Company Response Review Report Review
PLEASE READ $1700 in DAMAGE and they "are not responsible"

Megan Submitted this review about All America Auto Transport
Review made Live: 10/12/2010 2:15:00 PM
I decided to use All America Auto Transport based on the great reviews they received on this website. I was tranporting my almost new 2009 Mercedes Benz and wanted to make sure I was using a good company that would take care of my car. I paid $150 more than other companies because I was assured by Kurt that being that AAAT had been in business for so long that they only worked with companies with good records. He claimed that "other companies would not be able to provide the quality of service that they could" and "all their trucking companies are licensed and insured". AAAT used a company called CDA Transportation to transport my car from Chicago to Newport Beach, CA. My car was scheduled to be picked up on Sept. 15 in the morning. At 11am on the 15th, I received a call from the driver stating his truck was broken and he would "maybe" be able to pick up my car the following day. Considering the truck had been in the shop since the previous day, I'm not sure why I was not contacted until 3 hours after the scheduled time of pick up to be notified it would not be happening. This incident was nothing compared to the rest of my experience with this company.

My car was picked up on Sept. 16 and aside from the driver then telling me I had to bring the car to him, the pick up went fairly smoothly. My car was delivered 5 days later and a friend of mine received the vehicle in Newport Beach because I was not in town until later that evening. The driver drove the car off the truck, parked it, turned it off and did a "walk around" around of the vehicle to check for damage. The car looked physically fine, aside from being a little dirty and my friend signed off and the trucker was on his way. Later that evening my flight arrived and I got to my parked vehicle. Immediately after turning my car on there was a service message that popped up saying that the car was "inoperable" because of the traction control. I drove the car around the parking lot to find that while the car drove straight, but the steering wheel was sitting like it was turned all the way to the left. Mind you this is a brand new Mercedes with 9K miles on it. I called Mercedes in the morning and had to have the car towed to the dealership.

This is copied directly off the invoice from the dealership:

It appears as if though the car may have been transported or towed and tied down with chains which damaged the suspension parts.

STEERING OFF CENTER
CAR NOT SAFE TO BE DRIVEN IN THIS CONDITION.

I immediately called AAAT where I was told that they were only the broker and I needed to deal directly with the trucking company to handle any damage claims. Also, that the trucking company is not responsible for mechanical damage to the vehicle. I made several phone calls to both AAAT and demanded that they assist because they are the ones who set me up with this company and it is unacceptable to back out now that there is a problem with a company I would have NEVER used if it hadn't been for their referral. I pretty much got nowhere with AAAT and was only able to get Kurt to forward me a copy of the trucking companies insurance (which ironically after we filed a claim with them turned out NOT TO BE THE TRUCKERS INSURANCE). Really?? AAAT does all this homework on their truckers and the insurance information CDA transportation provided was not even valid!

I have spoken with the trucking company multiple times where I was told I would receive a call back. It has been almost 3 weeks now and I have still never even received a call back from the trucking company. My insurance company is now involved and has reimbursed me for all the damages less my deductible of $500. We are still fighting to this day to be reimbursed. I would NEVER recommend using AAAT. I want a company who is going to stick by their customers when something goes wrong and not just email me DOT regulations telling me how it's not their problem if a company they dispatch out does anything to your car. If you want to take a risk, hire these guys but my car that should have cost $700 if I had gone with countless other companies. Instead it cost me a total of $2,500. Good luck finding a company that is legit and I hope this email deters people from using AAAT to set them up with their so called "quality trucking companies".
Shipment Details
Origin State:
Illinois
Pickup:
Late
Destination State:
California
Delivery:
Early
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
Kurt
Quote or Order Cost:
$8002500

Car Condition
  • Vehicle was damaged
Company Response
Steve Walter from All America Auto Transport Submitted this response.
Response Date: 10/19/2010 5:14:00 PM
This is in response to Megans review of our company. This car was signed at delivery in good condition. Days later Megan called us claiming that there was something wrong with the traction control. We are very clear in our contract that mechanical and operating parts of vehicles are not covered under the insurance, and that all claims must be noted and signed at the time of delivery. When Megan contacted our office in regard to this claim, we sent here a claim letter which directs her to contact directly the carrier. Per the Department of Transportation regulations claims are handled directly with the carrier. We also followed up with the carrier we contracted, CDA Transportation, to ask them to find out from their driver if they could have caused this damage. The dispatcher with CDA Transportation did follow up with the driver, and he stated that he did not do anything out of the ordinary in securing her vehicle. The driver with CDA Transportation has been shipping cars with their company for over 5 years. Their position in this matter is that the customer signed at delivery that this car was in good condition, and they would have in no way caused a mechanical failure of her traction control. Megan contacted us back that she was not satisfied, and I reiterated that our company had done all that we could do to help her. It was at this point that I sent her both the carriers certificate of insurance and the Department of Transportation regulations. I also gave her our presidents email address directly if she would want to contact him in regard to her concerns. She never once emailed our president. The claim that the insurance certificate is not valid is simply not true. We keep all current records of all carriers insurance on file with our company. We will not book a carrier for any of our customers unless we have an up to date insurance certificate.