Of every company I have ever dealt with regarding ANY personal business transaction, A BLUE KNIGHT (ABK) is far and away THE WORST Of the worst. In short, they are a fly-by-night scam operation based out of Syosset (more like Bayville, right Kathy?) that promises you a specific pick up time and date, gets you to pay in advance because of their (ahem) discounted rates and sign an absolutely incredulous contract, and then NEVER delivers the service the promised. Why? Because they have NO intention of ever shipping your car once they have your money $$$. Believe me, they are A-League A-Holes.
Here's a brief recap of my situation: I had to move from Los Angeles to Chicago in early January 2009 because of a job I had recently been hired for. Naturally, I didn't want to drive to Chicago over two days thru the snowy mountains and highways of Utah, Colorado, etc. So I arranged to have my car transported. Since I was in a hurry (I had less than 5 days to get to Chicago) I googled a quick search for websites that could recommend trustworthy companies. One of the sites I found sent me a list of "legit" companies which included A-Blue Knight. So my nightmare begins.
I made an initial call to ABK asking them if they could ship my car within a specific window of time; of course, they said yes (in that HIDEOUS New York accent some of them have), claiming they could ship it by the weekend, and then they took my bank info and got me to pay all of it via check by phone (yes, I know, BIG mistake). They inform me that the driver/dispatcher who will arrange for my car to be picked up will call me soon (within days) and will give me 24 hours notice before he shows up.
I call diligently every day attempting to discover when my car will in fact be picked up; after all, that is what I paid for. EVERY day I call I get a new story: the dispatcher is out or on his way, I'll have to call back later, I'll have to call during the morning, I'll have to wait for someone else to call me back (of course, they never did), etc. etc.
Meanwhile, time is disappearing as I my job is about to start and my car is still sitting in the garage. Finally, I have no choice but to fly to Chicago, not knowing when (or if) my car will be shipped. Once in Chicago, I continue to call them to see when my car was going to be transported; at this point they become EXTREMELY rude, yelling at me on the phone, changing the conditions of their initial agreement ("The 24 hour advance call is just a courtesy") and then even hanging up on me in the middle of a conversation (apparently customer service is optional for scammers; fyi, ABK, if you're going to steal people's money, at least be polite about it . . . seriously).
At this point, I decide to cancel the whole thing and go with another company, though ABK has a convenient charge of $250 if you do cancel. Apparently, "doing nothing" and "failing to render a service" costs $250. They said I can fax over a written statement saying I understand the terms of the agreement and that I will get a refund for the remainder of what I initially paid.
WRONG. I have since come to find out that ABK is nothing but a scam operation (if you don't believe me, read their reviews here: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/auto_trans/autotrail.html) Autotrail and ABK are one and the same; note the marked similarities between my story and theirs. It's sick and pathetic that a scam artist that has been doing this since 1986 is allowed to keep operating, bilking people out (including a young recent college grad like me) out of hard earned money during a severe economic recession. Hopefully, we will put an end to this.
Working with my bank, local, and New York authorities, I am in the process of deciding how to move forward. In the meantime, I have had my car shipped thru BlueStar Auto Movers who could not have been more wonderful. They charged me LESS than ABK and got my car to Chicago from Los Angeles in less than 4 days.
Here's what you need to know about A BLUE KNIGHT:
1) NEVER pay in full for auto transport, even if it is discounted. No one in the industry who is legit asks you to do so; all you should be paying is a deposit of less than $200 or so.
2) ABK will get you to sign a contract saying you (or your bank) will not challenge any charges they have made and that all disputes will be settled in a court of law. Seriously, they have thought this through.
3) They will dehumanize, degrade, and dismiss you in your conversations with them, recanting everything they promised to deliver. Unless you want to be treated like a second rate, thoughtless entity (in short, what ABK in reality is itself) you had best stay away.
Again, read of the horror they have inflicted upon the unsuspecting here:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/auto_trans/autotrail.html
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/142/RipOff0142569.htm
AUTOTRAIL, A BLUE KNIGHT, AND V&C WAREHOUSE are ONE AND THE SAME. Do not let them near your money; they are absolutely the lowest of the low, a cringe inducing stereotype come to life.
Hiss, spit, and groan.
