alex was about 20 minutes away. 5 minutes later, Alex called me as well.
My only mistake in all of this was not having gone with Corsia from the beginning. I hope I never have to ship a car or even move again, but if I do I would not hesitate to call Corsia or to recommend them to anyone looking for an auto shipper. THANKS!
