Company Response Review Report Review
An interesting experience

Lee Barnett Submitted this review about Agape Auto Transport LLC
Review made Live: 4/22/2008 11:26:00 AM
First of all, I would like to say the people I spoke with on the phone were very friendly. I am not one to complain or look for problems. I did the google thing search for quotes to move my truck.

The next morning I had a mailbox full of quotes from $450.00 to $795.00. The only name I recognized was DAS since I had used them before. I then saw the Agape quote for $450.00. Being old school and a man of faith, I figured if someone was bold enough to name thier company Agape, they must be good good folks. I immediately filled out the form and faxed it to Agape along with a $150.00 deposit. I put the first available date down for April 4 2008. This is where it got interesting.

The contract that was entered stated the quoted text; " The carrier should call 8-12 hours in advance to make arrangements for a time to pickup and deliver the vehicle."

That being said, Agape assigned a carrier to it on the 6th of April (Sunday) unknowingly to myself or the contact for the truck. (Tim) The driver called Tim and told him he was there to pick up the vehicle. No previous notifications had been made. Tim advised the driver that he was 4 hours away at a family meal and it would take him four hours to get there. The driver stated he could not wait and left.

Now there was some miscommunications down the chain as to the facts of this event. The driver allegedly told Agape that Tim needed at least 8 hours notice before he could be there for a driver. This was not true. Here is a quoted statement from Tim that I also attached in the comments of the original contract;

"The location where to pick the truck up will be Shell/Baskin Robbins Truck stop 4617 West Keiser, Osceola Arkansas 72370 (that is Exit 48 off I-55, theres only 2 gas stations there and the Shell is the largest, Simple to get to and see from the Interstate), Put a note in for the driver to give me a little notice before he gets there so I dont keep him waiting."

I inquired later as to the status of the scheduled shipment and here is a quote form Agape;

"Hi Lee, We have had a couple of drivers that were in the area to pickup this vehicle but Tim told us he needs several hours notice from the driver. Unfortunately our drivers have been right there in the area and couldn’t wait. We hope to have this scheduled again very soon. We can’t promise it will be this weekend but we will try to get this picked up as soon as possible. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding while we continue to work on this for you. Thank you, Candie"

When I read this email I called Tim and asked him what the problem was. He told me he had not been notified or contacted by anyone since the April 6th problem. He aslo told me that he had not told Agape anything since he had never spoke with them for any reason. I told Tim to call Agape and get them on track as for whatever reason they think he needed 8 hours...he did. Agape then called me and basically told me the same thing they had even after they had just got off of the phone with Tim. I set them straight on it again and told them that the pickup point was 1 mile from where this man lived and he has never needed or requested 8 hours notice for pickup. He wanted it out of his driveway as much as I needed it here. In no way did he need that kind of notification since he lived right there where the truck was to be picked up. He is self employeed and can leave to handle it on a simple phone call.

I emailed Agape again and asked if there were any dates set to get my truck to me. Here is the quoted text I received back, basically a simple company answer;

"Lee,
We just wanted you to know that we are still actively working with our carriers to confirm a pickup date for you. As soon as we have the transport dates, we will notify you with this information as well as the carrier information. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding."

The annoying thing was simply not knowing what was going on. I had to contact Agape myself to get a response, never did they initiate communications to let me know what was happening.

More days passed and I am really in need of my vehicle. I called Agape and asked and was told the same thing, they were working on it. I then told her if I paid another $100.00 dollars would that help in getting the vehicle picked up. She said she would talk to her dispatcher and let me know. She called me back later and said she thought they had a carrier to pick up the vehicle, she said it was Guffey Trucking and she would send an email with the details. She said there was an additional charge and being desparate I said OK, I just need my truck.

Below are two quoted emails I recieved from her on April 15th;


"Dear Lee Barnett,
Order #51918-VD

We want to let you know your vehicle has been scheduled for transport. The carrier you will make your cashiers check payable to and whom will be physically transporting your vehicle is Guffey Trucking. Please remember you may pay the driver in the forms of cash or cashiers check. The amount due upon delivery, unless otherwise contracted, is $400."

The above email arrived in my mailbox at 4:37 pm

At 4:44 pm on the same date I get the following quoted email;

"Dear Lee Barnett,
Order #51918-VD

We want to let you know your vehicle has been scheduled for transport. The carrier you will make your cashiers check payable to and whom will be physically transporting your vehicle is Guffey Trucking. Please remember you may pay the driver in the forms of cash or cashiers check. The amount due upon delivery, unless otherwise contracted, is $450.

