Run Away

Brian Submitted this review about Domestic Auto Transport
Review made Live: 6/25/2012 10:17:00 PM
Just terrible.
Arranged late May/first week of June for a pickup between 6/23 and 6/26 (inclusive) to ship an Accord from NC to CO. I was going to be out of town and flying back to NC on 6/22.
They weren't the lowest quote, but Suzanne was the friendliest and most forthcoming person I had spoken with in my search. She even called me 2-3 times at the end of May to ensure we got the pickup scheduled ASAP. So I say "Great. Let's do it."
I end up flying back to NC a day early on 6/21. At this point I had heard nothing from these guys.
So I call on the way home from the airport (Thursday, 6/21) and ask what's going on.
Whoever I speak with (I can only remember the names Suzanne and Kim, but I'm sure I spoke with at least 4 different people during my whole ordeal) says that the pickup has not been scheduled, but that's not uncommon. "I'm not worried if you're not worried", I say. She says not to worry about it. Fine.
Monday morning (that's *today*, 6/25) rolls around and I call up and ask what's happening. I am getting on a plane on Wednesday, 6/27 on a *one way* flight to CO. The girl says she will check and call me back in 2 hours. That doesn't happen. FOUR HOURS later I call again. "I'll check and call you back right way" is what I get. THREE hours later I call again. I ask "If you can't do this, when are you going to tell me?" She says "We're about to go into a meeting to discuss and I'll call you as soon as I know". One hour and forty minutes later I get...wait for it... a TEXT MESSAGE from Kim saying "we have not been able to find anyone. would you like us to keep looking or cancel?" Holy crap. Cancel.
In their terms they say "DAT does not agree to transport the vehicle on any particular motor carrier, nor in time for any particular event unless client agrees in writing to the extra cost involved"
And in my cancellation confirmation I got "Domestic doesn’t guarantee a pick up for any specific date."
Fair enough. Totally reasonable.
But I placed my order a month in advance with a 4 day window!

Yes, I see lots of happy people leaving reviews here. I am not one of them. I'm sure I'm not the only person they ever have or ever will drop the ball with. Do not be the next. Keep looking.

If someone in charge of this organization is reading this, you should probably take some action.
If this entire organization is made up of 4-5 people sitting in an office trying to arrange vehicle transport for a living, then I guess good luck with that.
Please do not respond to this with apologies. Apologies will not get my car shipped 1600 miles.

Company Response
Terry Williams from Domestic Auto Transport Submitted this response.
Response Date: 6/26/2012 10:49:00 AM
Kimberly@domesticautotransport.com 360 834 6013 Brian, Yes you did set this up a month ago and as our terms state, prices are subject to change and no trucks are guaranteed. No dates are guaranteed. You placed your order on the 4th of June. We have no way of knowing that a carrier will not be in the area to pick up your vehicle almost a month later. Just because you place your order a month in advance does not guarantee you a date for pick up. Unfortunately this industry is not like the airlines when you buy a ticket. Yes you did speak with me today, I said I would check with dispatch and get back to you later today, I never said 2 hours. When you called the second time, I said again I would get back to you, which I did via text. You had requested that if I didn't think I could secure a carrier for tomorrow to let you know which I did as requested. If you don't want me to apologize to you then I won't. I will apologize for other people who read this and don't understand the industry that we do the best job we possibly can, but if there are physically no carriers in the area, it's a little out of our control. We explain the process in detail before you place your order and also have our terms and conditions that should be read before you place your order. Again my apologies to those reading this.