Offered money not to write review.
Russell
Submitted this review about
Stateway Auto Transport
Review made Live: 6/6/2013 6:35:00 PM
I was offered $250 by Andy, a representative of Stateway Auto Transport Inc., if I promised NOT to write this review. While Stateway may have meant this gesture as an olive branch, it was specifically stated as an attempt to sway me from writing a negative review. That amount being offered was the difference between what was agreed upon in my order confirmation and what I ultimately ended up paying ANOTHER carrier. If this fact alone is not enough to deter you from doing business with Stateway Auto Transport Inc., then maybe the details will.
On Wednesday, April 17, 2013 I made a $145 deposit with Stateway to have my car transported from CA to CO. At this point I had absolutely NO communication issues with the company. The sales rep, Sam, was prompt in returning calls and emails, courteous and COMPLETELY understood my needs. He was insistent that Stateway could do the job. I was also assured that Stateway has a fleet of company owned trucks and that my vehicle would NOT be brokered out to a third party.
My vehicle was ready for picked-up at the time I made a deposit and this was the date set as my first available pick-up date. Per the terms and conditions of the order Stateway had a window of 1 to 7 days for pick-up. That window meant that Stateway had until Wednesday, April 24th to pick-up my car. I deliberately gave amble advance notice as this was not my first time transporting an auto. Therefore I did not have a problem with the companies 1-7 day window as I would not be leaving CA until Saturday, April 27th.
When the final day of the pick-up window (April 24th) came and went without a single word from Stateway and I began to feel a bit anxious. It was at this point when communication with ANYONE (sales rep, dispatch, operator…anyone) hit a dead end. It is literally impossible to speak with an individual, instead you must leave messages and send emails, and I did. While the company is quick to call you with a quote, the same cannot be said once they have your money. It took six hours for “customer service” to contact me, and it wasn’t with a returned phone call, instead it was via email.
According to “Customer Service”, my vehicle’s ready date (date first available for pick-up) had been changed to Saturday, April 27th and that it could take from 1-7 days after that date for pick-up. At this point I PANICED and immediately called the contact number noted in the email to explain that obviously there was a mistake as it was CLEARLY stated on my order confirmation that my ready date was April 17th. Of course I get nothing but someone’s voice mail box…the panic escalated. What was I to do, the movers would be at my home the next day (Friday, April 26th) and I would be leaving on Saturday. I couldn’t leave my car behind, I had only been in CA a short time and did not know anyone well enough to leave my car with them, so in a full on panic attack I immediately began calling other transport companies in hopes that someone could help.
Meanwhile a few hours later I receive an email from the original sales rep, Sam, who stated that my first available ready date had been CHANGED because I had “requested” that the vehicle not be dropped off in CO prior to May 1st (the first day I was to be in CO). He added that April 17th was too soon of a ready date and added the following: “You had said that the car CAN NOT be dropped off earlier then May 1st and that was important to you. It is only a 2.5 day transporting time from California to Colorado. Did you want the trucker to keep the vehicle with them for over 5 days on the truck? We are trying to accommodate you but we do need a little flexibility as not a single carrier in the industry will give you an exact pick up date. Is there no one in California that can give our driver the keys if he comes after Saturday? “
At approximately 5pm PST I replied with the following: “NONE of what you have written was EVER discussed as a possible outcome. I indicated that I would not be in CO until Wed, May 1st, and you said it would be taken care of because we had at least a seven day window from the set date of April 17th to work with. There was NEVER any discussion of this scenario happening where the car would be scheduled for pick-up AFTER I had already left CA. I said that May 1st would be the first day the car could be delivered, but it could be anytime thereafter. My ORDER CONFIRMATION clearly states a “Vehicle First Available Date: 4/17/2013.” With a 1 – 7 day pickup window, the 24th was the last day for pick-up. Asking for “a little flexibility” when I now have two days left in CA and NO ONE to leave my car with is insulting!! Had you been honest from the beginning about a few key facts here, I would have known to find an alternate solution. I have disputed charges you made to my credit card and I will document, online, every single interaction we have had.”
The next morning at 8 am I receive a call from Andy, who I assumed to be a supervisor or customer service manager. Of course he apologized, although at that point, the apology did nothing to help the matter as I had already disputed the charge with my credit card, which I made him aware of, and I had already lined up an alternate carrier for the job, albeit at a considerable greater rate due to the short notice. Nonetheless, the single question I had for Andy, who’s answered enraged me, was why didn’t someone call me to discuss the change in my pick-up date, especially when it was known that I was leaving town on the date of the changed ready date? According to Andy, they ONLY contact customers when there are dire circumstances. So, apparently my particular situation did not warrant a dire situation or anyone’s special attention, despite the hardship it caused.
It was at this point, maybe it was my apparent anger and the promises of this review that Andy offered to pay the difference in the price for my inconvenience if I will not write this review.