I thought this was strange, I called them and asked and it did in fact turn out to be the $450.00. I asked her to notify me as soon as my truck was picked up so I would know what and when was going on. I never heard from her after the truck was picked up. I did learn from Tim as he left the driver and he called me.

Estimated date of delivery was April 22nd whick took place flawlessly. Guffey Trucking contacted me and give me the estimated time of day it would be here, and then the driver contacted me about 6 hours in advance and I told him I would make it easier for him and meet him at a truck stop along the interstate to keep him from having to come into town. Very nice guy, I was well pleased wth Guffey Trucking.

Agape was very friendly, however their biggest flaw is communication. If you contact them they are ready to talk. But if things aren't going the way it should be they fail to call, ask or explain. If they had in fact communicated a little sooner about what a truck driver did tell them, I feel they should have contacted me and told me those alleged conditions would make it harder to pick up a vehicle.

Also they are a broker, not a carrier service. They quoted me $450.00 total, $150.00 deposit to Agape and then the driver to be paid $300.00 cash upon delivery. In the end, the total cost was $600.00 and nearly a month to get my vehicle. For that price I could have got DAS to bring it to my door much quicker. Being on a fixed income the original quote from Agape and their name appealed to me.

The above is actual facts of events. Now this is my opinion, I would have been better off not to use a broker and called a transport company direct. I asked the driver what the charge would have been if I had called them myself...he stated $450.00.

I read the other reviews and there is no doubt in my mind that Agape is a good company, however, my experience just wasn't as good as I would have liked it to have been. It's really hard to express the situation on a keyboard. Again, I am not bashing Agape. It was just a trying chain of events.
Shipment Details
Origin State:
Arkansas
Pickup:
Late
Destination State:
South Carolina
Delivery:
On Time
Customer Service
Honesty:
Knowlegeable:
Promptness:
Customer Service:
Review Details
Quote or Order Id:
51918
Quote or Order Cost:
$600

Company Response
Rebekah A from Agape Auto Transport LLC Submitted this response.
Response Date: 4/22/2008 1:27:00 PM
Mr. Barnett placed his order on April 2nd. We dispatched his vehicle on April 4th to be picked up on April 7th. When the driver called to make arrangements with the pickup contact, Tim, he was out of town and Tim told the driver he would need 12 hours notice so he would have time to meet. Unfortunately this driver was unable to wait that long, he had prior commitments and had to leave. We contacted Mr. Barnett by phone immediately to advise him of the situation; we left a message because he was unavailable. On April 10th, we emailed Mr. Barnett just to let him know we were still working with our carriers to confirm transport dates. When Mr. Barnett called us to check the status the following day on April 11th, customer service told him about our understanding that Tim needed 12 hours notice. As Mr. Barnett stated, he called Tim and then Tim called us. At some point there was a miscommunication in regards to the amount of time Tim needed. We take full responsibility for not doing a better job of clarifying this information with Tim. According to our records, Mr. Barnett called our office on April 15th at approximately 11:28 am and said he would be willing to pay an extra $100 to get his vehicle picked up sooner and to see what it would take to get picked up quick. This extra $100 increased his original price from $450 to $550. We did have a carrier that was willing to transport his vehicle for $450 cod (cash on delivery); this means his total transport cost would be $600. We called Mr. Barnett first to ask him if you wanted to do this. Mr. Barnett said that was fine and to proceed with booking the carrier. Mr. Barnett always had the option of saying no. We did send out the first notification with the wrong cod amount of $400. That was our mistake. It was just a typo. It happens sometimes. We found our mistake right away and sent him the correct amount. We are a broker. We never claim to be anything else. Our service to our customers is to place their vehicle with a reputable carrier that is licensed, insured, and has a very high satisfactory rating in this industry (no history of damage to vehicles, no history of being late or not showing up, no history of late cancellations, and no history of not paying their bills on time). It is also our job to assign a carrier that is actually transporting on our customers’ particular route. These are things that would be very difficult for an individual to do on their own. We are very sorry that Mr. Barnett was not satisfied with our services. We really try very hard to offer the best customer service possible. We feel like our service is what sets us apart from other companies. However, we are always willing to learn from our mistakes and correct them to make our company stronger than ever. Thank you, Mr. Barnett, for your feedback. We will definitely take this to strengthen our customer service.