Poor Service

Brittaney Submitted this review about Auto Rail Forwarders
Review made Live: 3/28/2014 12:40:00 PM
In Nov. 2013 I contacted AutoRail Forwarders about shipping my vehicle from Fredericton NB to Calgary AB. The quote was delivered in a prompt and professional manner. I had contacted several companies and decided to go with the cheapest and fastest quote. A week or so before I was shipping my vehicle I wanted to change the departure city. I once again got a prompt reply. A few days before I was shipping my vehicle I contacted the company. And once again I got very prompt replies. Everything was all set up and I dropped my car off in Saint John NB on Dec. 23.

I was quoted 14-16 days on the shipping of my vehicle. On Jan 8 I decided to see where my vehicle was. I did not get a reply back. After many emails (many of which went unanswered) I was finally told that my vehicle had only made it to Halifax. It was now Feb and I was getting quite upset. Moving to a new city which no vehicle is very difficult. I did not get my car until Mar. 13. This is 80 days after I dropped it off. When I called, I spoke to Gerry who informed me that my car got mixed up with another vehicle. This is not satisfactory of any company. I asked if I could be compensated for my inconvenience. This apparently could not happen but if I ever wanted to ship my vehicle back I could do so at cost. I won't be doing that and if I was I would choose a different company so that my car would actually make it to me in a timely matter.

I would not recommend this company to anyone unless you do not need your vehicle for months. The price was right but the service was not.

Company Response
Nick from Auto Rail Forwarders Submitted this response.
Response Date: 5/7/2014 4:07:00 PM
Hello Thanks for the reply , We are sorry for the delay in the shipment delay, we will investigate this shipment and reply.. I'm not sure but I believe the client had personal effects in the vehicle , I will check this out.. personal effects in the vehicle .. is ok on some routes,, but slows the shipment down due to DOT Regulations.. and our drivers are subject to heavy Gov't fines.. Weight is always an issue. I will look into this matter.. I see that the responding time to emails and phone calls is greater then the client is mentioning.. Our records show many phone calls and no answer or couldn't leave a message due to message mail box being full.. This is just a glance at the file until i look further into it... We want happy customers.. we Move close to 1000 units a year.. and we do our best to communicate with clients.. but it is sometimes difficult to call every single day. As mentioned,,I will for sure look into this matter.. Regards Craig ARF Claims Dept AS WELL::: The Client Stuffed the Vehicle trunk back seat front seat.. She signed the terms and conditions. We are not a Moving and storage company. The Client still hasn't paid for the entire move.. WE ASK YOU TO READ THE BELOW INFORMATION JUST A NOTE,, WE MOVE OVER 1000 VEHICLES PER YEAR AND HAVE LESS THEN .05 % THAT HAVE COMPLAINTS, WE STRIVE TO DO OUR BEST... WE AREN'T PERFECT.. BUT WE TRY OUR HARDEST TO HAVE REPEAT CLIENTS. THATS IMPORTANT TO OUR BUSINESS MODEL. IMPORTANT INFO TO OUR CLIENTS........ YOU SHOULD READ..... The Response to this Review may be found in greater detail at the bottom..... however, in the mean time, we provide the following..... HERE IS A GENERAL OVERVIEW Please be advised that Auto Rail has been in Business for over 25 yrs and ships over 1000 vehicles per year, we are in Partnership and Rely on our main Service Providers CN RAIL and ALLIED SYSTEMS who both have been in business for over 60 yrs. These service providers have been Delivering our Clients Vehicles to several Locations across Canada and the USA for many many years. It is important to Note that we do have Clients who complain from time to time..and we understand the frustration of waiting for delayed shipments. Auto Rail does it's very best to get back to clients as quickly as possible with answers to there questions. In the shipping business, Private clients need info, and we understand that... ... some clients want updates, some want in the AM, some want in the PM.. some want daily , some want weekly and others.. well they understand the delays and the time it can take. Auto Rail can only give approx times and can never guarantee an exact delivery time, as per the terms and conditions that we provide to each and every client. What clients don't understand is that the auto shipping industry in Canada is very small, compared to our neighbors in the USA. Service providers in Canada ship using Rail - Truck and in some cases a Drive Away Service. Take for example, Allied Systems our main service provider, who is the Largest Auto Shipping Company in North America. Recently Allied Systems ( which you can google) lost 2 major Contracts in 2011 that they held for over 50 yrs with GM and Chrysler Corporation, leaving almost 250 trucks now sitting idle in Canada . You ask, How has this effected the market Place and why is my shipment so late.? What private shippers don't understand is how that has effected the market place for used vehicles being moved throughout the entire Country. Basically, those smaller carriers owning from 1 to 10 trucks in Canada.. have gone after those two contracts across the county and have little or no time to move used vehicles, So the industry has taken a major turn on the used car shipping business in Canada. Why ? why is it , that Clients vehicles are being delayed and put on the back burner, as others scramble to find interline carriers to hopefully move there inventory for ie: moving companies, used car dealers Gov't , and Private shippers etc etc.. Shipping vehicle in a timely manner is and has been a major problem for awhile now. Why you ask ? Think about it..... Who would you rather move vehicles for.... GM - Chrysler or any of the big manufactures or one zzeess or two zzeess from private shippers. The answer is quite clear... truckers big and small would rather ship for manufactures, who give them little to no headaches and don't have to answer to clients shipping one vehicle at a time, versus 500. What must be understood is that it is not our intention to hold vehicles that are being shipped, we have never lost or have had a vehicle stolen. Vehicles for sure have been delayed with out question, SOME yes have been lost in our yard, as we sometimes have over 2000 vehicles in a yard waiting to be delivered.. But ...STOLEN.. .. NONE. What Clients don't understand is that from time to time we do have to rely on several other inter connect carriers who don't tell us the straight goods and give us false hopes of yes it was or wasn't picked up, or our truck broke down and couldn't pickup the vehicle. etc etc.... Lies Lies Lies.. and what we have to tell the client is what information is relayed to us..... Inter Line Carriers as well don't like to pay there claims when we have not physically handled the vehicle. Almost every time we take the blame and fingers are pointed at our Company , when in fact the carrier who we brokered to move the vehicle , takes there fees quoted and will not and doesn't take responsibility for damages or the time delays that they have caused. All the carrier cares about is getting paid for that shipment. Since our Head Office is Located in Halifax Nova Scotia , we do communicate with the local police dept on several matters, not only here but across the country. Police Agencies Ie: RCMP contact us on a regular bases to track vehicles that may be suspected in illegal drugs being shipped or other items, so we on a regular bases provide details to them for investigation. Our Company has never been charged with FRAUD ! And we do have and open and ongoing relationship with the Police department here in Halifax , as we keep them informed of events of clients concerns. It is our goal since our volume of business has increased over the years to up date Review sites, like this one , so that we are on top of each and every review and we give feed back. We as well are going to start collecting and have clients submit reviews that are positive and those of which may have had a claim and that they have been satisfied. We are yes sometimes at fault for perhaps not calling or emailing a client back, in the time frame that they wish us too.. however we are here and we are moving hundreds of vehicles. Sincerely, Management AutoRail