Company Response Review Report Review
Destroyed Vehicle & Tried to Disappear

Dan Submitted this review about Auto Trans Experts LLC.
Review made Live: 11/22/2011 11:21:00 PM
I'm a service member who shipped my vehicle from my original residence to myself in Augusta GA. The day prior to the vehicle arriving the entire rig was destroyed in a shipping fire. Understandably, accidents happen however my insurance determined that the fire was caused by their lack of maintenance.

I arrive back from various military maneuvers to learn that my vehicle has been completely destroyed but no one from Auto Trans contacted me. The broker contacted me to tell me my vehicle was destroyed in a fire, and when I attempted to contact Auto Trans they confirmed that my vehicle was destroyed but could not tell me what had happened.

I asked that they put me in a rental car as my job required personal transportation, they refused to do so and began telling me to simply contact their insurance company. Their insurance company is a very small company and after calling them and asking for a rental car they simply told me that they don't do that and the gentleman was less than professional (i.e. yelling at me over the phone) as I was relentless in finding out what happened to my vehicle and what Auto Trans was doing to replace my vehicle.

It later comes to light that the insurer is insured by Lloyds of London. Oddly enough, insurance companies can be ensured by larger insurers that have more capital. They were insured by Lloyds of London, which denied the claim as it appeared to be an "Act of God" even though it was determined that Auto Trans had failed to perform proper maintenance on their truck, which caused the brake to catch fire thus destroying my vehicle along with several others.

Auto Trans is now being sued by my insurance company via a subrogation. I lost my deductible and Auto Trans still owes me my deductible. I'd like to point out that if Auto Trans is still in litigation, and cannot repay me my deductible, one can only imagine the financial situation Auto Trans is in.

Quite literally Auto Trans is most likely short on capital, struggling to make ends meet, and essentially should not handle any high end vehicles to include a rare BMW that you personally imported from Europe.

Beyond just failing to be straightforward regarding the fire they are also having liquidity issues and any company that is desperate for money should not be handling high end cars.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
Oregon
Pickup:
On Time
Destination State:
Georgia
Delivery:
Never
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
558862
Quote or Order Cost:
$22000

Car Condition
  • Vehicle was damaged
Company Response
Alex from Auto Trans Experts LLC. Submitted this response.
Response Date: 2/12/2013 4:34:00 PM
First of all, the fire that destroyed the trailer with the cars was not due to a lack of maintenance. It was an uncontrollable unfortunate accident. In fact, when our driver noticed the fire, he immediately stopped the truck, unattached it from the trailer to keep the fire from spreading. And he attempted to pull off any vehicles that he was able to as fast as he could. As far as the whole thing taking a while to finalize and for everyone to get their money back- that was not up to our company. Everyone knows that insurance companies take things at their own pace, no matter how much we tried to rush them. This was stressful for the customers, no doubt, but it was stressful for our company as we did not want this to be a reflection on our service. We try to make things go as smoothly as possible, for everyone.