Damaged My GTO
Johnathon Jones
Submitted this review about
Dependable Auto Shippers
Review made Live: 5/11/2011 12:30:00 PM
I'm not sure how much the actualy transport cost was since it was part of my relocation package provided by my employer so I just entered an arbitrary amount that is the average cost in the quotes I was seeing for the transport for my car.
Below is the report I filed with the BBB:
DAS# 42250152
Claim# 572269
I was offered a relocation package by Eastman Chemcial Company as part of my job offer. The relocation company that Eastman chose to use is a company called Cartus. Cartus handled the move of my personal goods, but they contracted out a company called DAS to handle my automobile relocation for my move to TN from LA.
The vehicle was 2-3 days behind the scheduled delivery date (I believe the delivery date was January 26th or 27th). This is date is very important because my start date was prior to the delayed delivery date of the vehicle, forcing me to get a friend of mine to release the car since I was unable to leave my workplace during the delivery of the automobile. The car was released and placed in my garage dripping wet (hard to inspect a car properly until it dries and manually wiping the car dry would allow the opportunity for damages to be incurred by myself). The car has stayed in the garage from the delivery date until this past Friday, March 18th, to prevent any opportunity for further damages that could be deemed my fault. Side note: This vehicle is my secondary vehicle, which barely gets any mileage on it at all as of the past couple years *think show car*. Due to my work load, I was unable to give the car a full inspection until late Friday night. Upon noticing the damages, I made a note to call DAS the next day to file a claim toward the damages.
My car was placed on a “do not wash” list, yet it was washed anyway. That particular washing resulted in every painted surface on my car to become scratched. This scratching appears to be caused by contaminants in the utensil used to wash the vehicle. I have all the documentation where it was even noted that the vehicle was washed prior to delivery. There is severe 'spider-webbing' and marring on the surfaces. As mentioned before, I initially contacted DAS directly the following day and was ensured it would be taken care of in a timely manner. After filing the claim, I was required to send DAS the relocation information regarding the vehicle, pictures of damage, pictures of the vehicle's paint condition before the damage, and an estimate, which I provided as soon as possible. After submitting the required information, I was then asked to schedule an appointment with an appraiser to assess the damage, which I also followed though with promptly.
Due to the nature of the model car I own (2004 Pontiac GTO), the clear coat is extremely thin, and paint corrections, such as polishing/buffing, run a high risk of forfeiting the clearcoat. After speaking to a few experts about this incident, it was the general consensus that the only proper way to repair the damages to the surfaces was a full re-spray.
To my dismay the claim was denied a couple weeks ago (only after having to call to follow-up with DAS), and I have tried to contact the company multiple times since the notification of the denial to discuss an appeal. Over the past few weeks, I have left multiple messages and spoke to different individuals to direct me to the proper person in order to discuss this appeal, but I have received nothing but a run-around. I am in the process of filing a complaint with Cartus, DAS and Eastman Chemical Company concerning the inability of DAS to resolve this issue.
DAS denied the claim due to no damages being noted by the friend of mine upon delivery and outside of the grace period of 48 hours. The friend stated the vehicle was unable to be inspected properly due to the water covering the car. I do recally the water hadn't evaporated off the car until the following Friday morning as I was heading out to work. The denial also made mention that the washing couldn't be directly tied to the damages, which is completely incorrect and could be stated by anyone that knows anything about detailing vehicles.
I am wanting get the paint back to its original condition prior to the shipping of the vehicle. I have spent numerous hours (200+) over the past 4 years to maintain the paint in a pristine condition, paying attention to every detail regarding the condition of the quality, only to have someone to basically wipe the time away.
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I have since talked to DAS again, and it still doesn't make any sense to me as to why my claim was denied because all of the reasons I was given are non-sense. I would also like to admit that I am not a very easy person to reach during the day since my desk is located in a very remote location with ZERO cell phone service, and when I am not here, I am usually hiking, also with no cell phone service.
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Here is a email I recently received from an employee concerning a follow-up:
Johnathan,
I missed our call last Friday. My apologies on that. Friday’s and Monday’s are a little busy around here. Would
Still like to discuss the issues you have incurred. Let me know this week when you might be available.
Thank you,
Brian Schoepf
Retail - Customer Service Manager
3020 E. Hwy 80
Mesquite, Texas 75149
1(800)826-1083 ex 5037
(972)329-3690 Fax
bschoepf@dasautoshippers.com
My reply:
It's ok; I actually got to talk to Lisa McCrum (spelling?) last Friday. We were able to discuss a few questions/issues that I had.
Something in particular from our conversation Friday that has stuck with me and continues to bother me is the fact it was mentioned in the report that the damage done to my car was consistent with damage caused by a car wash. Apparently no one is aware of how my car is treated. My car has never and will never be taken to a car wash (outside of DAS delivery). This car doesn't get driven when it rains, doesn't even get rained on and only has water touch about once every 2-3 months when it's getting washed (the rest of the time I use a detail spray and microfibers)... Once again out of this delivery.
I still don't believe the case was handled properly and feel like there were too many assumptions made without contacting me directly to discuss before making a decision.
Thanks
-Johnathon
