Low quality service versus what they promised

Onik Submitted this review about Passport Transport
Review made Live: 11/28/2012 7:26:00 PM
I am not a big reviewer, but this time I think it's beneficial to make you guys aware of what you should expect when it comes to service offered by Passport Transport.

I decided to pay for premium service, which is enclosed shipping. Passport Transport was among the most expensive quotes among enclosed transporters. Their quote was about 35 percent more then other enclosed quote and more then 200 percent then regular open transporter. Anyway, I decided to pay more, as I believed that they are very good as far as quality is concerned.

When placing an order, I was told it's gonna take anywhere between 2 to 9 days to deliver the car but it actually took them 18 days to move the car about 1600 miles, which is less then 100 miles a day! Can you imagine that the carrier introducing such a delay wouldn't even call you once... well, they never call. The only time they called me was actually when I was really unhappy and specifically asked them to call me back. Also, they don't call you when the car is picked up either. I would expect premium carrier to call the customer and at least to let know what is the current status, especially in case of delay.

When it comes to honesty, it's also not as expected. I was checking GPS tracking and I called them just to check why the car is sitting somewhere in rural Missouri, and I was told they check breaks. Well, as that breaks checking took couple more days, I called again and heard that they are working on the trailer... after another couple days, they told me that engine head is broken and it will take another day to fix it. Finally, after a solid week, when they saw I am a bit unhappy hearing all that, they finally told me that there's another truck coming from East Coast that will take my car over. Well, Passport Transport advertisement on their website says clearly, that your car will stay on the truck until it's delivered... it's not truel. They unload it and store it somewhere for a week, then load it on another truck and deliver... weeks later, but they never call you to let know about this.

Finally, when the driver called me, I let him know directions and I offered that he can park wherever he wants in the area, if it would be difficult for him to park exactly where I live. I even pointed some local big parking lots and the place in my neighborhood where I've seen dozens of trucks including car transporters parking. Anyway, he parked and then complained that I forced him to park in a spot, that will be difficult to make "U" turn.

Also, that car has folding mirrors that in order to unfold, one needs to press control button from inside. The driver didn't really care and he forcibly unfolded them by hand, even though I was watching it. This was very unprofessional!

So, my advise is that if you have a car to ship, that means nothing else for you than just yet another vehicle that you don't care much about, this carrier will do the job OK.
However, if you have a car of value, or a car that is exotic, sports, collection or vintage, then think twice before shipping with this carrier. I am not saying that Passport Transport doesn't care at all, or that they intentionally want to cause any harm, but their service is not what they advertise.

Company Response
Neil from Passport Transport Submitted this response.
Response Date: 12/13/2012 5:09:00 PM
This vehicle was delivered within the estimated time frame, damage free. This order was picked up and delivered within the ESTIMATED window. Transit time on this order was as promised (2 to 9 days) with a pick-up window of 7 to 10 days. As noted in the review it took 18 days to get the car picked up and then delivered. Our vehicles haul 6 cars at a time and are constantly picking up and delivering vehicles along the route. The expectation that the car would be picked up and then driven straight to the delivery is unrealistic unless the customer is paying for the entire truck (exclusive use). Mechanical failures happen. It is part of our business – we refuse to allow unsafe equipment on the roads. The safety of the general public and our drivers is paramount and we do not apologize for holding the vehicle at our maintenance facility so that the necessary work could be performed on the brakes. We are the ONLY enclosed vehicle transporter that offers real-time online GPS tracking of your vehicle during shipment and motion sensor security. Transparency is critical to our success. At the request of the customer we did switch the vehicle to another trailer. This is NOT our standard practice as we deliver what we advertise DOOR TO DOOR service. Door to door service does come with certain restrictions. It is impossible to get an 80’ semi into some residential areas which requires that we meet customers at drop-off areas designated by them.