Worst Company I have EVER dealt with
Karmen Serda
Submitted this review about
Transport Services
Review made Live: 3/1/2010 4:09:00 PM
My experience with this company was HORRIBLE- please find someone else to organize the shipping of your vehicle if you want to avoid major problems. I am surprised they are still in business with the horrible customer service they provide and I am still shocked with how I was treated and the bold lies I was told over and over again.
We are a military family and we shipped our vehicle from Hawaii to Texas. From the very beginning things started to go wrong and I wish now I would have found another company to go with. The following is a timeline of dates, shipping times, and conversations I had with the company…including the lies I was told.
•December 8th, 2009
I signed a contract with Shawn at Transport Services (TS) for a quoted price of $1,550 and paid a $200 initial deposit. The contract stated that my car was to ship from Hawaii and be delivered to my home address in Texas.
•December 16th, 2009
I was supposed to drop my car off with Matson in Hawaii for transport on this day. I received my docking receipt the day before it was to be shipped and it stated I needed the title to ship it or a certified letter from my lien holder. Since I was not told this in advance, even though I asked for my docking receipt days before I received it, my shipping had to be postponed several weeks since my family was returning to Texas for Christmas vacation; I was moving back to Texas on this trip and my husband was to return to the island for military duty.
•January 4th, 2010
My husband dropped my car off with Matson in Hawaii and paid them $872.00. He was informed that my car would not actually ship until the following Friday.
•January 6th, 2010
I called TS to let them know the car had been dropped off and spoke with Wendy. She confirmed the car would ship Friday, January 8th and told me multiple times that my car would be in Texas no later than January 26th or 27th. We e-mailed each other that same day and she stated that the amount my husband paid Matson ($872) along with the $200 we already paid TS as a deposit would come out of our original quote and all we would owe the driver at delivery would be the remaining balance, which would have been $478.
•January 8, 2010
My car left Hawaii with Matson as planned
•January 28th, 2010
I called TS and spoke with Wendy again and told her my car had not arrived yet. She told me it would most likely arrive on Saturday the 30th.
•February 1st, 2010
I called TS when my car did not arrive on Saturday and finally got a hold of Wendy (after being put on hold 4 times for longer than 30 minutes). She told me the “transport vehicle had broken down” and they had to send another vehicle out. She told me at this time that it could be another week before my car was delivered. I told her I was disappointed that throughout the shipping process no one from TS bothered to contact me about my vehicle being late or that the transport vehicle had broken down. She apologized and promised to have her manager call me to discuss my dissatisfaction (he never called).
•February 9th, 2010
I received a call from Claudio with Hop N Go Transport Inc. who informed me that he had my vehicle and was in Dallas, TX. He told me that he tried to pick up my car on February 3rd in Long Beach, but Matson would not release it to him because TS had not paid them storage fees totaling $195 for the time my vehicle sat in port. Matson and Claudio both tried to contact TS with no success. Claudio came back the next day, February 4th, and TS still had not settled the bill of $195 so Claudio paid the money out of his own pocket so that he could take my vehicle and his delivery schedule could stay on track (I have the original receipt for what he paid). He said that in order for him to deliver my car to me I would need to pay the remaining balance that I owed TS, which he stated was $550 instead of $448, and the $195 he was out of pocket. I immediately called TS and spoke with Wendy, after again being put on hold for 30 minutes. I was furious by this point and she assured me she would call Claudio and settle everything. I called Claudio a short while later and he never got a call from Wendy. I called TS back and could get no one on the phone. I finally told Claudio to bring me my car, since I had already waited so long to receive it, and that I would pay the extra money and deal with TS later to get a refund. He told me he never wanted to deal with TS again because they were “very bad at business and had been nothing but trouble”. Claudio said he would deliver my car that night. I called him around 8pm and again every hour after that and could never get a hold of him. Needless to say my car never arrived and at this point I had no idea what was going on or where my car was located.
•February 10th, 2010
I finally got a hold of Claudio with Hop N Go Transport Inc. on this morning and he told me, “I was very tired last night and just went to bed. I left your vehicle with one of my friends here in Dallas because I had to go back to California and he said he could probably get it to you in a few days”. I told him he should have called me the previous night to tell me of his plans instead of promising me something and not delivering. I asked for this “friends” number and he gave it to me. I spoke with this gentleman who told me he could come to Tyler the following day, but that there was a huge snow storm coming through so it might be another week. At this point I am enraged and I tell him that I will drive to Dallas to get my car….I was tired of all the excuses and needed my vehicle! He finally agrees to meet me in Terrell (close to Dallas) that day.
I called Matson to see that they could tell me about my vehicle and they informed me that my car had arrived to their port in Long Beach, CA on January 15th. The lady I spoke with told me that, according to the notes in her computer, they contacted TS on January 18th to let them know the car was ready for pick-up. They contacted them again on the 22nd to tell them that their free storage had run out…and again on the 26th to let them know they had accrued $60 for 4 days of storage ($15 a day). Each time they contacted TS they could never get an actual person on the phone and had to leave messages; they stated the same problem that I had with the company of being put on hold for extended periods of time. Transport services NEVER called Matson back or paid the bill and my car sat in Long Beach for 19 days before anyone came to pick it up (this is why $195 of storage charges had built up). This whole time TS was telling me it would be delivered and that is was on its way- clearly they were lying to me if my car was still in port.
I met the driver in Terrell who had my car and tried to reach TS the whole way there so that I would not have to overpay on my original quote or pay the $195 of storage fees. I finally got a hold of Wendy AFTER I had to pay the guy for my car so he would leave it with me (this took hours to reach her). She told me she called Claudio several times to pay the balance and never reached him, but I am convinced she never did- he had no reason to lie to me because he was the one who was out money with the company. I insisted she have her manager call me ASAP (I still have not received a call). She stated she would process my refund THAT day (I even have an email stating that)…but as you can guess I still have not seen any refund either. So, after driving 2 hours and overpaying, I was able to finally get my car.
As of right now I am out $267 that I should have never had to pay. I have all the receipts of what I paid and the contracts. I also asked several times throughout this process to speak with a manager and was told on several occasions that one would call me. I also sent an email asking for the manager to call me and Wendy said she forwarded the email to him…NO ONE has called me back. My e-mails since then have not been answered and I do not know why I have not received my money. In addition to the $267 I was promised, I also want a discount or refund because my contract was not met (my car was not delivered to my house like I paid for) and I want my money back for the gas I used to pick up my car (I also have that receipt).
I went on the Better Business Bureaus website after my run-in with this company and from the reviews I read online a lot of people are having problems getting refunds that are promised to them and several people were also told that their transport vehicles had broken down when their car was late…I thought this was interesting. It appears a lot of people have been lied to by this company. They are rated a D- with the BBB.
When you pay someone $1550 to ship your vehicle, you expect to be informed throughout the process when things go wrong and to not be cheated or lied to…this is not what you will get with Transport Services. I will make sure none of our military friends use this company in the future.
