Most, if not all, positive reviews are from customers who did not have their vehicle damaged during transport. What defines All American Trucking & Transport are the negative reviews, which should tell you how they handle problems when they occur. If you decide to hire them, ask first if they will cover scratches and gouges to your vehicle, ask for a copy of the carrier's insurance, and get everything in writing. Their website is misleading when it comes to who is liable and how much damage the carrier can do to your vehicle which they consider to be acceptable. What's most important to know is that shipping in OPEN transport with them will give the carrier permission to damage your vehicle to any extent, even $1,600 worth of paint damage is acceptable to them. This isn’t about one rock chip or a minor scratch, it’s about mishandling and obvious neglect due to zero accountability.
Review is long, so I will start with what you will need to do if there is damage to your vehicle.
1) Do not sign the bill of lading and file a damage report with All American. Not sure this will do anything since the inspections to them appear to be meaningless, but at least they can't state you didn't inform them of the damage.
2) Stop/dispute payment assuming you paid with a credit card.
3) If you don't have a copy of the carrier's insurance, you will need to request it. You need this to file a complaint with your state's Department or Division of Insurance.
4) Get a body shop quote to repair the damage.
5) File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
6) File a complaint with your state's Dept of insurance.
I hired All American Trucking at the recommendation of the moving company, Berger Transport. If you are considering hiring All American Trucking / Move Auto, consider what I have to say first. If you look at their FAQ’s about damage, it implies they hire carriers who have insurance in case there is damage. What they do not say is that they have an internal insurance adjuster who will review your claim to determine if the carrier is liable or not, and their determination is final. The pre-ship vs delivery condition does not matter. My carrier's insurance has a $5,000 deductible and is stating they won't cover anything less, so the zero deductible claim is not true in this case.
My pick-up inspection noted the only damage on my vehicle were two rock chips and one scratch. It was delivered with damage all over the vehicle, driver rear door, driver rear bumper, driver fender, front hood, passenger front fender, passenger front bumper, passenger front door, passenger rear door, passenger rear bumper, all had paint damage from transport. I took it to a body shop who gave me an estimate to repair the damage, which was extensive enough where they do not think it can be repaired without painting some of the body panels, total is $1,593.41.
All American’s position is the damage is “subtle” and it is common in the industry to have that much damage to your vehicle during transport, so they are refusing to pay for the total repairs. There is zero dispute the damage happened while in their carrier’s custody. However, they want me to file a claim with my insurance to repair the vehicle, but it says nothing about this on their website.
Be forewarned, any damage, unless they determine the carrier is negligent, will be up to you, the customer, to pay for. They claim they are a family owned, but treat their customers like a large bureaucratic company who hides behind the fine print, is only out to seek a profit, and cares little about their customer or what is right. Once something happens, they immediately refer to their terms and conditions, fine print. Their interpretation of the terms and conditions is that automobiles are designed for road use and can acquire small scuffs, scratches and abrasions, and even $1,593 dollars worth is acceptable to them. I had two vehicles shipped, one with minor scratches, but still had damage, the other with a min of $566 dollars of damage and a maximum of $1,593, and their official position is that this is normal and they are not obligated to repair vehicle’s that are damaged while in their care, custody and control.
Basically, if you hire All American and ship your vehicle on OPEN transport, expect to have extensive paint damage that they won’t take responsibility for. The carrier attempted to deliver my vehicle 5 days before it was actually delivered, and were supposed to deliver it to their local depot but didn’t. Something happened during transport that resulted in paint damage to just about every body panel on one of the two vehicles. You would be wise to take your business elsewhere and make sure whoever you select won’t hide behind the fact they don’t have insurance, which is what all American is stating, or that extensive paint damage is considered “normal”, also All American’s position.
