Transport of Ford Explorer from NJ to Oregon

Mitch Submitted this review about Tri-Star Carriers
Review made Live: 8/5/2008 7:11:00 PM
From start to finish, working with Tri-Star was stressful. My Ford Explorer got picked up late and got there early for the $1200 as quoted. If that's all you care about, feel free to stop reading, but there were some important issues along the way.

1. After discussing with Betty that my car needed to be in Portland after August 1, she assured me that it wouldn't be a problem as it should take 10 to 11 days to get across the country. It was. My car got there when I was not there. I had to find a family friend to have the car delivered to and they had to be willing to give the driver $1,050 cash or cashier's check.

EDIT: After speaking with Nixon (the owner), I learned that Betty should not have given me this information as they cannot guarantee any specific date (which the contract states). Lesson learned, it is way more important to get things in writing than trusting sales people's words (Nixon told me that).

2. It is tough to get a manager on the phone. The customer service people will not transfer you. After becoming frustrated and asking to speak with Gino (the manager), J.C.told me that Gino was not in the office. I asked for Gino's direct extension and J.C. informed me that he did not have it. Apparently he went to his other manager's office. He did say that his other manager (Nixon) would call me back later that day and would not provide me with Nixon's number. Nixon only called me after the whole car transfer ordeal to try to smooth over what happened.

EDIT: Gino's extension is 786-879-7799. Should you need to speak to a manager, he is the one to speak to. However, be aware that Nixon (the owner) may not accept what Gino says and may change the terms of the agreement.

3. After being given the runaround for a week, I threatened to issue a charge back on my credit card and make reports to the BBB and Interstate Commerce Commession due to Tri-Star's lying and unethical behavior. Later that day, J.C. called me and told me that they had found a carrier and would pick up my car that evening. I'm glad that I was able to have the car ready to be picked up with such short notice.

Overall, once the car was in the with the carrier (Dave) everything went very smoothly. I will not ever know if Tri-Star was simply making excuses or it was the threats that made them find a carrier that afternoon. Some people have had great experiences with them, and I just hope that I am in the minority.

EDIT: Since first writing this review, I received a call from Gino trying to make things right. He promised to refund my entire deposit due to my dissatisfaction of Tri-Star's performance. I told him that I would gladly edit my review to reflect this fine customer service. However, after not receiving my refund and calling Tri-Star five days later, I found out that Gino's manager Nixon stopped this refund and offered me half to edit or the full refund to get rid of the review. I believe this review to be a fair compromise as I did receive my car.