A Contrast in Cost and Service

Jenn Submitted this review about A 2 B Moving Systems
Review made Live: 6/29/2006 9:48:00 AM
We had two vehicles to move - a 1987 Jeep Cherokee and a 2003 MINI Cooper. We chose open transport for the Jeep and closed for the MINI. A2B moved the Jeep while DeMoise Trk-ing moved the MINI. What a contrast in organization and service!

A2B

The Jeep move cost about 2/3rds that of the MINI (Jeep $970 for open transport; MINI $1500 for closed). From the start A2B was disorganized, misinformative, and generally not helpful. They said they would be there, then they didn't know who was picking up the vehicle, then we got a call from the actual driver (not from A2B we found out) and communication was all over the place. (We didn't find out until it was too late to change carriers that A2B is only a broker, not the people who actually move your vehicle.) One person would tell us one thing, then another would tell us something else, then a third couldn't find any information at all!

As it ended up, they arrived to pick up the Jeep at the last possible moment, when our movers were loading our stuff and we were just about gone. They picked it up using a temporary trailer and later moved it to a long-haul carrier. We pre-paid since we were having a friend take delivery at the other end. (We were taking our time crossing the country and wouldn't be there before the Jeep arrived.)

While we were still a few days out from our arrival, our friend taking delivery called us. He said that the Jeep was going to be delivered that day or the next, but the driver needed a cashier's check for the balance before he would unload the truck! We started frantically making phone calls to try and get the problem cleared up. We had pre-paid the pick-up person specifically so that our friend wouldn't have to deal with any of this (nor would we). After several phone calls back and forth over the course of a few hours, the problem was finally resolved and our friend took delivery. I guess in the end it all worked out, but the hassles along the way, especially when we ourselves were moving, were really unnecessary and very stressful!

DeMoise Trk-ing

Now for the contrast: DeMoise Trk-ing moving the MINI Cooper. From beginning to end they were on-the-ball, personable, and very easy to work with. The MINI is our baby so we wanted her taken care of right. I had emailed them initially with a price request for both vehicles, and they replied right away that they only did closed transport but would be willing to cut us a deal for both. We declined on the Jeep as it was still quite a bit more than we wanted to pay.

A little later in the process, I emailed my requested pick-up and delivery dates, which were about 12 days apart. Within an hour Bill DeMoise called me on my cell to personally tell me that they are a small company and don't have a storage facility, and they usually deliver within 7 days. It would be difficult for them to arrange a longer time period, etc. (and that I wouldn't really want to leave my car in a storage facility if I cared about it - a VERY good point!) He apologized and said that if I went with another carrier he'd understand. He also made some suggestions like having someone else take delivery (no way - I wanted to make sure all was okay at delivery) or have someone else send it off. It hadn't occured to me to have someone else send it off, but I immediately thought of several friends whom I trusted to do that. I thanked Bill and said I'd get back to him. I arranged for a friend to keep the car for a few days and send it off, take pictures of loading, etc.

The only glitch in the whole process was that we thought pick-up was going to be in the middle of the week. It turned out to be on the weekend, and my friend was away in New Orleans! Fortunately his wife had stayed home and she oversaw the loading. Their daughter even took the pictures! I got a call from the driver, Don, whom I later found out was Bill's brother, that he had picked up my car and was on his way.

Delivery came right on schedule, and she arrived in pristine condition. I was VERY happy with the service from DeMoise and told Don so. I also emailed Bill to thank him, too. I HIGHLY recommend DeMoise Trk-ing if you are moving a vehicle you care about!

Company Response
Clay Neal from A 2 B Moving Systems Submitted this response.
Response Date: 6/29/2006 12:13:00 PM
"The Jeep move cost about 2/3rds that of the MINI (Jeep $970 for open transport; MINI $1500 for closed). From the start A2B was disorganized, misinformative, and generally not helpful. They said they would be there, then they didn't know who was picking up the vehicle, then we got a call from the actual driver (not from A2B we found out) and communication was all over the place. (We didn't find out until it was too late to change carriers that A2B is only a broker, not the people who actually move your vehicle.) One person would tell us one thing, then another would tell us something else, then a third couldn't find any information at all! As it ended up, they arrived to pick up the Jeep at the last possible moment, when our movers were loading our stuff and we were just about gone. They picked it up using a temporary trailer and later moved it to a long-haul carrier. We pre-paid since we were having a friend take delivery at the other end. (We were taking our time crossing the country and wouldn't be there before the Jeep arrived.) " I am sorry to hear Ms. Tanzer was unhappy with our service. Ms. Tanzer placed the order for us to pickup the vehicle between 6/06-08. A few days before the first scheduled pickup date we were notified by her boyfriend, Marty, that the vehicle needed to go into the shop to get some work done. They pushed the pickup date back to 6/08. We didn’t know who we were originally going to assign to pickup the vehicle because they didn’t know for sure when the vehicle was going to be available for pickup. We ended up using Pioneer Transport for the move. They are based out of Norwalk CA and use local flatbeds to pickup all of there vehicles in CA and bring them back to there office so there over the road carriers do not have to wait on customers. We at A2B Systems are a broker and we do not hide that fact. There are only two people who work in dispatching so I do not know who this third person is. A2B Systems also does not charge the customer until there vehicle has been picked up. They are more then welcome to cancel anytime before pickup if they are unhappy with our service and they will not be charged any money. "While we were still a few days out from our arrival, our friend taking delivery called us. He said that the Jeep was going to be delivered that day or the next, but the driver needed a cashier&a