Company Response Review Report Review
Cannot Recommend

Bill Submitted this review about AutoStar Transport Express
Review made Live: 9/9/2013 5:05:00 PM
I am not a car dealer. I am an individual purchaser of a classic car. The seller was not a car dealer either. This was our first experience having a car transported. I selected Autostar based on their willingness to publish customer reviews on their website. The reviews were overwhelmingly, but not totally positive. Autostar was not the cheapest quote I received either.

My initial contacts with Autostar's customer service personnel were extremely positive and professional. We executed a contract and I paid my deposit. I was told that I would be contacted by a driver 3-5 days prior to my desired pick-up date. Two days before the pick-up date, I had not been contacted by anyone and called Autostar. I was told that a carrier had not yet been assigned. I asked when my car would be picked up and was told that Autostar did not know but it would "hopefully" happen within 8-10 days of the original pick-up date. When I told the customer service individual (a different person from my original contact) that I had assumed that my car would be picked up on the originally scheduled date, I was told that Autostar could not guarantee a pick-up date, and if I had read my contract, I should have known that (Correct: I should have read the several pages of small-print gray text in the contract more carefully. Instead , I chose to rely on the explanation of the first Autostar customer service representative.) I then asked if Autostar could tell me when my car would be delivered, and I was told that they could not.

A short time later, I received an e-mail from Autostar designating a carrier who would be transporting my car and giving me a pick-up and delivery date. I was a bit relieved. The purported delivery date would be one week later than the date originally scheduled. As the delivery date approached, I had not been contacted by the carrier, so I e-mailed him. Receiving no response, I called him. A pleasant fellow, he informed me that he had experienced some delays and would be delivering my car a week later than scheduled. I reluctantly agreed and rearranged my schedule and that of the seller. As the latest promised delivery date approached and I had again not heard from the carrier, I called Autostar to determine whether the car would be delivered as the carrier promised. After a few hours, Autostar informed me that it would not be delivered for yet another week. At that point my patience was exhausted (as was that of the seller). I told the latest customer service representative (the third or fourth I had dealt with) that if my car were not delivered on the date promised, I would make other arrangements and demand my deposit be returned. A few hours later, I received a call from an Autostar manager who promised to make things right. To his credit, he did just that. My car was transported by a different carrier, and arrived satisfactorily only a day after that promised by the first carrier.

A measure of good customer service is how a company recovers from mistakes. In the end, Autostar did take steps to remedy a dropped ball. I appreciate that, however, my car was delivered almost a month after it was initially promised. I and the car's seller were forced to rearrange our schedules repeatedly. The customer service personnel at Auotstar were unfailingly courteous and professional (except for the instance when one told me that I should have read my contract more carefully). I believe that this company probably does an outstanding job arranging large volume car transport for dealers. But for an individual seeking to have one car transported, I regret that I cannot recommend Autostar.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
Virginia
Pickup:
Late
Destination State:
Maryland
Delivery:
Late
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
457825-TZ
Quote or Order Cost:
$350

Company Response
Mike Cannon from AutoStar Transport Express Submitted this response.
Response Date: 9/9/2013 5:55:00 PM
From AutoStar Transport and Logistics: We appreciate all feedback regarding our service and the service of the carriers we provide. We must first apologize if the customer feels that his service was less than satisfactory, as we did our best to meet the requested dates set forth by the customer. Finding the right carrier in the area was complicated by the fact that the pickup contact had a full time job, lived three hours from the pickup location, and was requesting weekend only pickups. Even with such restrictions, we were able to find a carrier to pickup 5 days after the first available pickup date, and was delivered in two days taking into account the Labor Day holiday. Considering all factors, we feel that we were able to still deliver 5 star service. We wish the customer well, and look forward to continued success of arranging transport needs for anyone, anytime. AutoStar Transport and Logistics. 888-802-8250 toll free for a free quote.