Company Response
Michael Strickland from
Ship a Car Direct Submitted this response.
Response Date: 5/23/2010 6:05:00 PM
GREAT stuff to learn from in Roger's review and through his experience, especially for anyone else that has never done this before, and that's probably most of you. I will address his points in the same manner he brings them up.
1. I am not sure where he missed the fact that we are a broker, it is all over our website, our emails and in the very first paragraph of the order terms. It is even on the very top of this review page with a link to verify such. Some people are very afraid of brokers, and rightfully so. But to give us one star for Honesty under those grounds is unwarranted, we never pretend to be anything other that what we are. We also do not require payment until you, the customer, have a chance to approve the chosen carrier, so if he didn't like American Auto he could have told us so and we would have found him another. That's one of the many ways that brokers help you. As for American Auto, they may have some bad reviews, it's the vocal minority that usually finds it's way back to this review site and others like it, but we have used them for years with no complaints. Most of our customers are pleased with their safe and efficient service, in fact, which leads us to...
2. Just as I know that David would never tell a customer that an order would never take MORE than 7 days, he would never tell a customer that it would not take LESS than seven days either. ALL dates are always estimates, keep that in mind. What I am sure that he informed Roger of was that the AVERAGE transit time for a move of that distance is, in fact, AROUND 7 days. Now, most customers would be thrilled to receive their car in 3 days on this move, and I understand the inconvenience of the situation that Roger found himself in, but it could have easily been avoided if he had told us up front of his need for a delivery restriction, so again, it is not entirely fair to fault us for not having this information in the first place. If you are not going to be able to accept your car until after a certain date, you need to make the company you choose aware of that. David and the rest of our staff will always ask about this if they see that the contact person is the same on each end, but in Roger's case, we were picking up from a different pickup contact and delivery to him with no notes of any issues, so if we are unaware of the problem, we cannot help you avoid the problem. As for the carriers, the vast majority cannot hold vehicles without charging storage, so make sure that you make the company you choose aware of any and all potential delivery issues up front.
3. Yes, on an open transport, your car WILL get dirty. That IS gauranteed (one of the few in this industry). It is impossible to cross the deserts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California without encountering dirt, whether you are driving your car or it's on a transport. It also sounds as if Roger has yet to wash his car as of his writing of this review, so my guess is that the black spots he refers to are more likely dead bugs, but I could be wrong. The oil-from-the-car-above scenario is more of an urban myth perpetuated by everyone's fears than a reality. But his point about the car cover is not valid and should not be taken as advice. Car covers are made for vehicles when they are stationary and would not (and should not) be used while in transit. Besides being an extreme liability if it were to blow off in traffic, the wind would continually whip that cover up against your car for 3000 miles, and when it arrived, you would weep at the condition it would leave your paint job in. Move past that idea right now, you can go in an enclosed transport if you choose, but realize that that is like flying first class and costs quite a bit more.
I think once Roger has more time to reflect on his experience, and in comparison to the reviews of OTHER companies that he mentions, he will realize even more deeply the point that he makes about it really not being so bad an experience after all. He may even see fit to call us again, but I could be wrong about that too.
Hope this review helped you in some way.