LEARN BEFORE YOU CHOOSE!!! NOT DIRECT EXPRESS AUTO!!!
Camran
Submitted this review about
A Plus Auto Transporters LLC
Review made Live: 5/5/2011 11:40:00 AM
I posted a review yesterday (5-4-11) about how displeased I was with Direct Express Auto Transporters. The review is here:
http://www.transportreviews.com/review/00095852.asp
Within a couple of hours of posting that review, Direct Express Auto responded by disclosing my full name and location while taking cheap shots at me because I posted a bad review. I later learned that this is common practice for Direct Express Auto, as you can read here:
http://www.consumerist.com/2009/02/direct-express-auto-transport-responds-to-bad-reviews-by-posting-reviewers-personal-information-onli.html
So yesterday (5-4-11) I called A PLUS AUTO TRANSPORTERS, and spoke with Ms. Dew. I called to get a quote, and she explained the way the auto transport industry works (without me asking). She then gave me a quote which was $225 higher than Direct Express Auto, and I told her this. She then told me that if I went with a low quote, then there was a good possibility that my car would sit there at the place of origin, because no truck driver would want to waste their TIME & GAS to go pick it up, especially since my car was off the beaten path. Little did she know that it had already happened to me, and that was why I was calling her. However, I was a little confused as to how a truck driver can refuse to do his job when there were paying customers here. She then explained:
These transport companies we find online are merely brokers. They do not own trucks, hire drivers, or even contract drivers. Transport companies charge you a fee (your deposit) to post your vehicle on a national board where every truck driver and carrier company can see your quote (or bid). It is a driver's market, they get to pick and chose which cars they want to pick up and deliver. The price the broker gives you after the deposit is what the drivers make, and that is why the majority of the time you are paying them cash on deliver, and not writing a check out to some carrier company in advance. So in essence, you are "bidding" on the services of the truck drivers. Now image being a driver and you are looking at the national board. Do you go with the mid to high quote (bid) that pays your gas, traveling expenses, and puts money in your pocket... or do you go with the low quote that an auto transport company gave a guy just so they could take his $150 deposit? Which car do you think will get picked up first?
After hearing all this, I began to understand the industry a lot better and understood the logistics behind it all. So I decided to go with A PLUS AUTO TRANSPORTERS, because of the upfront honesty. I understood that I would have to pay a little more to the driver if I wanted to increase my chances of getting my car here quicker.
What happened next you ask? I started writing this review at 9:25 AM (central time), because I was woken up this morning by a phone call from Ms. Dew at 9 AM, who informed me that they had found a driver who accepted my quote. WOW!!! I waited a week with Direct Express Auto Transporters, and still hadn't been assigned a driver. A PLUS AUTO TRANSPORTERS found me a driver in less than 24 hours!!!
The lesson learned here is if you are upfront and honest, then you will continue to be a profitable business. And remember... the lowest quote is not always the best quote. I will use A PLUS AUTO TRANSPORTERS again if I ever need to transport another vehicle. Thank you Ms. Dew!!!
p.s.
I was not offered, nor would I have taken, compensation for writing this review.
Camran
