Sweet talk on the phone, silent as the dead after they get their money

Scott Submitted this review about State 2 State Auto Transport Inc.
Review made Live: 2/20/2008 5:45:00 PM
I thought that this company would be great. I spoke with them several times before my car was picked up and I finalized things, and each time they were extremely helpful and were always prompt in returning calls and things to that affect. I used an expedited shipping with this company, but in the end this felt anything but expedited. The troubles began as soon as I signed the contract.

On the phone, I was told verbally that the car would be picked up within two days of signing the contract, if I used their expedited service. I signed the contract with the company on January 30, so that would mean the car would be picked up by February 1. After the car is picked up, I am told that the car should be to me within five to seven days.

February 1 rolls around, and I have heard nothing more from this company or any trucker that is going to come and pick up my car. I call State to State back on February 4 (Monday) and they say they are still working out a carrier, and that my car will be picked up by February 6th - which is business days after January 30. This was also the first time they used the verbage of "business days", having always just used "days" before. There is a pretty big difference between the two terms.

The car does finally get picked up on February 6th at about 8pm, I believe. The truck driver then TAKES THE CAR HOME, to South Carolina (it was destined to Idaho from NC), and stays there until February 12th. This seems far from "expedited" to me. At this point, for the first time, I am told that the expedited shipping only guarntees pickup WILL BE ARRANGED within 5 days, and doesn't guarntee the actual pickup date, nor any time that it takes after pickup until delivery. I am told at this point, in writing, that no guarntees are ever made. This is despite the fact that I was GUARNTEED several times on the phone that certain pickup and delivery dates would be maintained.

The car was finally delivered to me February 15th, which was a week after what was guarnteed to me on the phone.

I asked for my expedited shipping fee to at least be returned to me, for their horrible misrepresentation of their services. At that point, I was met with flat-out beligerance from the company.

Long story short - this company will sweet talk you on the phone, and promise the moon to you. Once they get their money, they become absolutely horrible to deal with, and every promise they make will turn to dust.

Company Response
Yali from State 2 State Auto Transport Inc. Submitted this response.
Response Date: 2/20/2008 6:27:00 PM
The customer set up the order on Jan. 30. He agreed to pay the expedited fee in order to pick up his car quicker than standard dates. The expedited dates are confirmed for pickup within 5 business days. The vehicle was picked up on Feb. 6, which is within 5 business days. Standard dates are normally 1 to 2 weeks out for pick up. I explained this to the customer and all his calls and messages were handled. No one sweet talked him or ignored his calls or any status on his transport. No one promised or guaranteed him a pick up of two days after the order was set up. That is impossible and the car was going to Idaho. It states on our website that all pick up dates and delivery dates are estimated, since we cant predict the driver getting delayed in traffic, weather conditions or any other delays on the way. I explained to the customer that the estimated delivery time from NC to Idaho is about a week, and its estimated depending on all the factors listed above. I also explained that I could not refund him the expedited fee since the transport service was provided accordingly and he also signed and faxed back the contracts for the transport. The expedited fee goes to the driver and not us, so there was no way of refunding that money to him. The driver gets paid for the transport. The expedited fee is for picking up the car quicker than standard dates, and it has nothing to with getting the car to the destination any quicker. Everything on our part was handled correctly and according to our information. We never promised anything we did not do.