On Sept 9, 2010, I scheduled a delivery for my truck with DAS. Because their web site says "must have a working emergency brake," I answered their question very specifically. In fact, I rehearsed what I'd say several times to make sure I was very clear of the brakes status. I know I talked with Armondo prior to booking my delivery, but it may have been a different csr who took the order. For simplicity, I will use his name.
.Armondo: does the emergency brake work?
_Me: I have stopped the vehicle with it. I can't speak to its ability to hold on a steeply inclined trialer.
.Armondo: ok...
_Me: If you need more than that, I need to know.
.Armondo: No, that's fine.
As you will see, I made it very clear that the e-brake would stop the vehicle, but might not hold on a trailer. I let him know that if it had to hold, then he'd better say something, which he didn't.
Armondo said a towtruck driver would bring the truck to the "depot." I asked him if it would be a flatbed towtruck, and he said yes. Because of that, I didn't worry any more about the brake.
...so, on Sept 16, the towtruck driver showed up with a dually towing a 3-car trailer. I'm going off of my father's description here, but it sounded like it was the 5th wheel type that sits at a 15-20* angle. The brake didn't hold. The driver left. So, I have given DAS a POOR score for Knowledgeable. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt on Honesty, and scoring n/a.
Doris from DAS called me & left a vm. She was unavailable when I called back, so I spoke to one of the other ladies. She told me the brakes were insufficient, and that I'd have to pay a $500+ dry-run fee. I told them that I'd addressed this ahead of time, and that if there were any fees because of their mistake that they'd have to cover it themselves. I then went on to ask exactly what angle would be required for the brakes to hold on. (My brand new Titan won't even hold in my shallow-angle driveway!) I told her I need to know the exact requirement, because if they are going to change the requirements again, then it'd be on them again. She couldn't answer, so she transferred me to Armondo, where I got VM. I left my name and number. This was on Sept 19, at 8:17am.
Sept 16 Voice mail was NEVER returned. They'd already blown the date for me to get it to the local rod run, so I was in no rush.
I called back on Nov. 5th, after no attempt for them to call me, and spoke with Melissa. The phone call started at 2:53pm. We repeated the conversation about the brake, and again, I reiterated that I wouldn't pay for their lack of communication. She put me on hold, after this brief (4 minutes?) conversation. After 24 minutes of phone time, I finally relented to the hold prompt to leave a voice mail. I said in the voice mail that we need to get this resolved, and left my phone number and name.
The Nov 5th voice mail was NEVER returned.
On Nov 8th, at 305pm, I called and got Dorris on the phone. I told her that if we don't come to a resolution by the time the phone conversation was over that I'd cancel the charges. I asked if she could help me, or if I needed to talk to a supervisor. She said her supervisor, John B, just went home. I said ok, have him call me by 11am tomorrow.
After about 24 hours, I had the third unanswered phone message. (two vm and one message to a rep.) The Nov 8th message was NOT returned. At this point, I feel that DAS has canceled the delivery, not me. I called Amex, explained it to them, and their rep said I was more than patient, and he said I was no longer responsible for the charges.
Score POOR for promptness and overall service: Hold so long that their system suggests a voice mail, which is never returned. Two other messages never returned.
So, yes, I had my father get the e-brake adjusted. But DAS has dropped the ball big time.
