Do your research and make an informed decision
Ferdinand
Submitted this review about
All Day Auto Transport
Review made Live: 12/14/2012 7:54:00 PM
I picked All Day Auto because of the low quote and the good rating in this board. What I failed to do was to pay attention to the details in the less-than-stellar reviews on this board, which in my case, turned out to be not far from the truth.
To avoid the same mistake, my suggestion is to read my comments here carefully since I'm merely stating the facts. Please also read others' reviews, both good and bad, especially the non-compensated ones (i.e. no green dots). I'm not saying don't go with All Day Auto, but please do your research, know the pros/cons, and make an informed decision.
Your experience with them will vary based on a number of factors: quoted price (low/right on/higher than market), driver availability (they are a broker and I believe they don't have their own fleet, so they don't have control over the market price, availability, and drivers), and, well,.. your luck.
Of the options, All Day Auto had the lowest quote by $50. Since I was shipping an older car, I thought I'd go with the lowest. My low rating is due to them not keeping their words. Below's the recap:
- Called them on Monday morning. Told them my car needed to be picked up ASAP since I'll be out of town the following Monday. Kim convinced me that the car will been picked within a few days - I may even get a call from the driver that same day.
- I took the bait, gave them my credit card number over the phone for the $145 broker fee. Got the receipt right away via email. So far so good.
- One day passed, two days passed, in fact, three days almost passed (Thursday afternoon then), and I started to get nervous due to my upcoming trip the next Monday. I called them, and they told me that they found a driver, but he was asking for additional $50. I told them that this wasn't what we agreed. They suggested $25, the driver may go for it, but they had to check. I went for it due to the time constraint. They spoke with the company rep that the driver worked for, and they said the lady thinks the driver would go for it (sounds complicated, but that's what you get for working with a middleman). They said she'd call me as soon as she gets confirmation. No news until end of day. Sent them an email, they confirmed that "the driver will go for it, will call you shortly". No phone call as promised.
- Next day (by now it's Friday), no news. I called again, and the story changed. The driver passed on the $25 (picked another customer), and now it's back to $50. It was against my principle, but I gave in due to time constraint. And by the way I had to speak to the supervisor. This is one of those opportunities where a company could have shined by honoring their quote and absorbing the additional cost (which will earn my glowing review and I'll tell my family, neighbors, and friends about them). But no, the supervisor chose to tell me that they already did a favor since the broker fee had normally been higher. My vehicle was assigned to a driver right away to "Trail East Auto Transport".
- It wasn't the end of the story quite yet. I found out that instead of charging $145 for the broker fee, they added $8.99 Admin Fee that they had never disclosed (not stated in the receipt either). My complaint email wasn't addressed, but I wasn't surprised.
The positive side of the story was that "Trail East Auto Transport" was excellent. I looked for them in this forum but I couldn't find them, otherwise I would have given them a great review. For both the pick-up and delivery, they give heads-up days in advance, one day notice with time approximation, and 1-2 hours prior to the driver arriving. Open communications, and on-time. Car in same shape as when it was picked up.
Sorry for the long review, but I hope this helps the community.
