Typical, But Not
Michael
Submitted this review about
A1 Shipping Services
Review made Live: 4/1/2005 12:20:00 AM
When I first contacted A1 Auto Shipping I was impressed with their professional customer service on the phone and how flexible they were on their rate with regard to getting my Cadillac STS from Florida to Oregon.
The representatives were friendly and answered all of my questions. The vehicle was picked up on time and at that point everything seemed to be going okay, but I encountered much headache and frustration which I really had nothing directly to do with, but had more to do with the contact between A1 and the driver they hired (Ron Gunderson out of Salem, Oregon), as there were numerous misunderstandings and inconsistencies which apparently had occurred between the two of them, A1 and Gunderson.
A1 had given me permission to have personal items in the vehicle as long as they did not block any of the views in the windshields.
Apparently, when Gunderson picked up the vehicle he complained about this and stated that there wasn't supposed to be anything in the vehicle, yet he accepted it anyway and then immediately wanted to try and charge more money through A1 for me having items in the vehicle, which I already had permission to have in the car by A1.
At the time, I had no idea who A1 had subcontracted to ship the vehicle as they are a broker, but suddenly I had to answer to Gunderson who I never even knew of, who started to voice his dissatisfaction with me, and not A1.
Gunderson did accept the car, but I do feel that there was tremendous amounts of miscommunication and/or lack of communication between A1 and Gunderson about the vehicle.
During the shipping of the vehicle it was further reported that the vehicle "became inoperative" and Gunderson again wanted to access more charges to this order through A1. When the vehicle was accepted it was running, and upon acceptance of the vehicle which was not running when I finally got it, I jump started it and realized that there was a light which Gunderson had left on during the transport which caused the battery to run down. Additionally, when I got the car, Gunderson hired another company (allegedly because he was too busy) to actually bring me my vehicle. This is something A1 had told me was not supposed to happen at all, that their shipper did not have the authority to assign transport to any other shippers.
To make matters worse two other major issues occured. The first was that my vehicle arrived damaged with a hole in the bumper which was never there before, and then there was a rate disagreement between Gunderson and A1.
As the total price of my vehicle shipping was supposed to be $925, and I had put down the $200 deposit for A1, the balance was supposed to be $725, which I had prepared in hard cash as I was supposed to per my agreement with A1. Again, I had never heard of Gunderson before, but on the Contact delivered by the driver Gunderson had hired the amount due stated $750, which I had refused to pay. At the time there was much hastle, and Gunderson didn't want to relesae the vehicle and said I was bound to his contract which I never even saw, not A1's.
A1 did intervene and ultimately agreed to pay the $25 difference to Gunderson. But then further problems developed concerning the damage of the vehicle as Gunderson insisted I could only have the vehicle repaired at the body shop of his choice, who I felt was incompetent as they never returned my calls and took 3 days to get an estimate on the bumper repair.
I did not want my vehicle fixed at Gunderson's choice of body shop and I complained to A1 and their service advisors agreed with me, and I got my own estimates by independent body shops and Cadillac.
In the end Gunderson paid the dollar amount of their body shop's estimate, which still left the bill at Cadillac shy by about $130 which A1 graciously offered to pay. This impressed me, as I felt I had been through the war at this point over something which was supposed to be so trouble free.
I had many conversations with Gunderson who was less than cooperative about this matter and basically tried to blame all of the problems which happened on A1.
The bottom line in my opinion, to those out here considering having any vehicle shipped, is to be very cautious and realize that if you work with a broker, make sure they will defend you against their carrier if a problem does happen.
There were many things not clear apparently in communication between A1 and Gunderson-issues of items left in the vehicle and the exact amount Gunderson was to be paid for the shipping of my vehicle. These issues have nothing to do with me as a consumer, nor should I be bound to any contact except the brokers, especially when I had not even been issued the contract by Gunderson.
Gunderson was evasive and rude, yet at the same time I feel there was miscommunication or no communication between Gunderson and A1, as I never should of had to endure such an ordeal. Of the two, A1 who I hired, never Gunderson, stepped up to the plate and did defend me against Gunderson who they hired and I appreciated being in good hands when problems did start to happen.
For this, I feel comfortable in recommending them, as this could happen with any carrier, or any broker, but its unfortunate that it happened to me. I recommend better communication between shippers and brokers, and brokers should not use shippers who do not comply with the rules they are setting up for clients they are trying to attract.
Either way, you never truly know what you will get, so if you don't mind driving and have the time, drive it yourself and spare yourself the trouble.
