Got there fine but with a lot of worry

Joel Submitted this review about Magic Carpet Auto Transport
Review made Live: 7/15/2010 2:21:00 PM
This was my first time shipping a car, so I may not be properly adjusted to the uncertainties of the process. I will start by saying that my car made it to the destination in the same condition I left it in. It was very dirty, but I expected that. It did have about 45 miles driven on it, which was odd, but the inside remained clean.

I obtained about 5 quotes, all of which fell between 825 and 875. After reading good reviews about Magic Carpet Auto Transport, I thought maybe it would be worth calling them for a quote as well. They quoted me $1070. When I referenced my other quotes, Sheila agreed to post the car for $970 and see what happened. We ended up deciding to raise the price to $1070, which I thought would be worth it if everything came off as promised.

There were several things that disappointed me in this process. First, Magic Carpet's broker told me that they provided superior communication. She did respond promptly at times, but other times an email went unanswered for several days. I'm not a big fan of people having to be available for their jobs 24/7, so maybe they could have a backup person who could help a customer out when needed. The second disappointment was the late pickup. I thought that by paying about 20% more than all the other brokers had quoted me, I was virtually ensuring that the job would be dispatched on time. The most frustrating part was the drop-off process. No one contacted me at all during the 11 day transit to let me know where my car was or to give me a better idea of its drop-off date. This caused a bit headache for my father-in-law, who was to receive the car at his office. When I contacted Magic Carpet, I was give a number for contacting the driver's dispatch. No one ever answered this number, and the voicemail on it was not set up. The driver pulled in front of the drop-off at my father-in-law's office (the receptionist saw the cars) one day after the scheduled delivery. The driver tried his cellphone once, left an unintelligible message, and drove away without coming into the office or trying the office number or my number, both of which he was given. Apparently the driver was sick, but this was all very frustrating. We did eventually get the car, but the process was pretty stressful. I don't feel I received the top-notch service described in some of this company's other reviews.