Direct Express - Would Not Use Again

Bill in CA Submitted this review about Direct Express Auto Transport
Review made Live: 10/9/2008 6:32:00 PM
I wish I could give Direct Express a glowing review, but it was a bad experience.

SUMMARY
* Quick to take our money, but does not assign a driver for several weeks
* No carrier is assigned until I agree to pay additional money to the driver
* Two different carriers are assigned, but neither of them pan out
* After agreeing to cancel the order, they take their sweet time to refund the deposit

TRANSACTION TIMELINE
4/22/08 – I place the order (#36114), and pay the deposit to transport a new car from FL to CA
4/22/08 – I am told to expect a driver to be assigned within 1-7 days
5/01/08 – We have not been assigned a driver. I'm told there are not enough drivers to meet demand, and said it could take 2 weeks. She goes on to say some people (she mentioned New Yorkers by name) are offering drivers $100 to cut in line, and said if we wanted to “cheat,” we could do that too. I said I believed in doing unto others..., that I
wouldn’t want people people cutting in front of me, and wasn’t inclined to cut in front of them. (I’m also disinclined to pay a $100 bribe.)
5/14/08 – 3 weeks now and we still have no driver. I give in and agree to pony up the extra $100.
5/14/08 – I swear to God, 30 minutes later, we are assigned a driver!
5/14/08 – An email confirms the assignment, and says 'Zareba Auto Transport - FL will contact you shortly'
5/19/08 – Zareba never calls. I call Direct Express, who calls Zareba. Zareba knew nothing of the order.
5/20/08 – D.E. (Direct Express) assigns us a new carrier. This time it is Marvel Auto Transport - CA.
5/20/08 – I find Marvel on the web, but they are described as 'This business is no longer available.'
Sure enough, the telephone is disconnect, and the number given by D.E. rings and rings without so much as an answering machine to pick up. It's as if D.E. is making NO effort to vet the carriers they assign.
5/20/08 – D.E. and I agree to cancel the order. They promise to refund the $150 deposit.
5/28/08 – Our deposit has not been refunded, so I put the request in writing via email.
6/13/08 – Our deposit STILL has not been refunded, so I submit ANOTHER request in writing.
6/14/08 – We are finally credited with our deposit, but it was like pulling teeth.


Company Response
Mike Rupers from Direct Express Auto Transport Submitted this response.
Response Date: 2/18/2009 3:18:00 PM
Our outstanding customer service record speaks for itself. That said, we have to laugh because customer Bill of California was certainly one of our most unusual customers. We have never had a customer who married our company name with his domain. That is very unusual. We assigned two different drivers and Bill, not understanding that drivers are most often independent guys out on the road and not wired to the internet the same way he is, went about the process of screening them himself. That is our job and we do it very well. Bill basically got in our way, and ultimately his own. We do like his attention to detail and would hire Bill in a New York second. And finally, Bill received his full deposit refund within days of him calling. We wish Bill well in all his future endeavors.