Called AmeriFreight, then I relaxed!
Dale H
Submitted this review about
AmeriFreight Car Shipping
Review made Live: 8/2/2014 12:36:00 AM
I researched online, as I always do first when entering new territory. As a result, I then called AmeriFreight. Lecia assisted me in understanding what would be involved in shipping my car to my Mom in Maine, who needed a car within the next couple weeks. Lecia answered questions honestly about what would be involved, and I was confident in dealing with AmeriFreight. We confirmed some things by email and finished setting things up for her to search for a truck to transport my car.
Lecia called me about a day later and had located a driver, but I was not able to get my car to the pickup location that soon. Lecia understood that and said she would keep looking for the next opportunity.
Lecia called me again in a couple more days just to keep in touch and confirm she was still looking for a driver for us. Things had changed some at my end, and I told her there was a chance I wouldn't be shipping my car after all if we ended up buying a car for my Mom from someplace nearby to her. I told Lecia maybe she should put my request on hold until we figured things out. Lecia was very understanding and said to let her know when I wanted to reactivate my request.
After several days, we determined my car was still going to be the best way of meeting their needs, so I called Lecia, and she picked up right where we left off and began looking again.
The very next evening, on behalf of Lecia, George from AmeriFreight, called me with an offer to ship my car the next morning. The pickup and dropoff locations I had given for each end of the shipment would involve some travel for us but I had figured these would be fairly easy to access with a large truck and trailer.
George told me right away that the driver's fee was a little more than their initial estimate of shipping costs, so I needed to decide if I wanted to do it or not. I considered the increase and asked if we could negotiate any closer delivery points to the pickup and dropoff locations I had originally chosen. I said I would be willing to pay the extra amount if the driver would pick up my car very close to my home and also deliver right to my Mom's home in Maine, since their current car had gotten very untrustworthy, even for short distances. This would save them and me together, almost 60 miles of driving to meet the truck, plus another driver and vehicle to get each of us to or from those locations.
George called the driver, made our offer, and the driver agreed. We had a deal, I signed the contract and sent a scanned copy to George by email, and he provided the contact number of the driver so we could communicate directly as needed.
The driver, DR Transport, called me and we arranged for pickup right from my home the next morning by 11AM and delivery right to my Mom's home sometime the following day. WOW.
DR Transport's driver and an assistant came at 11am, took pictures and filled out a form noting some minor paint damage on my car (at 15 years old, with over 200,000 miles, it was in good shape for its years, but it wasn't "mint condition") and then they loaded it up on a single vehicle trailer. It was getting individual service all the way to Maine!
I rested easy and was confident that AmeriFreight had done their homework and DR Transport would take good care of things. The driver and assistant were super nice guys and comfortable to deal with.
They delivered the car to my Mom's home the next day, almost exactly when they had expected to arrive. The car was unloaded and inspected by both parties, payment was made, forms signed and provided to my Mom, and the whole process was finished.
I admit that my greatest concerns had to do with letting a car I've trusted for so long be put in the hands of total strangers and go off down the highway. But honestly, by dealing with AmeriFreight, my concerns were alleviated and I rested easy about it.
They handled my private information responsibly, put in time searching (TWICE,) located a responsible driver, informed me of everything I would need to do, cautioned me about things I shouldn't do, and didn't just disappear once I had paid my deposit and shipped my car, instead following up after the fact to make sure all was well.
And to think, I was seriously thinking of driving all the way to Maine myself and then flying home. I would have lost a few days time and work, probably some sleep, and added another 900 miles on the car, not to mention leaving some family and home responsibilities to others to others during my absence.
I give AmeriFreight and DR Transport A+ marks and if I have to ship again, I'll just call AmeriFreight, have them check with DR Transport first, and then just relax and then let them set it up for me. This was WAY easier than I would have thought!
In fairness to readers, you should know I did receive a discount on my shipping costs for agreeing to write a review after the shipping was done, but I was not obligated to do a positive one. The reason I give them 5 stars is because they earned it. If they had failed to do so, that's what I would have been telling about.
