Great coordination - flaky trucking company

Dan Submitted this review about Automotive Transport Inc.
Review made Live: 8/5/2004 11:50:00 PM
The cost for this move was great ($695), and my move was coordinated quickly. Pickup and dropoff occured without incident (VERY relieved after reading the many horror stories). I immediately took my car to the car wash and noticed a scratch on the front end that occurred during shipping (note: take pictures of your car before shipping and after!).

I submitted a claim and was assured by the trucking company (not Automotive Transport) that I would be covered once I had an invoice. Since they insisted they could not write a check in my name, I had the car repaired and submitted the invoice for payment. The total for repairs cost more than the shipping (the car is a Porsche).

As you are probably expecting (I know I was), the check never arrived. I called the trucking company and the woman I spoke with said her husband had had a stroke and was no longer working, so there would be no payment. Apparently their company had a $1000 deductible and they had to pay my claim out of pocket. I am as sympathetic as anyone, but as a small business owner myself, when you sign on to do business you need to be able cover your obligations. If you need better insurance, charge more and buy it. If you can't, don't move cars you cannot pay to fix.

I spoke with my attorney on this matter, and he advised that discretion is the better part of valor in this case. It would cost more to collect than the payment itself. I was tempted to do it just to prove a point...

In the end, I ended up paying about as much as I would have with a high end trucking company (covered transport, they own the truck fleet, etc). Automotive Transport promised to remove this trucking company from their list, but that is closing the barn door after the horse is out.

Lesson: If you really can't stand for the car to be damaged, pay more for the better service. At this point I really have no option but to drop it. Automotive Transport really has no liability as a broker. You might get lucker than I did, but if you don't you are out in the cold.