Company Response Review Report Review
Honesty First does not deserves it's name.

Michael Kuang Submitted this review about Ship a Car Direct
Review made Live: 6/13/2011 2:26:00 AM
The Transport Review quote system gave me a quote of $1095 from Honesty First to ship my Freelander from New York to San Francisco. A little more than the $1000 average shipping price from New York to California based on Transport Review entries, but I was shipping a small SUV, so a $100 seemed like a fair premium. It also wasn't the best price out of the 14 companies that returned a quote, but based on reviews they seemed legit. That proved to be an error in judgement.

I gave them Honesty First a call and spoke to Tom Miller. Tom mentioned that the actual quote would be $1400. Some excuse about market rates. $300 more than the online quote system?

I called on 5/27 and wanted a pickup on 5/29 or 5/30. Tom mentioned that because of the short notice and the Memorial Day weekend, I should offer $1500 to make sure that a carrier would pick it up on the requested dates. When I asked about calling other companies, he mentioned that I shouldn't try anyone else since it all goes into the same system. I was good with them (ha). I made it clearly that I was leaving for San Francisco on the 31st, and although I didn't get a guarantee, he seemed sure that I would get a pickup on my requested day. He did caution that just in case, I should have someone to leave my keys with.

I get a call from Tom on the 5/31, and he says that he found someone to ship my car, but the driver wanted $100 more, making the total $1600 instead of $1500. Dmitri from GSI Carriers would pickup the car on 6/1. Arrival date of my car would be 6/8, 7 days, not bad.

6/8 rolls around, and I have yet to receive any contact from Tom or Dmitri. I have to contact Tom to find out that my ETA has suddenly becomes 5/11, with no explanation. When I ask why, I get what I assume is a standard song and dance about the inability to predict unknown factors, and that the delivery estimate was 7-10 days. First time he's mentioned that.

I call Dmitri (the driver) what the cause of the delay is. He tells me that the truck is in the shop and that he won't delivery my car until Sunday. I see that Tom did not try very hard to relay that information to me.

The delivery of the car went fine. At least that was okay.

To summarize, delivery of my car was late and I did not receive a reason from Honesty First. I had to call the driver. Honesty First should be changed to Money First, because that seems to be where the priorities stand. I will NOT be using them again, and will not be recommending them to anyone.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
New York
Pickup:
Late
Destination State:
California
Delivery:
Late
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
253764-IZ
Quote or Order Cost:
$1600

Company Response
Michael Strickland from Ship a Car Direct Submitted this response.
Response Date: 6/13/2011 2:44:00 AM
LOTS of great stuff to learn from here. Sounds like Tom tried to explain the process pretty well, but Michael ran in to some typical problems that you should be aware of and prepare for. First, let us point out that our fee of 195 did not change at any point, the increases that he mentions are the cod amounts that carriers wanted (and were getting at the time). It has become VERY expensive to move SUVs this summer, ESPECIALLY from the Northeast to out West. The delays Michael experienced can be common and are very frustrating (trucks break down, always prepare a Plan B, no matter what company you choose). Glad his car arrived damage free even though it was 2 days late. Sorry. Hope this review helps.