Transport from Alabama to Massachusetts

Pierre Submitted this review about AutoStar Transport Express
Review made Live: 5/6/2015 9:15:00 PM
I was not happy with the time frame and how everything played out. I tried to be proactive and I began to set things up nearly 2 months or so prior to my move. I was informed that the bid for my car wouldn't start receiving any bids until about 10 days prior to the "release" date. I understood the "release" date to be the expected pick-up date. Apparently that was not the case. I called about 10 days prior to the release date and I was told that they usually don't get bids until 7 days prior. 7 days prior to the release date I had not heard anything, so I called and I was informed that they usually didn't get bids until about 2-3 days prior. Once again, 2-3 days prior to the release date I didn't hear anything and when I called I was just told that it was strange that they hadn't heard anything. I was informed that the price at which I was originally quoted just seemed very low for that time of year. I don't know why I received such an extremely low quote when they knew it would be too low for that time of year. I was informed that I would be contacted when they increased the bid, I wasn't. I was informed about the increases when I called to see what was going on. I clearly informed the representative that I needed the car within a certain time frame and I feel like he was just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. I was just getting "yes, yes, yes, absolutely." I feel like I planned ahead and I still got jerked around and screwed out of my budget. I had to leave my car behind in the pick up city for a friend to take care of the transaction for me. The only positives about this transaction are that when I finally got a carrier, they picked up the car earlier than planned and they delivered the car earlier than planned. The car was in the same condition as when I left it, nothing was wrong upon delivery.

Company Response
Mike Cannon from AutoStar Transport Express Submitted this response.
Response Date: 5/7/2015 11:06:00 AM
Pierre, We truly apologize for lack of a clear explanation of how the transport business works. We as with all brokers work with first available release dates. This is a date set by the customer that IF a carrier were available, it would be the first date the car could be released. The average pickup time for vehicles is 3-5 days FROM the first available release date. Unfortunately, your vehicle was being shipped in the peak season for vehicles leaving the southern states going back to the northeastern states. Prices are at the highest, and wait times are increased. This is due to the overwhelming amount of vehicles being shipped, and carriers taking only the highest paying ones first. We are obligated to quote transports at the current market price, due to the fact that we cannot predict the future and cannot give an accurate quote based on future markets. We do our best to advise customers that prices will increase due to the peak season, and this is exactly what we did. The vehicle was picked up and delivered within normal time frames for this route and season, however at a higher than originally quoted price. We appreciate the feedback, and will do our best to communicate this better in the future.