I passed on the money because I think it is important that YOU realize what type of company you are dealing with. Clearly, honesty, integrity and ethics are something this company has little of. Yes, I am aware that there are some positive reviews here, and if you are lucky enough to have everything work out, well then consider yourself fortunate. If, however, you do not wish to gamble with such an important life event, a long distance move, and want some assurance that at least one aspect of the move goes smoothly, then you had better look past Stateway Auto Transport. There are too many reputable and honest auto transport companies out there to leave your job to chance.
BELOW IS MY REPLY TO STATEWAY AUTO TRANSPORT’S RESPONSE TO MY ORIGINAL REVIEW ABOVE. I have posted a NEW review so that I have an opportunity to address Stateway's OUTLANDISH accusations! My replies are indicated by "- -" before the comment.
Dear Russell, thank you for taking the time share your feedback. Although we value your opinion, we feel it is extremely necessary for us to dispute the claims stated in this review. First and foremost, our company does not in any way, shape or form bribe customers. Compare our page with the top 10 largest companies in this industry and you will see that we are one of very few companies who do not pay customers to leave good reviews.
- The definition of a bribe is to offer someone money in an attempt to change their intended behavior. When I was offered money, but told that in exchange I was to agree NOT to write a review of my negative experience…that is a BRIBE! However, since Stateway seems to be so offended by the word “bribe”, I have changed the word “bribe” to “money” in the edit of my review. So, instead of saying the word, I have now defined it.
It is unclear why you posted this review a month after you claim the order was cancelled.
- -I’m sorry, I didn’t realize there was a “statute of limitations” on when I could or could not share my negative experience with Stateway Auto Transport. Having just moved to a new city and state, started a new job, established a new home and learned a new routine; writing this review did not take priority, but that doesn’t mean I forgot or didn’t have intentions of making the egregious actions of Stateway Auto Transport known.
Bribery is a rather serious matter, why would you not make this an issue sooner? Since your review went public, we have been asking you for any proof to support your accusation and you have been deliberately ignoring our calls and emails.
- -I certainly understand why Stateway would be concerned as I do agree that bribery is a serious matter. However, it was a Stateway employee who made the offer. All I wanted was an honest company to transport my car from CA to CO. I paid a deposit in full faith that Stateway would take care of it. I was seriously mistaken. Now to add insult to injury Stateway is attempting to make me out as the individual who is causing damage. As for ignoring calls and emails that is not true. In fact, Stateway indicates as much here in their response where they try to accuse me of not being the person I say I am. “The name you used on your order is apparently not your real name as you yourself had mentioned to us in an email exchange today.”
There are also several very suspicious inconsistencies with this order which will be discussed bellow. In order to understand the issues you mentioned we must first address your order in more detail. The delivery location that you requested was Loveland, Coloardo. This city is very difficult for carriers to make deliveries to. The roads are winding and the area is very dangerous due to the Rocky Mountain Range which runs right through it. This is why the vast majority of loads going to Colorado go to either the Denver area or somewhere along I-70. Many places north of Colorado are physically inaccessible or restricted to semi trucks. For a driver to go significantly off route, make a delivery and then drive back to get on route in order to make more deliveries, sometimes takes additional time to coordinate properly. This is why we ask for a 1-7 day window. IT IS IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT 92% OF ALL OUR ORDERS GET ASSIGNED AND PICKED UP IN 1-4 DAYS.
- -First, I was well aware and agreeable to the 1-7 day window. I have two cars so the one being transported was available to go at any time prior to my departure date from CA. Given my first available date for pick-up was April 17th (the day I made a $145 deposit), there was an ample window for Stateway to do just as promised. However, what happened, without notifying me, was Stateway CHANGED my first available pick-up date for a date that was convenient for the company or the driver without a single consideration of the fact that I was leaving town that same day and this might be a problem. Stateway also claims that I was notified of this change, but that is not true. Had I been made aware of this change, WHY would I have ignored it knowing it clearly conflicted with my departure date? Stateway’s assertion that I was aware of this fact is irrational…again, why would I ignore such an import fact?
- -Second, clearly Stateway’s understanding of the geography of Colorado and particularly Loveland is lacking, which in itself is disturbing for a LOGISTICS company that prides itself on transporting autos across the country! Loveland is located just off interstate 25 less than 50 minutes north of Denver. I assure you there is not an single point in the city of Loveland that could be considered inaccessible. The drive from Denver to Loveland, which I have done several times now, varies in elevation of about 300 feet. It is a straight shot north/south and there is NOTHING “winding” or “dangerous” about the drive. Interstate 70, which Stateway notes as the preferred delivery point, is actually a rather winding road that traverses the Rocky Mountains. Loveland is on relatively FLAT land that runs along the front-range of the Rockies. If the terrain of I-70 does not concern Stateway, then suggesting there is an issue getting to Loveland, is laughable. Plus, the company, Rapid Auto Movers, who stepped in to help when Stateway Auto Transport failed to keep their promise, had ABSOLUTELY NO ISSUES (be it geographical concerns or scheduling) in getting my car to me safely.
