Company Response Review Report Review
Lost or Stolen Car???

Adrienne Submitted this review about Auto Rail Forwarders
Review made Live: 2/14/2012 2:13:00 PM
I am now into the 9th week of trying to determine what to do about my son’s vehicle which has gone missing while being transported by Autorail Forwarders out of Halifax to Calgary back in early October of 2011.

There are many facets to this story, but we have been investigating this company and see that we are not alone in what may be a grab for the consumer’s cash and vehicle. I have found both this website on Autorail Forwarders Reviews, and a list of 29 other complaints in the past 36 months brought to the attention of the Maritime Provinces Better Business Bureau, regarding this company stating much the same problems.

Our story begins with my 23 year old son Christopher Richard Hazen giving up his apartment in Fredericton after attending UNB for the past 4 years. He had applied to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Unfortunately he was on a waiting list and upon arriving in Calgary was told he didn’t get in. Since he was there he decided to remain in Calgary to work until the following September when he would be accepted into the program.

He soon found that in reality it was not easy to find employment in Calgary and that newcomers were scrambling to find work of any kind to keep themselves afloat. He was hired on with a company as a stocking employee during their night shift. This job began at 3 a.m. and ended at 8 am. In Calgary, there are no bus services at 3 a.m. in the morning and unfortunately the accommodations which he got following beginning the new job were about 6 miles away. It was at this point that he made a decision that he had to have his vehicle which was back in New Brunswick in order to get to any job in Calgary because of the vastness of the city.

Dipping into the funds that were saved to go to school in the fall of 2011, he paid $1,736.00 to a company who claimed to be in partnership with CN and Allied Transport (according to their website) to have the car, shipped to Calgary from my home in Bathurst, New Brunswick. At the time of making arrangements to do this I was told it would take anywhere from 2 days to 20 days to get the car there. A contract was signed and money was transferred by e-mail to a Royal Bank Account in Halifax, and a separate payment was made by Visa, presumably to pay Allied Transport to truck the car from Bathurst to the train terminal in Halifax. The car was to be picked up from a Hyundai Dealership lot on Oct. 11, by Allied but in fact did not leave until the 13th. The vehicle was gassed, washed inside and out and had numerous personal effects in the trunk because the owner of Autorail had given permission. This was the last time we saw the car.

After 3 weeks, I called Autorail to begin to track the whereabouts of the vehicle. I spoke with the owner Gerry Giavanetti, and began to smell a rat! He was evasive, told me how busy he was – had thousands of cars to send out west, and blah, blah, blah and that my son’s car was sitting on a siding waiting for another shipment to go. At this point I thought it in my best interest to start taping any further conversations which I did.

It has been a nightmare, of phoning, leaving messages, not hearing from this company and not even having a tracking number for the car. At one point I said I would come and pick the car up in Halifax and drive it to Alberta myself because my son was desperate to have it. Gerry told me it would cost me an additional $500 to get it off the carrier?

In the 6th week of the car’s disappearance I contacted the police and asked their advice. We waited to see what might happen and nothing has, although my son received an e-mail from a “Riley” (I’m not sure there is such a person) stating that the car was due to arrive in Edmonton on Dec. 1st. Well, it is now the 13th of Dec. and still nothing. I continue to try to contact the company but never get through to Gerry. I leave messages with his secretary and on his answering machine but never hear back.

I have since, made a formal complaint with our local police department. I have contacted my son’s insurance company where of course there are substantial deductibles for the contents of the car. I have contacted the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center and Consumer Affairs. I also called the Maritime Better Business Bureau, to find that there were 29 complaints with this company in the past 36 months, and non were resolved. Thiis is another place with a huge list of customers who went through hell with this company. I have also as of today contacted the CN police to see if they can help us find the car.

I think that something must be done to disclose to the public what has been going on with this company. It amazes me that they are able to continue to do business in Canada. .

