Terrible experience. DO NOT use DAS

Peter Submitted this review about Dependable Auto Shippers
Review made Live: 11/11/2007 1:18:00 PM
Car, brand new 2007 Audi A4, was shipped from Southern California to Northern Virginia. I've done this before (a few months previously) with a different carrier and it took 7 days exactly, without any delays. Dependable Auto Shippers (DAS) picked up the car 2 days late. They took it to their "port" or "hub" holding facility and it sat there for nearly 1 week without being moved or anything. I was told that it would be loaded onto a carrier the day the car was picked up from me, but it just sat there. I was with out a car for 7 days while in VA because DAS delivered the car 7 days late! Tack on the cost of rental for 7 days and the semi-respectable price of $900 to ship the car with DAS ended up costing A LOT more.

Car arrived damaged. The underside of the front bumper was completely scraped due to numerous unloading and reloading of the car....at least 6 times of loading and unloading onto and off of flat bed trucks and transport carriers. There was a dent/scratch on the driver door due to any of the numerous irresponsible workers loading/unloading the car. Filed a claim with DAS in regards to the damages and they said I never purchased their "coverage valuation" or damage coverage policy. I WAS NEVER INFORMED THAT I HAD TO BUY THE DAMAGE VALUATION COVERAGE. I NEVER SIGNED OFF ANYWHERE TO WAIVE MY COVERAGE. I was told by the representative I dealt with that the $900 would cover all shipping and insurance expenses. I was complete LIED to and MISLEAD. DAS now insists on not taking any responsibilities for the damages.

My recommendation: I urge anyone who wants to ship their car to AVOID using DAS. They are horrible, unreliable, untrustworthy, and deceptive. They take absolutely NO care of your car because there are so many middle agents dealing with each claim. Many different reps and many different reps...more chances for things to go wrong. My experience has been terrible and I'm still in arguments with DAS as to them paying for my damages. The claims manager has NEVER called me back after repeated attempts on my part to contact her. All I'm able to communicate with is a regular claims worker who has absolutely no authority or knowledge about the situation.

Again, DO NOT USE DEPENDABLE AUTO SHIPPERS (DAS). I would recommend using a broker than DAS even though DAS claims that brokers are the worse way to go.

Contact me if you would like more details on my negative experience with DAS. suprtran@yahoo.com.