Overall a good experience. First is my review. Last you will find my only negative comment: how they solicited a review.
Note: I did sign their "MARC" which is the document that says they can negotiate up to $200 more than the original quotation. No surprises, my cost was exactly $200 more than the original quotation. This ended up being $1,100 for the transporter, plus the $250 deposit (brokerage fee, I believe) to Amerifreight.That's $1,350 total. Still less or on-par with other quotes I received.
I went with Amerifreight because they're the only BBB Accredited transport broker I found and gave me a low-ish price. I was shipping a very large vehicle about the size and shape of a Chevy Suburban (For those who must know, it was a Chevy Scottsdale with an 8' bed and cap).
Overall my experience was fine. I got exactly what I was expecting, but I think I could have got it done a bit cheaper if I didn't sign the MARC.
I was out of town when they came to pick it up. My girlfriend handled that part of it. She said it all was fine, but they were about 6 hours late due to traffic (They were trying to get through Los Angeles during rush hour...in the rain. So I'm not surprised). My dad received the vehicle. Once again, no complaints. Our carrier was SUV Transport LLC operating out of Massachusetts. It was two days late, apparently due to black-ice in the midwest. As one who has been caught in mid-west black ice and delayed by exactly 2-days, I understand how that can happen.
My only complaint: How they solicit a review. Not the $50 discount for writing a review: That's awesome. No complaints there. The only problem was at the very end, after the vehicle was dropped off I got a confirmation email with a line that really made me angry and is totally unfair to me and my representative at Amerifreight. It reads as follows:
"VERY IMPORTANT: Reviews are my report cards. If I get anything less than 5 stars or rated excellent, it will impact my performance for promotions and job retention severely. It is seldom that things go 100% all the time. I know sometimes there may be small irritations but I trust you will see past that in my overall performance. The MOST IMPORTANT is the final overall rating at the end of the review. Only an excellent rating will result in a 5 star review. , if you plan to leave anything less than excellent, please contact me first to give me the opportunity to fix where I fell short."
This is the most guilt-trip solicitation line I've ever seen! My rep didn't "fall short" anywhere, but that doesn't mean the company deserves 5-stars, and yet my rating will determine whether or not someone gets a promotion?! This review is for the company, not my representative and it's unfair for her pay grade to depend on a subjective review of factors outside of her control. My representative did a fine job, but the company overall is just average. Clearly I'm not going to leave a 5-star review because they didn't earn it. I got exactly what I was expecting, which is not 5-star performance. That should be 2.5 stars on a 5-star scale. The 5-minutes on the phone with her does not represent the overall experience. So, Miss representative: I'm truly sorry if this impacts your pay. It's unfair to both of us for your company to have put me in this situation. I'm not your boss, and my opinion as a single customer of the company you work for should not have a direct impact on your pay. I'm truly sorry if this is indeed the case, as I absolutely will not give Amerifreight a 5-star review after receiving a solicitation like that.
So, in the end I will say this: I would probably go with them again because the price was acceptable, the service was acceptable, and I feel like they do a (mostly) honest business. Knowing that the guilt-trip-train is headed my way for doing a review, I might, in the future, opt-out of the review discount. It really makes me angry that they put me in this situation where I can't be honest without my representative possibly having to pay the price for the very average nature of the company she works for. Angry and sad. :-/
