Car held by angry truckers had to call police to return car!

Lily Submitted this review about Andrew Auto Transport
Review made Live: 8/2/2013 10:51:00 AM
I am giving an average review. Brian was great. In fact he was responsive and a really nice soul. However, he hired some really bad people to move my car. I mean real bad. They picked it up late. My eBay seller was upset with Brian because it took a week for the car to get picked up from the available date. I was ok with this. I am in no specific hurry but I really wanted my car and it was stressful for my eBay seller who also got calls from the crazy Russian accented trucker at midnight!

So these folks who Brian hires to do this are scum. They called Brian it is like 6AM PST and tell Brian they want more money. I signed a $1000 contract up from a $750 contract! So I was already out another $250. So this truck driver wants $200 more to deliver or else he will not give the car. Brian advises me to agree and call the police. This is 6AM mind you. Thank god my bank allows for withdrawals up to $1000 or else we'd have been screwed. We weren't expecting the delivery at 6AM in the morning! So the driver speaks to me after hanging up the first time and tells me to meet him at 7:45AM at the Walmart across town! They still want more money telling me I have to pay them since they tried calling yesterday at 10pm to some wrong number and had to wait over night. I am not awake at 10PM usually and they had used a wrong number that wasn't even mine! Not my fault! Brian had my numbers but didn't update them on the correct one BUT they didn't call him either and if they had he could have got a hold of me in minutes!

The police officer meets me there because this driver was calling me a b**** and everything else over the phone. He was rude and aggressive sounding. I am 5'2'' and I just had a newborn baby by c-section. I cannot fend or fight for myself against hostile truckers. Federal Way PD gets involved and gets me my car and tell the driver they will hold him for extortion otherwise since I had a contract. They helped me inspect the car. It arrived with a 3 foot key mark across the hood. It was obviously keyed or hurt in some way. We find out the truck originally with the car had gotten into an accident. Besides the mark on my hood the car was ok. I signed the paper and took my keys and left. It looks like a key mark could be from the straps though too the officers said. I was also missing a lugnut and I had some minor dings from it looks like rock damage on the side of the car. It is a collectable Trans Am. I now will have to repair these few issues. I am just happy to have my car.

I realized this isn't a transport broker issue. These clowns could have been picked up by any company out there I am thinking if I understand this business right. The industry is a bit shady. I will never ever use an auto transport company again if I don't have to. I should have went with my first instincts and flew my fiance out to IL to drive the car back. It would have been cheaper and my car would be safe and without minor cosmetic blemishes I will now need to repair before I induct her into my Pontiac collection. Brian offered me a discount on my next shipment like no deposit or something. Thank you and Brian I am sorry for writing this but I have to give a heads up so people are aware of what can happen. I have no problems with you and you were great and I wish your business the best of luck.

Transporters: http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/query.asp?searchtype=ANY&query_type=queryCarrierSnapshot&query_param=MC_MX&query_string=731617 (from reverse tracing their phone number)

Brian identified them as:

Big Star Transportation LLC
Carrier 542 NE 200th Place
Portland, OR 97230

Contact: Yelena Palamarchuk
Owner/Manager: Vyacheslav Bezhan
Preferred Contact Method: Any

Main Phone: 641-931-0717
Local Phone:
Fax Number: (888) 503-1822
Hours: Mon-Fri 6am-4pm PST
Email: Click to Send Email
Operating Authority and Document Packet (Authority, Insurance, W-9, etc.)
ICC-MC#: 689066
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Reference Information
Established in: 2009
Member of CentralDispatch Since: Oct 2012


Company Response
brian andrew desind from Andrew Auto Transport Submitted this response.
Response Date: 8/9/2013 9:00:00 AM
Dear Lily, As you know we strive for perfection and transparency here at AAT. I'm happy that you said so many wonderful things about our service and we are obviously disappointed in the service of the driver who was hired by your carrier. We did everything we could from checking references and reviews to verifying insurance and making sure it was someone we would have hired for our own transport. Unfortunately when working with the larger carriers where we do not get to interview the specific driver, this can become a problem. I want you to know that the driver was let go of and both Andrew Auto Transport and the carrier both agree to cover expenses on any trip you do in the future. This was an unfortunate situation. That said we are happy that we were able to guide you through the process of getting your car in one piece and not having to pay the driver. A+ for teamwork:) Thank you AAT