Poor Service and Damage to Car during transportation
Jasdeep Maghera
Submitted this review about
Nationwide Transport Services
Review made Live: 12/28/2010 6:16:00 PM
Overall my experience with Nationwide Transportation Services was poor.
I had my car transported from Stamford, CT to Chula Vista, CA in August 2010, and the issues started when I first booked the service. I called 1 week in advance to be greeted by John, who seemed friendly and helpful at first. He assured me that he would be able to transport my car on time, and that he would contact me a few days before the transportation date to let me know the trucking company who would be coming and the date and time. It came to 1 business day prior to the pickup date, and he hadn't called back. I had to call, speak to another employee and after complaining, the transportation was organised.
On both the pick up and delivery, the transporation company Alborz called to say they were within X hours of the required location. Several calls ensued, then saying they were still a few hours away and on both occasions the pickup / delivery occured the following day. I dont mind waiting a day, but if they had called and told me that woiuld be the case, I would be fine - but both times, they kept saying they were coming shortly, they were nearby etc which were clearly lies. Very poor expectation management.
On pick up of the vehicle in Chula Vista, my friend who picked it up noticed significant scuff marks on the hood of the car, and a large scratch across the passenger side headlight. These were not there previously and clearly were not marked on the bill of lading. He pointed those out, marked them up on the bill of lading, the driver agreed there were marks, and they both signed upon pick up. When I then contacted Nationwide to follow up on the damage, they were both illusive and unresponsive.
We took the car to an Audi dealership who kindly tried to repair the damage for free, and they managed to polish off the scuff marks to a reasonable standard, but coudln't do anything about the lights except to quote $1300 for a replacement headlight unit. After several phone calls, emails with full details of damage including pictures, quotes and copies of the bill of lading Nationwide said they woudl look into it. I then had to follow up with several calls, and emails after which Jason at Nationwide finally came back to say that the transportation company were refusing to refund me for the damage. They claimed $1300 was 'too much for a headlight'. I'm not sure how they are in a position to decide how much a headlight shoudl cost but they are welcome to get quotes from Audi themselves! I had also sent them a copy of the estimate! They also said that the bill of lading showed damage in the area. The damage on the bill of lading was clearly some stone chippings on the hood, which is nowhere near the headlight! Nationwide then decided to absolve themselves from any responsibility and told me to follow up with the transportation company. It's funny how they are helpful and friendly when booking the transportation but as soon as there is an issue, they are nowhere to be found.
I would recommend customers to avoid Nationwide Transportation Services at all costs. They are happy to take your money and then provide poor service in return, and worst of all, do not take any responsibility for damage caused by their transportation providers, or provide any help in dealing with them
