No Business Professionalism

KW Submitted this review about Whataway To Go Auto Transport
Review made Live: 12/24/2008 5:17:00 PM
With the current crappy weather in the NW, our plans to drive to Cali were shattered. We ended up called a reputable company to transport our car (We had used their service before and were happy with their customer service and reliability). What we didn't know was that they would subcontract through these folks who would lie and wouldn't committ to their word. There was a snow storm over the weekend and things were bad but it hadn't snowed after Sunday and things looked pretty decent outside. This wave of crappy weather was supposed to last pretty much 10-15 days but there was no snow till Christmas eve at least in Seattle (roads would have been messed up but the highways must be packed).

I was running on a pretty tight schedule and had to make sure my car reaches LA from Seattle by Monday. I had called the transportation company a week in advance and they were happy to assist me. It turns out that the subcontracted company (Whataway) asked for a higher rate as supposed to the one given by the main company. Since Whataway confirmed firm pickup of my car before Christmas, I was happy to pay the extra money that they demanded. Things were fine and I got some cheaper quotes from some of the companies but I decided to go with the local folks (Whataway). I didn't even respond back to other phone calls and msgs left by the competitors. Day before the scheduled pickup Whataway called and confirmed a day and time for pickup. I even gave them my address and told them that I would drive my car from the hill and bring it down somewhere close by. The lady Vickie confirmed on 23rd that the driver would bring their truck from Portland on 24th and pick my car up and then he would leave the day after Christmas. All seemed well until the 24th when she called me back and told me that she couldn't pickup the car on 24th and if I can leave it at a friends house they would pick it up or they can send a driver who would drive it to a yard where they would keep the car until it can be shipped(note that no date was provided for a pickup or delivery). Since the car was a RWD I wasn't excited about driving it in this weather yet along let someone else drive it to the junk yard.

Now this is where the problems came. I had checked the weather forecast on Sunday itself to see how the 10 day weather looked like. That made it clear that there is no way I could drive my RWD car down south. What surprises me is that there was no snow after Sunday till Wednesday and even then these folks demanded more money to committ a successful pickup and delivery? On the day of pickup they started doing their BS. Not only that since I asked them for giving me a date of delivery (not exact) they were unable to do so. I was fine with leaving my car at my friends but the problem was that these folks didn't know when they could do the pickup yet alone deliver it. I asked them to justify the upsell when they couldn't make the requested dates? At that instance I was notified that the transportation company had cancelled my order knowing the fact that it was 24th Dec and no one would be available until 29th or later to do the pickup.

So the question is not about money. Its about keeping your word and business ethics. If you can't commit to a pickup why even charge more money and try to justify something which you know is not possible.

So the car is still here in WA. If someone can deliver it to LA asap plz get back to me.

Thanks & Merry Christmas