Excellent Service
Aquarius
Submitted this review about
Mercury Auto Transport
Review made Live: 9/2/2021 9:23:00 AM
We used Mercury Auto Transport to ship a truck from Houston, TX, to San Diego, CA. Initially, Mercury wasn't our first choice (their quote was outside of our budget), but we liked the service we received. The agent, Joel Licata, reached out right away in response to our request for a shipping quote. He was cordial and his approach wasn't "sales-y" which we appreciated. He offered the info we requested and also provided additional info that helped us understand the transport industry.
When we let him know that we were considering other companies for a lower rate, he respected our decision and also sent periodic follow up emails to check in with us. He even sent an informative email with industry tips that included what to look out for with other companies that try to offer low-ball rates and take deposits before assigning a driver (both of which we had run into).
The first company we decided to go with promised to ship the truck for $510. It sounded too good to be true, but admittingly their rate was well under budget; and with a tight deadline, we agreed to go with them. Unfortunately, they were unable to secure a driver in the time we needed and "ghosted" us when we tried to follow up.
The next company offered a rate of $800, so I signed a contract with them. They promised to secure a driver and have them pick up by the day we needed. We ran into some issues with them also. Luckily, Joel reached out to see about our experience. I explained what happened and he informed me that he didn't think that we would get a driver in time. He also let me know that since both my quotes were low rates, they would probably not attract a driver.
Joel gave me a short video to watch about the transport industry, and it really opened my eyes to how the process should work. Also, those tips informed me about the "do's and don't of the industry," and helped me realize that I fell into a couple industry traps because I was unaware of how things work.
Joel understood we had a budget and he was candid about what to expect. He explained that our truck most likely wouldn't get delivered within our time frame due to our budget, so we decided to offer more money. Because Joel was helpful, followed up with us, and actually helped us, we decided to work with Mercury, but we had to get both of the other companies to remove their job posts. Joel offered friendly suggestions on how to achieve that goal.
Once Joel confirmed the companies took their posts off the Central Dispatch site, he worked quickly to make an offer. He secured a driver in less than 24 hours, and had all the documents ready for us to sign shortly thereafter. He let us know that although he couldn't promise an exact pick up or delivery date, he had confidence that the truck would get picked up and delivered within our time frames (he basically under promised and delivered!). Our truck arrived by the day Joel anticipated; and we enjoyed the entire process of working with him.
This experience proved that one gets what they pay for; and in this case, working with Mercury Auto Transport and Joel Licata proved that sometimes (more) money does buy happiness. We're extremely happy with the service we received and we'd definitely consider working with this company and their agent, Joel Licata, again. Thanks Joel. Thanks Mercury!