Adrienne Hazen
Shipment Details
Origin State:
New Brunswick
Pickup:
Late
Destination State:
Alberta
Delivery:
Never
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
Gerry Giavanetti
Quote or Order Cost:
$1736

Company Response
Nick from Auto Rail Forwarders Submitted this response.
Response Date: 8/4/2012 9:31:00 PM
JUST A NOTE,, WE MOVE OVER 2000 VEHICLES PER YEAR AND HAVE LESS THEN .05 % THAT HAVE COMPLAINTS, WE STRIVE TO DO OUR BEST... WE AREN'T PERFECT.. BUT WE TRY OUR HARDEST TO HAVE REPEAT CLIENTS. THATS IMPORTANT TO OUR BUSINESS MODEL. We as well want to point out that if you read these reviews, 100 % are from private individuals.. we have no negative reviews from any of our over 350 Corporate Clients IMPORTANT INFO TO OUR CLIENTS........ YOU SHOULD READ..... The Response to this Review may be found in greater detail at the bottom..... however, in the mean time, we provide the following..... HERE IS A GENERAL OVERVIEW Please be advised that Auto Rail has been in Business for over 25 yrs and ships over 1000 vehicles per year, we are in Partnership and Rely on our main Service Providers CN RAIL and ALLIED SYSTEMS who both have been in business for over 60 yrs. These service providers have been Delivering our Clients Vehicles to several Locations across Canada and the USA for many many years. It is important to Note that we do have Clients who complain from time to time..and we understand the frustration of waiting for delayed shipments. Auto Rail does it's very best to get back to clients as quickly as possible with answers to there questions. In the shipping business, Private clients need info, and we understand that... ... some clients want updates, some want in the AM, some want in the PM.. some want daily , some want weekly and others.. well they understand the delays and the time it can take. Auto Rail can only give approx times and can never guarantee an exact delivery time, as per the terms and conditions that we provide to each and every client. What clients don't understand is that the auto shipping industry in Canada is very small, compared to our neighbors in the USA. Service providers in Canada ship using Rail - Truck and in some cases a Drive Away Service. Take for example, Allied Systems our main service provider, who is the Largest Auto Shipping Company in North America. Recently Allied Systems ( which you can google) lost 2 major Contracts in 2011 that they held for over 50 yrs with GM and Chrysler Corporation, leaving almost 250 trucks now sitting idle in Canada . You ask ? How has this effected the market Place and why is my shipment so late.? What private shippers don't understand is how that has effected the market place for used vehicles being moved throughout the entire Country. Basically, those smaller carriers owning from 1 to 10 trucks in Canada.. have gone after those two contracts across the county and have little or no time to move used vehicles, So the industry has taken a major turn on the used car shipping business in Canada. Why ? is it , that Clients vehicles are being delayed and put on the back burner, as others scramble to find interline carriers to hopefully move there inventory for ie: moving companies, used car dealers Gov't , and Private shippers etc etc.. Shipping vehicle in a timely manner is and has been a major problem for awhile now. Think about it..... Who would you rather move vehicles for.... GM - Chrysler or any of the big manufactures or one zzeess or two zzeess from private shippers. The answer is quite clear... truckers big and small would rather ship for manufactures, who give them little to no headaches and don't have to answer to clients shipping one vehicle at a time, versus 1000. What must be understood is that it is not our intention to hold vehicles that are being shipped, we have never lost or have had a vehicle stolen. Vehicles for sure have been delayed with out question, SOME yes have been lost in our yard, as we sometimes have over 2000 vehicles in a yard waiting to be delivered.. But ...STOLEN.. .. NONE. What Clients don't understand is that from time to time we do have to rely on several other inter connect carriers who don't tell us the straight goods and give us false hopes of yes it was or wasn't picked up, or our truck broke down and couldn't pickup the vehicle. etc etc.... Lies Lies Lies.. and what we have to tell the client is what information is relayed to us..... Inter Line Carriers as well don't like to pay there claims when we have not physically handled the vehicle. Almost every time we take the blame and fingers are pointed at our Company , when in fact the carrier who we brokered to move the vehicle , takes there fees quoted and will not and doesn't take responsibility for damages or the time delays that they have caused. All the carrier cares about is getting paid for that shipment. It is our goal since our volume of business has increased over the years to up date Review sites, like this one , so that we are on top of each and every review and we give feed back. We as well are going to start collecting and have clients submit reviews that are positive and those of which may have had a claim and that they have been satisfied. We are yes sometimes at fault for perhaps not calling or emailing a client back, in the time frame that they wish us too.. however we are here and we are moving hundreds of vehicles. Sincerely, Management AutoRail