Mess from the start. Long, but good story. All true.
car collector in the west
Submitted this review about
Best Auto Shipper
Review made Live: 5/26/2011 2:10:00 PM
These guys are tough.
6 bids came from my inquiry on-line to pick up my 1987 Austin FX4 London Taxi in Santa Barbara, CA and deliver to Park City, Utah and ranged from $515 to $600. Best Auto Shipper was right in the middle at $550. I went with them because of Rick's initial interest in moving my car, and the pick up timing seemed perfect.
It was very interesting seeing how each company bad mouths the other and the horror stories you hear, about companies taking the deposit and never picking up the car, or late pick ups' etc.
So here's my story...
Rick from Best Auto Shipper quoted me $550 for Monday pick up in Santa Barbara, CA delivering to Utah on Wednesday. Confirmation for all of this was to be on Saturday.
Saturday, a few days prior to Monday's pick up:
They did not return or answer my calls in the morning. Eventually they got back to me late that day and reassured me that all was fine. Ok, it was a weekend, I understand.
Monday, 'All is fine', but still no paperwork, and they said looks like a Monday evening pick up, Wednesday delivery (773 miles total from CA to UT).
Monday night: 'Truck broke down, gotta be Tuesday between 12 noon and 3 California time.'
Tuesday: To confirm and get a better idea time for the pick up (owner taking time off of work to meet for pick up), I asked that we speak in the morning. 'Sure, We will know better at 12 noon East Coast Time. Called at noon, no answer, 10 minutes later, no answer, left message. Hour later, no answer, they returned my call at 3pm-three hours later, while pick up is happening now, and of course STILL no paperwork, just the bid quote at $550. Their excuse for not answering was that they lost power.
PRICE INCREASE:
So, after waiting for 3 hours, some other guy called me back (appreciated just a call back at this point) and said it'd be $300 MORE to pick up the car because it was larger than the quoted minivan. Obviously I knew what they were doing, got angry, so enter on the phone Bob, the manager of Best Auto Shipper, also in Florida. Of course it was Rick's day off, and unavailable to back his quote.
So Bob, why the extra $300? Bob said, because my car was BIGGER than the stated 'minivan'. Yes, I admit, I choose the category minivan, because there was not a category for 1987 Austin FX4, so this seemed the closest and most fair representation.
Back to the additional price increase: They said it is bigger than a minivan, so the price is another $300, BUT (and here's the good news) Bob said 'The driver is and hour away and ready to pick it up'. Hmmm. So, thanks to the Internet, and within 20 seconds, I gave Bob the specs:
Minivan 16 feet, 1987 FX4 14 feet 5.3 inches. Yes, a foot and a half SHORTER than your minivan, Bob.
So then Bob said it WASN'T the length that was the issue. It was the WIDTH was the cause. So, 8 seconds later:
Minivan 72 inches FX4 68.6 inches
Then Bob said it was the HEAVY STEEL in older cars which makes it much heavier, is the reason. 3 seconds later (I'm getting really good at this now):
Minivan 4500 pounds 1987 Austin FX4 3527 pounds.
Gotta love the Internet with all this at my fingertips. I seriously CANNOT make this up. This is really happening with their rationale.
At a loss, Bob then said it was that Santa Barbara is so far off the beaten path. He said Rick quoted me from LA, which is odd since I never even mentioned LA, ever. Santa Barbara has been and still IS the pick up location. So, Bob said it was Rick's fault for MISQUOTING me at $550 (now $850, hour away from pick up) and because he is SO nice, that he' knock off $50 (I guess to make me feel warm and fuzzy about the transaction).
Not going to happen Bob.
After much bantering back and forth, and Bob's 'Whoa is me, Rick is going to get it for quoting you this price!' attitude.' Bob decided to get the driver on the phone who is now on the side of the road apparently, because I wasn't budging.
Remember I got 6 bids from $515 to $600, all knowing the pick up location!
So, we agreed on $75 more than the $550 bid. Now we're up to $625 door to door. Bob sent the paperwork via email, and I submitted it on line, so after 54 minutes of frustration, on with the job.
Driver calls Wednesday to ask if I could pick up the car in Salt Lake City. Not a major problem if we weren't at 8,000 feet and this car has never seen a mountain, much less a hill. Oh, and he'd knock off $25. And I thought the service was Door To Door! Or of course I could wait and have it delivered for the full price in a day.
I met him in Salt Lake, drove her 55 minutes home, frustrated throughout.
Lesson for me:
Watch the Bait and Switch
Therefore, Get paperwork done in advance, so they are committed to their contract.
Have the car delivered to your door!
