Most important 1-star review - please read
Carl
Submitted this review about
Crystal Car Shipping, Inc
Review made Live: 11/18/2022 12:28:00 AM
This is the most important 1-star review you’ll ever read. Tl;DR: Crystal can and WILL change your rate last minute, sometimes (in our case) increasing it by 3x. We paid $685 up front, and two days before our pick up, they called and said we now had to pay $1800. I did not heed the warning of other similar reviews and painfully regret it.
Crystal was recommended to me by a friend who successfully used their services. They’re a broker, and as such, work with various carriers to get customers’ cars shipped to their destination. My dad originally wanted to go directly through a carrier, but my friend’s recommendation and the low quote seemed too good to pass up. Boy was I wrong.
I spoke to Connor to have my elderly father’s car shipped from Texas to California for his big move, and due to certain constraints, there was no way any of us could help him drive, so we opted to fly him out due to age-related factors. Two days before the scheduled pick up, a carrier calls him and says that there are no drivers available and that they could do it for $1800. My dad, due to prior experience, thought it was a scam, and immediately called Crystal to sort it out without consulting me. According to him, they were able to lower the price significantly, but it was still several hundred dollars more than our original quote. On top of that, they tried to charge him a $200 cancellation fee, which he got reduced to $125. I called and spoke to both Connor and a manager to have that fee waived, and they insisted that it is standard procedure under the contract (it is, but read on to find out how in our case it actually isn’t). After I had a chance to process everything and evaluate options, I called back a few times to A) try to reinstate our contract at the increased cost and B) to try and have the fee waived if they could not provide the service anymore. I asked to be connected to a higher up, and on three occasions was told that I would receive a call back and never did.
Is this something a great business would do? How would you feel if this happened to your elderly parent? According to Connor, this happens occasionally. In my opinion, a great business would absorb the cost. At least that is how I run my business; I try and lead with empathy and compassion. Connor also explained that this is how brokers work. I have personally worked with so many brokers (albeit insurance brokers) and can attest that this is NOT how brokers work. According to the fine print in the contract, Crystal can certainly change the fee at their discretion (true). I ignored it due to the glowing reviews and recommendation from my friend, and thought that if they did, it wouldn’t be much of a difference. On top of all this, a broker’s job is to help you find a deal - they are your point of contact with all parties. Apparently, once your information is in their system, any of their carriers can call you directly and try to negotiate a different deal (not how brokers work). This is a total bait and switch situation, and I can only imagine the extra profit they make on top of doing this to a “few” clients here who give little to no resistance.
My last resort, after being denied multiple callbacks from a manager, was to point out a flaw in the contract. The stated pick up date on the contract was mistakenly recorded as a date 18 days prior to the actual pick up date. The contract states that the penalty fee applies to cancellations within 5 days of the scheduled pick up. Due to this error, theoretically we should be absolved from any penalty fee. Any court of law would see it this way. I truly wonder if there are enough such cases to warrant a class action. Jimmy McGill, if you’re reading this, have at it.
In the end, my stubborn dad drove himself as we found no other drivers. We were all worried sick, but he did make it okay. Most of you will probably have an experience similar to all the good reviews, but if you really want to play it safe, go with another company for your moving needs.
