Classic Bait and Switch
Simon C.
Submitted this review about
Yellow Brick Transport
Review made Live: 7/11/2017 2:16:00 PM
- I entered a request 2 weeks in advance for a car to be shipped cross country on this site and started getting tons of quotes.
- Terry was one of the first to respond and said that hers is one of very few, if any, on this site that had 100% positive reviews and that I should rely on her experience, honesty, and relationship w/ the drivers because she and her husband are "smart and have been doing this a long time." The quote was $900 total, including the $150 deposit.
- When I noticed that other brokers mention not requiring deposit, Terry said that all do, and took $150 deposit from me, with the expectation all along that the car would be delivered 7/6-7/7. This was Friday, 6/23. She said, "no problem, trust me."
- No word from her on Monday, 6/26 or Tuesday, 6/27 so I pinged her at the end of each day and reiterated again that I should trust her.
- Concerned that the July 4 holiday was coming up, I pinged her Wednesday, 6/28 in the morning, and she said that she had a driver scheduled for Thursday 6/29 or Friday 6/30 pickup, but it was for $1000 total, and increase of $100. She said in her voicemail about how drivers were asking for more money, but at least I had a driver lined up and it's a great company that she has used before with good equipment. She said that I wasn't obligated to take that quote and that she would keep looking, but practically speaking with the deadline fast approaching, she put me in a situation where I was stuck with her and with this driver.
- The driver came to pick up the car on Friday, 6/30, but it turns out it isn't the actual driver, it's a pick-up driver. The pick-up driver said that the actual driver wasn't arriving until Monday, 7/3, and leaving on Tuesday, 7/4, and that my car wouldn't arrive until Monday, 7/10 or Tuesday, 7/11. So in addition to the $100 extra shipping fee, I would have to rent a car for an additional $80/day until the car arrived. When I emailed Terry that the car would arrive later than I was led by her to believe, her only response was, "That's what they told me."
- As it turns out, the driver actually arrived on Saturday, July 8, which created a frantic round of calls from Terry because there would be nobody at my office to receive the car on a Saturday since I was still in California. Terry was completely unhelpful in getting a resolution and hung up when I told her that the whole point all along was to get my car there by 7/6-7/7 when somebody would be there. I ended up having to call the driver directly and arrange for the car to be dropped off while I wired funds directly to the driver from CA, hoping that the car would be delivered undamaged.
- In speaking with the owner of the driver company, it turns out that Terry never said that the car needed to be in NJ by 7/6-7/7. It was also the first time that the driver company had worked with Terry.
So in summary, it was a classic bait and switch. The price, delivery date, door-to-door (so that your car isn't unloaded and loaded repeatedly, risking damage), and expert service that Terry claims is all completely false. And when issues arose due to her dishonesty, she disavowed all responsibility.
I'll be filing a complaint with the FMCSA, who will presumably verify compliance with licensing and bond requirements, since I haven't seen any of that from Yellow Brick.
