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Poor customer service and disorganized

M Submitted this review about Turbo Auto Transport
Review made Live: 2/11/2014 12:06:00 AM
I shipped my car across the Canadian border from the US with Turbo Auto after seeing a good rating on BBB for the company. Unfortunately, there are not many companies that will ship vehicles from the US to Canada due to the complications that can arise when passing border security and the paperwork and diligence from the company involved. As a result, I had slim pickings and I chose the best that was available to me, which appeared to be Turbo. The website boasted that they specialized in cross-border shipments and I was working with the individual at the company who insisted that he had shipped many cars across the border in the past.

My first hiccup with the company was related to the contract that was emailed to me. After signing and returning the contract to my contact at the company, I never received their signature on the contract until I asked. This normally would not matter to me, but considering that this ship would cost me over $2,000, I thought it was important to receive a contract signed by both parties in case either party decided to not uphold what the contract promised.

When the driver came to pick up my car, I was expecting to receive an invoice, but they refused to produce one for me. I had to keep my title in the vehicle because it was a cross-border delivery, so I was apprehensive to hand over the keys, title, and vehicle to a driver without some sort of documentation showing that they had possession of my car. Had the driver been a dishonest person, he could have easily taken the car and shown proof of title and I would have simply lost my car without any way to trace where it was or who had it. After about an hour of dialogue with the driver's boss, I got a sloppy, spelling error-laden email from the boss's blackberry saying they had my car and were delivering it to the border, at which point another driver would finish the final leg into Canada.

About two weeks into the ship, I get a phone call from a stranger asking if I drove a particular vehicle and that it was sitting in their lot. I confirmed that it was mine, but was appalled that the company had delivered my car to a lot and failed to notify about its arrival. Days after this event occurred, I was told they could not locate my title. I told them many times that it was sitting inside the glovebox but they insisted they could not find it. After a full day, they finally said they located it right where I told them it was.

At this point, I was becoming nervous about whether or not my car would make it to Canada given the company's demonstration of disorganization. Almost three and a half weeks in, I called the company again to check on the status because I was expecting the car to arrive within two weeks. They told me that the car was to cross the border the next day and would arrive in my city in two days. I was told I should expect a phone call upon its arrival because I was only given a limited time to formally import the car or else I would have to pay $125/day for it to sit in the lot with Canadian border patrol.

I waited patiently on the expected arrival date but did not receive a call. At this point, I made a phone call to Turbo and found out that my car never even started its journey and was not going to arrive as expected. Somehow they felt it unnecessary to let me know, which was completely unacceptable given I was waiting all day for a phone call about its arrival.

I spent countless hours on the phone trying to finalize when I should expect my car and after being passed through multiple employees, leaving numerous emails and messages, and being ignored by some, I was told I could expect my car the following week.

After all was said and done, it took about a month for my car to arrive, which was double the expected time. The amount of time that it took to arrive is not what bothers me. I had read online about how there are expected delays when shipping across the border, so I expected this and as a result rented a car for a full month in case there was a reasonable delay.

What upset me about Turbo was their lack of professionalism and their refusal to accept responsibility during the shipment. During the last two weeks, I was on the phone with Turbo for at least 30 minutes each day trying to iron out issues that kept arising. I was shipping a new luxury car and paying the company a relatively large sum of money and their failure to deliver service was very frustrating.

For anyone who is shipping their car across the border, I highly recommend avoiding this company at all cost. While there are not many companies that offer this service, one should seriously consider immediately crossing Turbo off the already short list.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
Texas
Pickup:
On Time
Destination State:
Alberta
Delivery:
Late
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
1
Quote or Order Cost:
$2000

Company Response
Curtis Runia from Turbo Auto Transport Submitted this response.
Response Date: 4/15/2014 2:00:00 PM
This is in response to the review sent in by Renee Chu, regarding transport of her Red 2012 BMW X3, VIN# 5UXWX5C51CL716644. Even though this person was trying to remain anonymous and we transport 1000s of vehicle per year, via a process of elimination, we feel 99.9% sure this is the correct vehicle. It is up to Ms Chu if she chooses to remove this review. First, it would be highly recommended that whoever files a complaint should keep the facts straight, as to who they contract services with, who straightens out the mess and who delivers their vehicle. They are not one and the same and should be well thought-out before bashing on BBB or Transport Review. Ms. Chu contracted her auto transport service with an auto transport BROKER, AUTOS-ON-THE-GO, hereafter known as AOTG, and not Turbo Auto Transport. As for completing the contract, that was with AOTG and it was AOTG that controlled the dispatching of her BMW in Houston, Texas until it was delivered to Turbo Auto Transport. Additionally, there is NO person at Turbo Auto Transport that uses a Blackberry to conduct business. We are in offices and conduct business through company emails and not cell phones unless outside of business hours. It was AOTG that told her this was a two week transport time, when in fact this is typically always 3 to 4 week transport, especially processing into Canada and waiting for customs clearance. Additionally, Turbo Auto Transport’s normal charge is $1750 from Houston to Calgary, so when Ms Chu said she was charged over $2000 we knew it was a BROKER adding their fee. If there are complaints, it is usually because a BROKER has booked the order and they do NOT clearly articulate the facts or expectations of cross-border transport to the customer. We do not know when Ms Chu’s vehicle was picked up in Houston, Texas, only to see it delivered at our Great Falls Terminal after hours on August 20th and the staff seeing it when they came in the next morning. It was Turbo Auto Transport that called Ms. Chu to ask her about her vehicle and who she hired to drop it at our yard. At that point we called Mirel at AOTG to inquire and he sent over a dispatch order on August 20st for Turbo Auto Transport to transport the vehicle from Great Falls to Calgary. On August 20th @ 5:06 PM, a cross-border packet was email to Ms. Chu to complete so we could get started on the customs paperwork. On August 22nd, Ms. Chu was told via email that if all her customs paperwork was complete her vehicle would be scheduled for the next week. It took from August 21st to August 28th to get the correct paperwork from Ms. Chu for U.S. Customs to approve the vehicle to be exported from the United States. IF the vehicle would have been contracted with Turbo Auto Transport, the customs packet would have been sent to the customer and the customs paperwork would have been gathered before the vehicle was picked up in Houston. Once it arrived at our Great Falls, Montana Terminal, the customs paperwork would have been confirmed with our in-house customs department and put on the next available slot going to Calgary. Our trucks are booked full ahead of time but vehicles do not get scheduled until the customs paperwork and clearance is confirmed. On August 28th (Wednesday) Dispatch contacted Ms. Chu to schedule delivery that week and (via email) she said she would rather wait until the next week for delivery. The following week was Labor Day and the first truck that left on Tuesday, September 3rd was full and scheduled for Regina and Winnipeg so it had to be put on the second load that week which was going to Calgary. It was delivered to the Calgary bonded warehouse on September 6th. It is the warehouse’s policy that importers have 24 hours to clear customs and pickup the vehicle. Storage fees of $125 CAD$ apply per day thereafter. We deliver 10-15 bonded vehicles per week and there is no deviation from the policy at any of the bonded warehoused throughout Canada, from British Columbia to Montreal. There may have been poor communications at this time as two new employees were hired the end of August and were training with Dispatch. We do apologize if the phone calls were not made in a timely manner to keep customers apprised of their deliveries.