No Backup Plan, NO Help after Pickup

Drew Submitted this review about Agape Auto Transport LLC
Review made Live: 10/25/2008 12:13:00 PM
Bottom Line - Once your vehicle is picked up by a carrier with this company, do not expect ANY help from AGAPE or reduction of their (or the carrier's) fee if there are problems with the carrier that cause, in my case, a very lengthy delay in delivery and quite a few out-of-pocket expenses and missed worktime due to surviving on a single vehicle in a two working parent home. THERE IS NO BACKUP PLAN FOR EXTENDED TRUCK BREAKDOWNS!!

I paid a higher price to this company due to finding some good reviews, but it was a nightmare for me to have them as my "Broker" once the truck broke down. "Broker" at that point apparently means they'll call the driver (only if you specifically request them to) and forward back to you his status. They will do NOTHING else on your behalf as your "broker" to resolve the situation with the carrier. YOU the client will be stuck dealing with the driver directly. If he's broke down for a month, guess what, too bad.

And if AGAPE-contracted driver tells you, "Hey, I'll be back on the road in two days" and you hear that five times over the period of a week and a half, guess what AGAPE will do?? That's right, nothing. What's the saying "Tomorrow never comes..."?

My carrier broke down two days into his trip and Agape didn't even know about it until three days later. (Note to potential clients, AGAPE will contract carriers/drivers that, at least in this case, won't inform them if they've broken down.) The way AGAPE found out was because I called them due to my delivery coordination phone call not being received after five days (on a four-day delivery estimate). At that point, their usefullness as my "broker" was zero.

Their role as my "broker" when I asked about an adjustment to my fees was "Call the driver directly and deal with him for any discounts" (on the balance of $925). As far as their $150 fee being reduced, their response was simply "Read your contract - we're not obligated to do that." They're probably right, nor is it worth my time or money to fight them for it w/my credit card company via a disputed charge (though it was very tempting), but for a company that says 100% Satisfaction and "Christian" on their homepage, they were anything but either of those.

Lastly, due to all this, I asked on repeated occasions to speak to the Owner/President (Rebekah Allen - listed in BBB of Middle Tennessee) of the company to discuss with her some ways they might change procedures with their contracted carriers to avoid this type situation in the future w/other customers when a truck breaks down for a long period of time.

Well, I never received a phone call... Which tells me they have no interest in fixing this type problem or worse yet, they apparently don't think it's a problem. If you contract with them, hopefully you'll be one of the majority whose vehicle arrives with no problem. But, if your truck contracted thru AGAPE breaks down, BUYER BEWARE!!!

If there is an AGAPE rebuttal to this review and they'll apologize for my truck getting to me late and blame the driver, but apologies only go so far in a customer service business like theirs. I can also guarantee there is nothing in this review that is factually incorrect despite what they might claim and I invite anyone to contact me if they've got any questions (drew78748@yahoo.com).

And I'm still waiting for a call from Rebekah Smalls..., I've kept my notes of suggestions for things they can ask of carriers they contract with to benefit future customers, but are apparently not interested.

Company Response
Rebekah A from Agape Auto Transport LLC Submitted this response.
Response Date: 10/27/2008 11:01:00 AM
We are shocked that Mr. Andrew DeHennis of Austin Texas stated that his review is completely true because he is not telling the complete truth. In addition we found it odd that he waited over 30 days after his vehicle was delivered to write this review. In the following paragraphs I will explain how Agape does have a backup plan in situations where carriers breakdown. Also we always stay in communication with the customer, and handle things between the driver and customer. If the customer requests the drivers phone number we do give it to the customer in case they want to check on things themselves. We have a high rating in this industry because we stand by these policies. Mr Dehennis stated we didn’t know about the breakdown. That was incorrect. We notified him of the breakdown. In addition, we have a very strict policy for accepting carriers into our network. I will explain that process below. Also, we never tell customers to just “read the contract” as he stated. Lastly, we always do our very best with each customer’s transport and that is how we remain high in customer ratings. We are sorry that the carrier broke down in Tucson Az. Unfortunately this happens once in a blue moon and we do our very best to get things resolved quickly. As hard as the carriers try to keep up with all the maintenance on the trucks they sometimes still have mechanical issues like any vehicle that is driven constantly. We did stay in complete contact with Mr Dehinnis about the situation the entire time the vehicle was in the carrier’s possession, and we were very proactive in solving the situation and did not just leave him to deal with the driver as he stated. We were in contact with the carrier company and the mechanics office where the carrier was being worked on every day. To give a brief description of what happen; the mechanics shop expected to get the parts in and the truck fixed in 1 day. However, the mechanics shop received the parts a few days late delaying things a little further. We offered to get another carrier to come out and pickup Mr. Dehinnis’s vehicle but the mechanics shop said that the part should be in shortly and they would have the carrier up and running very soon so that wouldn’t be necessary. We decided to go ahead and wait because the new carrier would have been there at the time the current carrier was fixed and back on the road. Mr. Dehinnes was in agreement with this. Having another carrier come get the load from the broken carrier is generally the back-up plan when a carrier does breakdown. However we were in complete communication between all parties and were very proactive in trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Mr. Dehinnis stated that Agape hired a carrier that will not inform you if they breakdown. Agape has a very extensive process in qualifying a carrier for our network. First, carriers must be licensed with the FMCSA, the federal dept of transportation. Secondly, carriers must have a high rating in our industry of customer satisfaction (this is an internal industry rating were all brokers and carriers rate experience on each transport). Thirdly they must carrier both Cargo and Liability insurance on each truck. Fourth, they must have a high rating on previous transports within our company and for our customers. We only have carriers in our network that meet ALL of these high standards all of the time. That is how we keep our customers vehicles safe and customers satisfied with the service they receive. Mr. Dehinnis was contacted by Rebekah. Our notes show that he was contacted by both email and by phone. The messages left were not ever returned though so she assumed he was satisfied with the situation and things had been resolved. Which is why we were shocked this review was posted so late. We apologize that Mr. Dehinnis was dissatisfied with our efforts. We really did try to make the best of the situation and get it resolved as soon as possible. We felt we did communicate with him and work to get the situation resolved. I am sorry and shocked he was not happy with our efforts. We always try to do our very best with every situation and customer.