- -This ridiculous point that Stateway makes only helps to demonstrate their desperation in attempting to offer any excuse to make the customer the “bad guy” instead of being a reputable business and acknowledging that the company messed up. No, Stateway would rather make up some lame excuse about a non-existent geographic barrier.
When our dispatcher had secured a truck for your order you informed us that the delivery date was now conflicting with your schedule even though none of that information was initially noted on the order. You were also sent the confirmation email with the first available pickup date on several occasions and we have no record of you taking issue with this until you sent us an email on April 25th. It is somewhat odd that you made no effort to correct the agreed upon date before the 25th.
- -Stateway is correct with one thing…I had no issue when my invoice indicated that the first available pick-up date was April 17th. As I mentioned in my review, with Stateway’s 1-7 day window and my scheduled departure from CA on April 27th, there was no reason to take issue. It was just as described by Sam the salesperson with a delivery to CO on or after May 1st. As I note in my review what Stateway failed to do was notify me that my first available pickup date had been CHANGED from the 17th. Stateway has said here and in several emails to me today that I was sent confirmation of the April 27th first available pick-up date. As I mention earlier this is simply irrational! If I was leaving CA on the April 27th …WHY WOULD I HAVE IGNORED SUCH AN IMPORTANT DETAIL AS THIS? Because what Stateway is implying never happened…I never received notification, either by email or phone. I had to find this CHANGE out by emailing and leaving messages, once the agreed on window had elapsed. Again, why would I agree for a first available pickup date of April 27th (with the standard 1-7 day window) when I was LEAVING TOWN THE SAME DAY! Instead of simply acknowledging the mistake…Stateway is trying to blame me.
On April 26th you had called and requested to cancel the order. We issued you a full refund and sent you another confirmation stating this. What you did not tell us then and what you yourself mentioned in this review is that you did a credit card dispute prior to even notifying us that you wish to cancel.
- -I never requested to cancel my order…Stateway failed to follow through on our agreed upon dates. When the window of pickup came and went, as described in my review, and I could not reach anyone at Stateway by phone and hours later was notified by email that the pickup date had been changed…you better believe I initiated a credit card dispute IMMEDIATELY! When Stateway finally called me the next day I was clear that a dispute had already been initiated, and that I found another carrier. So, there was NOTHING that could be done at that point to correct the situation. Stateway created a serious hardship and a high point of stress at a very vulnerable time. Stateway indicated that it wasn’t necessary to dispute the charge that they would refund my deposit. However, as I had already stated to Stateway, the dispute was already being processed and I would not stop it. Why Stateway went ahead and refunded my deposit anyway can only be speculated. I assume Stateway hoped I would cancel the dispute so that the company would not have a negative mark with the credit card company. However, as I said, I can only speculate as to why. In my opinion, it marked another unwise move by Stateway Auto Transport.
In turn, our company was debited your deposit amount twice (even though we only charged you once). We had to present documentation to your bank that we issued the refund prior to your dispute and after several weeks YOUR bank reversed that dispute in our favor. Only after we won the dispute did you post this review.
- -This point is not only a lie, but it’s a disturbing one where Stateway is trying to make the company appear to be justified in their dispute. To this date my credit card company has yet to reverse the credit card dispute or Stateway Auto Transport’s unnecessary refund. On the same day that Stateway has written this lie, I received an email indicating that the company had yet to receive their money and are now out $145. Essentially, Stateway was implying that I should be satisfied because they have lost $145. This quote is taken from that email and are the direct words of a Stateway employee: “If you are the person on the order we believe this to be, then please take the following into consideration. You filed a dispute and we issued you a full refund. What this means is that the funds were taken out from our account TWICE (even though we charged you only once) and we are now struck having to submit documentation and prove that we issued a refund so that one of those debits can be reversed. There was absolutely no reason for you to file a dispute because we always issue refunds upon cancellation of an order. I would ask that you consider that we lost $145 (twice), were charged transaction fees and percentages on each amount and we offered to pay you an additional $250.”
- -Something else to consider, if in fact Stateway refunded my deposit PRIOR to me initiating a dispute, doesn’t it make sense that the credit card company would recognize the discrepancy? It is still likely that my credit card company will reverse one of the debits to my account. Frankly, this is only fair and right. However, if Stateway thinks I am going to intervene on their behalf, they are wrong. It is now time for Stateway to be inconvenienced and deal with my credit card company directly. I should also add that the ease at which Stateway Auto Transport is willing to lie is disturbing. If the fact that Stateway is openly arguing with a customer isn’t enough to concern you, then I’m not sure what is.
