First, I have to say that the ATO rep I spoke to during the process was very sweet and nice and easy to talk to and deal with. There was a lot of miscommunication that occurred during the process from the very beginning, which resulted in my contract being cancelled due to a misunderstanding. From the beginning, I made it clear that I needed to have my cars up in Portland by July 2nd, but that since we couldn't move into our new home until the 28th, if the cars were delivered prior to that time, then I would not be there to receive the cars, nor would there even be property for our cars to be dropped off at. At that very moment, if it's ATO's policy to not guarantee a delivery date/range, then our conversation would have stopped there. But the very nice rep said that she would write a note to the dispatcher letting them know that the earliest delivery date was not to be prior to the 28th. Anyways, somehow that got lost in translation somewhere and after I spoke with the driver, I mentioned these dates only b/c I thought I had an understanding with ATO. I asked the driver if he would be able to accommodate my dates, and made it clear to him before hanging up the phone that IF for any reason, he couldn't do that, then that was fine, and i would somehow find a way to work it out and find someone to receive our cars, but that he would have to let me know. The driver said that he had to find out first and would call me back the next day, but instead I got an email that same night from ATO saying that I refused service/pickup on the 22nd/receiving of vehicles, thus he was cancelling my contract and taking the deposit. ATO never contacted me first to determine what the problem or misunderstanding was BEFORE cancelling the contract based on hearsay from what my conversation with the driver was, because i actually never once told the driver that i was refusing service if he couldn't make my preferred delivery time range. Although ATO was very prompt in their responses to resolve this issue with me, they were set on not reinstating my contract. I feel that I was misled, misunderstood, and somehow during the process, everyone else's words and their interpretation of what i said to them were considered, yet whatever my understanding was concerning my conversation with the rep and driver was not really considered. ATO automatically believed the drivers understanding of my requests to be refusal of service and until I contacted them about the misunderstanding. There was one point that ATO was willing to go through with the contact as long as the original driver would agree to still ship our cars as planned on the 22nd of June, but that if the driver could no longer do it, then our contract was still void. The biggest issue I have with this company has to do with customer service and communicating style. I don't have any complaints that they didn't find a driver on time, or that they didn't keep their end of the contract. What I was upset about is that, there was a huge misunderstanding, and instead of trying to clear it up with me from the beginning before anything else happened, they just went ahead and cancelled contract. No matter what I say, they will say that they stand their ground and did nothing wrong, but it doesn't change the fact that I was clear from the beginning about earliest delivery date being the 28th and needing to have my car by july 2nd. if it was against company policy to have any delivery date range or anything to do with a delivery date, then the rep also should not have even mentioned that she would leave the dispatcher a note about the earliest delivery date.
I was just very disappointed with the outcome. I do not think that this company is horrible overall, and am not saying that they wouldn't do you a good service if it all works out, but as a warning, to get everything done in writing and over email so that if there is any misunderstanding, you can prove what was said between whom.
