Saved e-mails and documentation concerning all of the following experiences with Better Way Auto Transportation can be provided to whom ever upon request.
To say my experience with Better Way Auto Transportation was terrible, would be a gross understatement.
-On February 3rd I received a quote from Better Way Auto Transportation (Gina Flowers) concerning the transportation of my truck (It needed to be transported on April 16th,).
-On February 6th I returned her e-mail stating that I was interested. However, being military, our truck was being held at a Military Vehicle Processing Center and that the driver would have to have a Power Of Attorney (attained by myself) in order to pick up the vehicle. Gina wrote me back within the hour assuring me that getting a power of attorney document to the driver would not be a problem for them.
She called me immediately after the previous e-mail. I once again asked her if getting a power of attorney to the driver of the vehicle would be a problem. She assured me, for the second time, that it would not be a problem. So.. I paid.. filled out and e-mailed the contract back to Gina as requested, asking her to write me back to let me know if the image files of the said contract would suffice. I never received a reply.
-February 20th I e-mailed her back, again, wanting to make sure that the contract was correct. No response.
-March 6th I e-mailed her asking about the contract and asking about attaining the drivers name so that I could go have a power of attorney created. Again, no response. I was really starting to believe that I was a victim of a scam. She was very excited to take my money but refused to remain in contact with me. I found the companies website and located a different phone number to contact them. The man I spoke to told me that they would, IN FACT, know who the driver would be during (I quote) “the first week of April.” I thanked him and let him know that I had been trying to contact Gina Flowers for over a month concerning my shipment and that she was not returning my e-mails. Surprisingly, he had no comment on this matter.
I decided to initially e-mail Gina during the first week of April for information concerning the driver so that I could attain the POA. As expected, I did not hear back from her so I called the number I located on the website. A women answered the phone. I told her that I had a vehicle that was scheduled to be picked up in April. I also stated that I needed the name of the driver to attain a POA so that the vehicle could be picked up. Curiously, she knew who I was without even asking me my name. I then asked if her name was Gina Flowers, she said that she was not Gina Flowers, and that Gina was in charge of customer service. She then told me that I would have to wait until they contacted me with the drivers name. I AGAIN stated that it was of utmost importance that the driver received a POA in order to simply get on the lot that my vehicle was being held at. She said that it would NOT be a problem.
April 16th (The date my vehicle was supposed to be picked up), I never received a call from Better Way Auto Transportation. I called the next working day, they still had not received the name of the driver. They told me, once again, that they would contact me with the information as soon as they had received it. I informed them, again, about the importance of having the POA . I contacted the Military Vehicle Processing Center (where my vehicle was being held) to let them know that I was still trying to attain a name, so that I could get a POA, and that the vehicle would have to stay longer then intended. They were understanding and extended my trucks stay until the end of May. They also told me (since I was having so many problems with Better Way) that I could acquire the POA for Better Way Auto Transportation as opposed to an individual. I got the POA and e-mailed the POA to BOTH Gina Flowers and the Military Vehicle Processing Center.
April 27th (11 days after scheduled pick up) I had a voicemail and an e-mail from Gina Flowers (So her e-mail does function..) stating that they had found a driver to pick up my truck for Monday, April 30th and that the driver would be contacting me ASAP. I immediately called her back, Gina picked up the phone, and then put me on hold. A man later answered and stated that Gina had gone to lunch. I again told him who I was, and the sensitive situation with the POA. He asked if a drop off time of 4:30 would suffice, I said “yes.” He then told me he had to call dispatch and would call me back ASAP (He never stated on what day the drop off would happen).Well, I never received a call back from either Gina or the man I spoke to. However, both Gina and the Military Vehicle Processing Center had copies of the POA so there should NOT have been any problems.
April 30th I get a very rude and accusing phone call from Gina Flowers. She stated that the Driver was at the Vehicle Processing Center, and that I had not sent him the POA, so the Processing Center was not allowing him to pick up my vehicle. I told her that NO ONE at Better Ways Auto EVER gave me the drivers contact information, nor was I EVER contacted by the driver as promised. I also told her that I had sent the POA to her e-mail and that the transportation company also had a copy of the POA. She told me that she could not send him (the driver) the POA because she had NO CONTACT with the driver. Once again I told her “Well, no one EVER gave me contact information for the driver!“ I told her I would call the Vehicle Processing Center to find out what the issue was. She told me she would contact the driver to tell him not to leave (After stating that she had no contact with the driver!!).
I called the Vehicle Processing Center immediately. They told me that the driver had NO DOCUMENTATION with either mine or my husband’s name. He simply showed up to pick up a random vehicle with no documents! I apologized to them, and told them the situation. They said that they would bring him in and try to figure it out. I then contacted Better Way, yet again, spoke with a women, to let them know that the driver had NO documentation. They told me that he in fact HAD the documents on hand. They said that they would contact the driver and tell him to return to the Vehicle Processing Center. I asked them to PLEASE contact me if there were anymore problems! A few hours later I called Better Way Auto Transportation back to again get shuffled through 2-3 different people on hold (Including being hung up on in the middle of spelling my last name). The last person I talked to told me she had NO information on my vehicle. While she was hanging up on me I BEGGED her to please wait so that I could explain the situation. (Now I believe this women I spoke to was Sarah) She then realized who I was and told me that she had not heard from the driver and decided that it PROBABLY got picked up…Yes, she used the word “probably“..
May 1st at roughly 3pm I received a call from the driver. He brought my truck to the drop off location at 6pm. When paying, we found out that Better Way Auto Transportation had raised the price of my vehicle shipment up another $100!!! I had NEVER been informed of this price change throughout this entire nightmare. Conveniently, Better Way was closed for the evening so I was forced to pay the driver the extra $100.
May 2nd
-8am I called Better Way Auto Transportation. Whomever answered the phone asked me to call back for Sarah at 11am.
-11:30am I called back and spoke with Sarah. I told her that both my vehicle was over 2 weeks late (breaching the 3-5 day window as stated in my contract) and that I was charged an extra $100 when my vehicle was being dropped off (Breaching the agreement that I would be informed if the price of shipment had changed before pickup, as started in my contract). She attempted to rush me off the phone stating “I do not see any notes on your form so I will have to speak with everyone.” I stopped her before she hung up on me to inform her that EVERY person who said they would return my calls at Better Way had failed to do so. She assured me that I would receive a response. I am still waiting for said response..
In conclusion:
Better Way Auto Transportation lied to me on more then one occasion. They breached their contract in two ways (3-5 day window of pick up was breached when my vehicle was not picked up for more then 2 weeks, and they did not inform me of the price change before the vehicle was transported) They ignored me, hung up on me and accused me of not following through with my responsibilities. They had THREE MONTHS to get a driver and said drivers information to me (Which I NEVER received). I called them and e-mailed them more times then I can count HOUNDING them to do their jobs. No one has gone out of their way to offer me any type of refund..
Update: May 2nd, close of business (I was told Sarah works until 5pm) Sarah did NOT return my call concerning my refund after specifying earlier that I was distrurbed because NO ONE ever returned my calls.
May 3rd, this review was taken down because a "reviewer" accused me of NOT being a customer. After proving that I obviously am a customer of Better Way Auto Transport, this review was made again active. No reply has been made by Sarah or anyone on staff concerning a refund.