In your own words, our Standard Pickup window is 1-7 days after the ready date. This means that you canceled prematurely and did not even give us a chance to complete your shipment.
- -I have countered this argument multiple times, in my review and here in my rebuttal. Stateway can indicate over and over and over again that I am to blame…but it doesn’t make it true.
You are also leaving out the fact that when our manager contacted you asking if you can give us just a few more days, you yelled and used vulgar and profane language with him while he was very polite and professional with you. Instead of us 'bribing you not to post a review' as you said, what really happened was you started to threaten us with reviews just one day after your first available ready date. In response to this, our manager offered to issue an additional compensation. He did not do this to bribe you, he did that because at our company the customer is always right even when we disagree with them.
- -This is laughable to suggest that Stateway goes out of their way because at Stateway, “the customer is always right.” Yet, Stateway has done NOTHING but accuse me of being WRONG AND LIEING!! Stateway even disputed my review with the administrators of this website where I had to provide proof that I was ever a customer. Had I not been able to do so, my review would have been removed from this site. The fact that my review is still here after such scrutiny from website administrators speaks for itself.
It must be mentioned that since the posting of your review it was discovered that both the addresses you had provided us on your order happen to be fake. One is an empty cement lot and the other pulls up a random dot in the middle of the highway.
- -WOW, simply WOW!! This one is a new low, even for Stateway. Because Stateway inputs an address into Google and doesn’t like what they see, doesn’t mean my addresses are invalid or FAKE. I wonder if it ever occurred to Stateway (clearly not), that the CEMENT SLAB seen on Google, in an obviously NEW housing development was taken PRIOR to the full construction of the house? I provided the administrators of this website proof that in fact I received mail at the address Stateway claims to be fake. I also wonder if it ever occurred to Stateway that what they claim to be a “random dot” is not random at all. Stateway has already made it known that their understanding of geography is lack, so it doesn’t surprise me that they see a random dot! Nonetheless, once again, I provided the administrators of this website proof to counter Stateway’s REDICULOUS accusation, as this too was one of the reasons Stateway indicated to Transportreviews.com that I was not a “real” customer.
The name you used on your order is apparently not your real name as you yourself had mentioned to us in an email exchange today.
- -I’m not even sure how to reply to this, other than to say the following! I am who I say I am, if I were not, if my address were fake, if any of Stateway’s outlandish lies were true…my credit card company would have NEVER approved the initial $145 deposit to begin with. Seriously, this has gone beyond ridiculousness to absurdness. I am beginning to think that maybe the BBB should be aware of Stateway’s business practices and their harassment of customers, which is exactly how I am beginning to feel with their repeated emails indicating that I will be responsible for 12 people losing their jobs!
These inconsistencies and others cause us to question your true motives. We have had several cases (documented and ruled in our favor by this site and others) of our competitors pretending to be customers and posting bad reviews for our company. We are also sure that this doesn't just happen to our company. We are very proud that we ship 250+ cars a week all year round. Last year we were rated the #1 Broker/Carrier in the nation by various review sites. Does that make our company perfect? Of course not, but when mistakes happen we always step up and make things right. Customer satisfaction is our number one priority. Thank you very much for taking the time to read our lengthy yet necessary response. Have a great day!
- -My motive is the same as ANY reviewer on this site, to share with others the positive, or in my case negative, experience with companies like Stateway. It’s a brave new world where consumers are no longer blind to unscrupulous business practices, and as such are more likely to get what we pay for and expect. It may be true that Stateway has had cases where competitors were seeking to sabotage their business. I couldn’t agree more that this is not the way to succeed. A company succeeds in business by honoring their promises and services to customers, providing outstanding customer service and respecting their clients…it certainly isn’t by cheating or calling customers liars!
- -It is the policy of this website to remove any disputed review until the reviewer can provide proof of said claim. Shortly after I posted this review, Stateway Auto Transport filed a claim that I was never a customer. As protocol, this website removed my review until I could provide proof of my claim. First, I had to prove that I had been a customer. I provided credit card statements showing Stateway Auto Transports initial deposit on April 17th. The same statement also showed the disputed charge debit, as well as the refund initiated by Stateway on April 26th. The credit card statement was also used to validate my address in CO. In addition to that, I offered a second credit card statement for the previous month which validated my CA address. Clearly, neither was FAKE!! The fact that you are reading this review today indicates that at least in this case, the website administrator did NOT rule in the favor of Stateway Auto Transport.
- -I am sorry that Stateway feels they must go to such lengths and outrageous accusations to negate the horrible experience I had with the company. Had Stateway simply been honest from the beginning and not attempted to make me out a liar, I may have been willing to take a different approach. However, instead of blaming me for the demise of Stateway, which is what I was told will happen should my review go public, Stateway should be blaming their own business practices instead adding insult to my injury.
