Okay experience, Shady Industry, poor overall communication
Ronnie
Submitted this review about
Get it Done Transportation
Review made Live: 8/19/2014 11:41:00 AM
Let me start this review by openly stating that my car arrived, undamaged and once the car was on the carrier the transaction went smoothly and in that regard Get It Done did deliver on my expectations. Based on other reviews on this site, I was expecting more from the customer service which fell flat in my opinion, but I admit that this may in part be due to my lack of understanding of how the industry works.
This was my first time transporting a vehicle. I was moving from Minn to VA. On July 11, I went online and requested a quote from a site. Within minutes my email and phone were flooded with quotes/requests from multiple companies who were all BROKERS. They, for a commission, will coordinate with a dispatcher that is in contact with truck drivers. The quotes varied greatly as low as $680 and as high as $1100. I received several emails from companies that as part of their sales pitch also warned me about some of the shady practices by other companies that included a lot of hidden fees. They all seemed to warn me that lowest price is not always the best and to be wary. Get it Done's email was similar but also told me that they would not pester me any further, that they transport over 800 vehicles a month, their quote had no hidden fees, I would receive information about the actual driver (background, track record etc.) and that the owner of the company's phone number would be provided as he was ready to deal with any issues 24 hours a day. I spoke with Kat Jolly and she was personable, knowledgeable and answered my questions. The quote I received was for $740. She told me that it would take about three days from pickup for the vehicle to be delivered. I was trying to coordinate the pickup of the vehicle with my actual move which involved professional movers, a moving truck and my family driving the distance between MN and VA. We did not want to give the car too early as we did not want for it to arrive to VA before we got there as payment is due on delivery and we knew nobody who could receive the car. Ultimately our moving truck was going to come on July 30th, and we would be on the road on July 31st with an expected arrival date in VA on Sunday August 3rd.
After discussion with Kat, it was decided that the best thing we could do was have the car picked up on Monday August 4th, that way the weekend wouldn't screw up pickup or delivery and we could be in Virginia when the vehicle arrived. This was all decided by July 20th. Because we were already going to be in Virgina on the pickup date, a friend of mine was going to be the one to do the initial pickup inspection and hand the keys over. I sent her contact information to Kat via email on 7/21 as well as a request to confirm that pickup would be on Aug. 4th. A few days passed and I had not heard from Kat so I called. She confirmed for me that pickup would occur on the 4th, that the driver of the truck would call us (me or my friend) on the 3rd to coordinate a time. I asked if the fact that the 3rd was a Sunday would be an issue. She assured me that it would not be a problem. I gave her my friend's contact info again. At this time they also asked for my credit card number so they could put the initial deposit/broker commission. The assured me that no charge would be made until the vehicle was on the carrier. (They held to this promise).
On August 3rd we received no phone call from any truck driver. I sent an email to Kat. In the mean time my friend was rearranging her schedule somewhat in an effort to be able to accommodate the pickup. Monday morning I started calling Get it Done. I called at 9am, 10am, 11:30 leaving messages each time. The 11:30 call was to Mr. David Pein (I didn't realize, but he's the owner). My wife suggested that they may not be picking up because they recognize my phone number. I called with her phone and Kat picked up immediately. There was no acknowledgement of any of my previous attempts to contact her. She started by telling me that she was still working on finding a truck to put my car on.
It was at this point that she explained that the pickup date of Monday August 4th was in fact the START of a 72 hour window period during which time they promised to pickup the vehicle. I expressed frustration as this was never explained to me. Kat told me that this is standard in the industry and how everybody does it. I told her that based on the online reviews, this is not how I expected the overall interactions to be going. She assured me she was working on it and that Wednesday would be the latest, guaranteed. She also told me to have my friend not rearrange her schedule as the truck driver will work around whatever was convenient for her. I told her that I was holding them to a guaranteed pickup by Wednesday, otherwise I would go through somebody else.
The next day I got a call from Mr. Pein telling me that he had a truck driver, but the quote was now $890 because we were getting down to the last minute, but the car would be delivered on FridayI told him the quote was for $740 and explicitly stated no hidden costs. He told me he would keep on working on it. He called me an hour later and told me the driver will honor the original quote of $740 and will pickup the vehicle the next day (Wednesday). I again asked about a delivery on Friday because that seemed unrealistic to me. He repeated to me Friday Delivery.
The truck driver did come the next day and my friend said that everything went smoothly there were no complaints.
I never received the information about the driver that was promised in the initial email. I sent an email to Kat requesting that information and never heard from her. By clicking on a link in one of my first emails, I saw my most up to date receipt and it had been updated to include the name and number of the dispatcher of the trucking company. I called the number just to let him know that my new house was on a relatively inaccessible street and that they could call me and I could pick up the vehicle in a nearby parking lot on Friday to make it easier for them. The dispatcher told me that there is no way that the car will reach on Friday because they had 7 cars on carrier. They projected a delivery on Monday the 11th. At this point I was no longer surprised or upset as I realized that this is how the industry functions.
Saturday morning I got a call from a truck driver asking if it would be okay if they delivered the car that evening. He told be that it might be as late as 10 pm but he would call me when he was an hour away. At 9pm I got a call and went to a nearby gas station where I received my car at 10pm. The car was externally dirty (but 1100 miles will do that) but otherwise undamaged.
In summary I am giving an above average rating for the following reasons:
1. Once I agreed to use them I felt I was the one trying to track them down to give them my business.
2. Agreeing to dates of pickup and delivery that were more "suggestions" than hard appointments
3. Coming out with a quote of $890 after an agreed upon price of $740. This came across as a last minute extortion attempt, especially because the delays that occurred were caused by them
4. Being very hard to get a hold of (not responding to emails or phone calls) but I switch phones and am able to get through. Whether or not they were avoiding my calls, thats the way it came across. What's more upsetting is that there will probably be a prompt reply to this review but there wasn't to my emails.
5. They shouldn't promise driver information and then not provide it
6. The initial sales email and online reviews made it seem like it would be a different experience. The words "hassle free" do not come to mind when I think about our experience.
7. The price, although not the cheapest, was still pretty low compared to others.
8. The car did arrive unblemished and for that I am grateful. It in fact arrived one day later than the initial promised delivery, but 2 days earlier than what the trucking company told me.
