Seems exaggerated for Top 10

Joe Submitted this review about Specialty Mobile Systems
Review made Live: 7/23/2004 6:36:00 PM
I placed an order with SMS on 6-21-04. The only time they called me was after I placed the order to say thank you. After that, I had to initiate all of the phone calls, even to find out when the transport company could pick up my car!? I gave them a rating of 2 only because they were nice about it on the phone. Other than that, you're basically on your own after you place an order. So here's the time frame of everything that happened.

6-21-04
Placed the order

6-24-04
Gave SMS a couple of days to tell me when the transport company was company, but never received a call so I had to call them. They gave me an estimated date of 6-28-04 to 7-1-04.

7-1-04
Never received a call from "Perez Transport", which is the transport company SMS assigned me to. So I got their number from SMS only to find out that their truck is broken down in Louisiana. Ok, so I'll be patient and wait for Perez Transport to fix their truck, which they said would only take a day or two.

7-1-04 to 7-8-04
So I only got to speak to Perez Transport once to find out that their truck was broken. After that they never picked up their cell phone again. I played phone tag with SMS during this period because they had no clue what was going on either. Perez wasn't even picking up their calls. I was trying to be understanding because of the July 4th holiday, but this was getting ridiculous.

7-8-04
It's been almost 3 weeks and no car pick up. I finally have had it and called SMS to tell them to cancel with Perez Transport. They were a bit hesitant about doing it because they were afraid it might be longer if another transport company picked up the order? I'm so fed up by now, any transport company has to be better so they assigned me to "Golden Kay Express" with an estimated time pick-up of 7-15-04 to 7-18-04.

I spoke to Harold from Golden Kay and told him all my fustrations with Perez Transport. Harold was very professional and he even knew the exact location of were the car was going in CA. That surprised me only because it's a newly developed community in the valley. Harold also picked up his phone every time and told me exactly were his driver Al was so now SMS is out of the loop and my main contact is Harold.

7-18-04
Golden Kay Express picked up the car and was very professional about it.

7-23-04
The car arrived in CA earlier than expected. I couldn't believe it!

I don't know if it's just my luck or what. I don't necessarily blame SMS for what happened, but there wasn't much that SMS did to help me either. They never called me to give me any updates. They themselves couldn't even contact the driver. Basically, you're just paying them $195 to assign your car to a transport company. I feel like I could have just gone straight to the trucking company, save myself $195, and stress of going through a broker, and the job would have been done just the same.

Little does everyone know, these transport companies could pick up assignments from different brokers so one necessarily isn't better than another. One that is highly rated as SMS and lowly rated as no star could have vehicles picked up by the same transport company. Just a side note.

I think my whole ordeal of one month is just ridiculous. I chose SMS because of the hype while my friend went with some unknown trucking company and his whole transaction only took 7 days. I felt so stupid and cheated really. But I'm a first time tranporter and if I ever do it again, I would definitely just call Golden Kay express. Feel free to email me for their contact info. They are truly reliable.

Company Response
Amy from Specialty Mobile Systems Submitted this response.
Response Date: 7/23/2004 6:36:00 PM
When a transport order is placed, customers are advised it generally requires 7 – 10 days to assign a carrier and vehicle pickup. It generally takes 7 – 14 days to pick up and complete the move. There are cases when total transport time happens quicker. Due to equipment malfunctions with the original carrier, another carrier was subsequently assigned. Ultimately the vehicle arrived at it’s destination in a total of 28 days (4 days in excess of the original estimate.) As to the value of the service Specialty Mobile Systems provides, when we broker a load (we are also a carrier), anyone can directly attempt to engage a carriers service. However, there are processes involved in assuring licensing, operating authority, permits and insurance coverage. This process takes time and involves expenses the customer is not even aware of. Sadly if this process is omitted, total loss of your vehicle is at risk. Unfortunately, our service to this customer was not “”5 stars and we were overrated””. We at Specialty Mobile will continue to do the best job we can to service our customers.