Dishonesty and damaged car
Seamus Galvin
Submitted this review about
Angels Moving Autos
Review made Live: 8/31/2009 2:12:00 PM
NOTE- ANGELS IS A BROKER, AND MANY PEOPLE TOLD ME TO STAY AWAY FROM BROKERS, AND THEY WERE RIGHT.
The first problem occurred when I got a call from the transport driver saying he wanted to pick up the car two days before the beginning of my pickup window. He was nice but told me that I had to bring him the car on that day (Saturday). I was going away for the weekend, so I told him that this pickup date was not possible. I said I wanted to stick to the original pickup date, which was the following Monday. (I lived in Manhattan at the time, by the way.)
The driver called me all weekend to see if he could still pick up the car earlier, if maybe I could rush home on Sunday to give him the car that night. To get this guy off my back, and fearing that he ultimately wouldn't take my car at all, I said I would get back on Sunday evening at 7pm. When I got back to Manhattan to drop off my things from the weekend, I then had to get back into the car to drive to New Jersey to give the guy the car. To his credit, the driver, who worked for CAA transport, was a nice guy. He looked over the car, noting a couple of very minor body issues the car had, and then I left the car in his hands.
I got to California a week later and waited for my car. I got a call from Angels that weekend (a week after pick up) saying the car would be delivered on Monday. I was surprised, because this was only 8 days after pickup. My sister, who had moved to California 2 years ago, had to wait 2 weeks for her car, so I was impressed.
Then Monday came- no word. Tuesday came- no word. I called and asked where the car was. I had things to do, and I wanted to make sure I was around when the car arrived. The dispatcher said she'd find out. She called back and said the car was ready to be dropped off and that it should come on Wednesday. Wednesday came- no word. I called again. She said the car was in the area (in Los Angeles), and that it was coming soon.
The next day- Thursday- she called and said the car was coming that evening. I told her that evening was not convenient. She said, well the car would be moved from where it was and would be taken from Los Angeles and moved closer to me, and then I would have the car the next day (Friday, now 12 days after pickup). I said, "Is the car going to be moved off its original truck ?" She said, "Yes, it will. The driver is going to drive it to his driveway and keep it overnight. It has to be moved to a smaller truck for it to be delivered to you." I was shocked at this because one of the things that was emphatically promised to me was that the car would stay on the same truck THE WHOLE TIME. And it was going to HIS OWN PERSONAL DRIVEWAY? This was very strange to me.
The next day, the driver called me and said he was on the way to me, but the car has a flat tire. I freaked out. First of all, they were dishonest about not moving the car, and now it had a flat tire. I called Angels and was admittedly not the most charming person on the phone. But I think I had a right to be angry. First of all, I'm was badgered into giving up my car early. Then there was the incompetence in between- the car is coming; no, it's not; yes, it's coming but you have to take it when it's inconvenient for you- and now the tire was flat, and Angels said they were not liable.
I asked to speak to the supervisor, and they put on someone who I believe said she was the owner. She said she didn't like my tone. I told her I had cause to be upset. They had lied to me, and now my car was damaged. She said that if I was a little nicer, maybe she would try to help me. I asked how she was going to help me. I told her I wanted her to pay for the tire. She refused and once again reiterated that they weren't responsible for the tires. She got off the phone and said she would call the transport company to assess the situation.
She called me back and said that the screw in the tire was worn down and that it had obviously been stuck in the tire for a while. She said, "That is not our fault. The tire must have just deflated on the way to California." I told her that didn't matter to me. The car left me undamaged, and it came back to me damaged, and in between, they moved it when they say there weren't going to move it. I'm no expert on cars or tires, so how was I supposed to know if they were telling the truth about the screw being worn down?
The owner of Angels, or whoever she was (Jennifer maybe) told me she would call the transport company again and see if they would take less of a fee (so I would pay less than the balance due, which I had in cash ready to give the transport company when they arrived with the car). I never heard from her again.
Again, the essential issue here is that they moved the car when they explicitly said they wouldn't. Then the driver came with the car, and he was nice to me. By the time he arrived, he had filled the flat tire up with air and said I had some time before it deflated again so I could still drive it and have it fixed. I just wanted to be done with this whole experience, so I gave the guy the full balance, and he left. I took the car to get a new tire at a cost of $300.
This is all the truth and is a valuable lesson for me and perhaps others. Do not go to broker. Go directly to a transport company.
