I don't know where to begin except to say that I wish I had visited this website to read about all the other complaints first. I only need to point to other ratings and reviews to reiterate that my experience is similar to others. I don't know how this company is allowed to stay in business. I'm certain, as with other reviews, I will get discredited by the company's subsequent comments about my review as they try to make up things about my situation and result to ad hominem attacks on my character. As they discredited another reviewer for writing "13 paragraphs", I'm providing a thorough account (though I'm sure I could add more) to give it credibility.
I received a quote on Friday morning, July 22 for $899, which was the best price. Most quotes were $950-$1100 from almost a dozen carriers. Even though I already had booked my vehicle with AAA and paid the $199 deposit, I received numerous calls and emails throughout the weekend into Monday from the other shippers warning me about the unreliability of this carrier. From their auto-email quote: "We will make your auto shipping experience a most happy one. We want you as a repeat customer and we want you to recommend us to your friends. We are here to answer your questions from 8am to 5pm Pacific Time. Please call us so we may explain the shipping process to you. We feel an educated consumer is our BEST customer."
I took that as an invitation to contact them. On Tuesday morning I sent an email and left a voicemail requesting confirmation that my car would be picked up as scheduled on August 1st (less than a week away). Late Tuesday afternoon, I received a phone call from Paul (he refused to tell me his name on the phone - I've deduced it was Paul from other customer reviews), which quickly escalated to him yelling at me to where I couldn't even get a word in. His big "beef" was that I "threatened him" because I said I would take my business elsewhere if I didn't hear from them. Over and over, I asked if I could speak/explain and finish my thought and he shouted "NO, and I'm going to tell you why you can't explain". I said I can't do business with him and hung up 3 times and called back after a few minutes each time. He answered each time. I asked if he had cooled off so we could have an adult conversation. Each time he continued to yell at me without letting me speak. After I realized I could not make any progress on the phone, I sent the following email:
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Dear AAA individual, (email was to "Bambi Sweet", from whom I had received the quote)
I don't believe the individual with whom I was speaking was Bambi, and he certainly wasn't
"sweet". I feel is it best that we handle future communication via email since we could not make progress on the phone. However, I do need to have confirmation that a driver will be there next Monday per our shipping agreement. If you could please inform me of the process.
I apologize for my haste and mal-perceived threats. The confirmation email said I would hear from someone "soon". I do not interpret soon to mean the day before scheduled pick-up. In spite of your perhaps exaggerated interpretation of my voicemail.
Furthermore, I read the following from your website: "We have built our reputation around safe delivery, honest prices, true courteous sales and service support." I can hardly say I received courtesy today. My grandfather and father both work in sales and I have never heard them, nor been raised in working with them, speak to a client in the same way you treated me on the phone. Even common courtesy of not interrupting someone else seemed to be completely lost in our one-sided conversation. You refused to let me finish a thought and continued to incessantly berate me for a mal-perceived threat. Then when I somewhat facetiously suggested that you were taking it too seriously as though I threatened your family, it was you who then made the threat that you would "seek me out".
That said, we do not have to be friends, but have agreed to a contract. I would hope we could proceed on business terms to support at least the other three tenets that make up your reputation in the aforementioned quote.
sincerely,
nathan
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I received a call from Bambi a few days later explaining that she would contact me the day before with a pickup time. She seemed completely surprised that someone spoke to me like that and didn't know who it could be. After reading other reviews, it seems to be a regular occurrence.
On the day my car was originally to be picked up, August 1st, I received a call from Bambi stating that she had a driver but he wanted another $250 - over 35% more than the $700 AAA quoted. When I refused and questioned why they quoted me a price only to raise it last minute higher than all other quote I had received, she told me I didn't understand how the shipping industry worked. I countered that if they have so much experience, why are they quoting prices which they have no hope of delivering on. I requested that she find someone else.
I then went to this website and found a referral for Malia at Cascade under a previous reviewer (Dora Edwards). I called Malia and found out that they ship to my hometown's local dealership and she knows several people that work with my father. She said she saw my car listed on the board for $800 but Bambi at AAA had told me that the driver wanted $950. I'm now suspicious that AAA was planning on charging me $950 and then pocketing the additional difference (though I cannot prove this). Malia then posted my car for $850 and asked me to cancel with AAA. She then called me first thing the next morning to tell me she found a driver to pick it up for $850. This seems odd considering Bambi told me she couldn't find anyone for less than $950.
I normally would not waste my time doing a review like this, but after reading the other reviews, and then Russ' posted yesterday, I feel it's necessary to make sure others are well-informed of the dishonesty and rudeness of this company. It's really sad that they are in business.
