Shipping Frustrations... venting some steam...

[RoadsterRich]

A chronolgy of frustration...

May 11th Contract with DAS (Dependable Auto Shippers) to haul car from Oregon to Florida via an enclosed car hauler. Told car will be picked up in one to two weeks, and delivered within 7 days of pickup. DAS was notified that the car did not run and did not have brakes, but was free rolling and steerable (extra charge paid for all this).

May 14th Get phone call from seller of car. Transport was there to pick up the car. Showed up with a full car hauler to load the car on the upper deck, and no winch to get it up there with. Fortunately seller is in the wrecker business and has equipment to load it with, somehow they get it loaded...

May 15th Check online tracking system. Says car is awaiting pickup.

May 16th Check online tracking system. Says car is awaiting pickup.

May 17th Check online tracking system. Says car is awaiting pickup. I call DAS and speak to the logistics person in charge of my 'order'. She places me on hold for awhile then returns to the phone. At this point I am told that the online tracking is only for "The other division of DAS." Now their website clearly states: "Technology moves almost as fast as Dependable Auto Shippers does. Satellite tracking provided by Qualcomm allows all of DAS's customers to log on to the web site to get the exact location of their car transport vehicle en route." Obviosly this is at a minimum misleading advertisement. After some discussion over this I am informed that the car is scheduled to be delivered either Saturday the 21st or Monday the 23rd. I'm not happy about the online tracking being unavailable, but at least I know the car is on its way. I am also told the driver will contact me 24 hours prior to delivery.

May 20th No call from the driver.

May 21st No call from the driver, no delivery.

May 22nd No call from the driver.

May 23rd No call from the driver, no delivery.

May 24th I call DAS logistics. I give them my order number. They tell me a truck has been dispatched to pick up my car. I explain to them that my car has been picked up, they ask how I know this, I tell them that their driver picked up the car and the seller at the other end has faxed me the paperwork. I am placed on hold again, they come back and explain that they have no notes on the pickup (note this is the same person I talked to on the 17th that gave me a delivery date on the car). I am told they will have to get hold of the dispatcher and find out where the truck with the car on it is. This is around 11AM. I wait... and wait... and wait... about 4:30 I call again, I am told that the dispatcher has not gotten in touch with the driver yet. Further more I find out that they do this either via email or cell phone depending on the driver, and that they cannot control when they respond. To further make me feel better (yeah...) they relate a story of a driver who recently was hospitalized and they did not find out about it for quite some time (nor did they know where his load was.) Well this is all very interesting since their site clearly stated they had satellite tracking. At 5:07PM the driver of the truck calls me and explains that the car will be delivered on Thursday morning. He is very nice and gives me his name and cell number should I have any questions or need to contact him. Then I am told that the car is on the upper deck of the carrier and he has no way to unload it as it doesn't have brakes. He informs me that **I** will need to have a tow truck there to assist in the unloading. Okay, enough is enough, I paid for DOOR to DOOR delivery. I paid a premium based on reputation, online tracking, the fact that the car was not driveable, and that I was getting door to door enclosed service. To further add insult to injury I find out that they are using "Diamond B Services" to haul my car. It is not even on a DAS trailer nor is it being hauled by a DAS truck or driver. I call logistics, gee no answer, just voice mail. I call back to the agent who sold me the service, after 3 attempts he does answer. He tells me I have the wrong division because they don't use the 10 car haulers. We go round and round for a bit, and he says someone made a mistake. Well thats just fine, but he doesn't offer me a solution to the whole need a tow truck to unload situation. He ultimately passes the buck and transfers me back to the logistics person who I already know has gone home for the day... so I leave a message and now I wait to see what's next...

I don't even see how a tow truck can assist in unloading the car from the upper deck of a carrier. Further more I can't imagine why anyone would put a car with no brakes on the upper deck to begin with. And are 10 car haulers open or enclosed? I guess I'll find that out when they get here... I paid for enclosed. As it is, I am tempted to call the credit card company and put a hold on the payment until the issues are resolved.

At the very minimum I have been misled... and at least at this point in time it seems I am also expected to pay for and fix their mistakes...

We shall see how tomorrow goes... suffice it to say, the experience has not endeared DAS to me... to say the least.

Well maybe I am over reacting, but at the moment I'm absolutely steamed... perhaps tomorrow will be better for my blood pressure...

Rich

[Guest Skyking]

Rich, I hope everything goes well from this point on. It just confirms what I always tell people, the more technology we get, the further behide we go......actually, it's just the idiots using the technology we have......

[Guest Indiana_Truck]

Rich,

Maybe I have just been missing your posts but long time no see! I hope your car makes it to you soon and in the same shape as when it was loaded up. I have seen other storys like this and the car lived but the owner lost about 10 years off his life after all the problems and storys he heard from the company.

Good luck,

Bob

[Ron Green]

Wow. It sounds like you have had a frustrating time of it. I never heard of this carrier, it would be interesting to see what their references (if any) say.

Years ago I had some problems with Passport delivering a car to a show as they were over a day late and arrived just in time (within 1 ½ hours) of not having the car eligible for this show. They were to layover and reload it however they left, did come back the next day but were a week late delivering the car home. Seems it made a side trip to California from the east coast. I wasn't to pleased at having the cars suspension travel an additional 6000 miles as even when hauling they still need greased. Though I must say they did a decent job overall.

Tried Thomas Sunday a few years back as he is local (within 6 miles of my house) and they did an excellent job. They did not charge me extra even when they stopped at Minnesota to pick a car up and miscalculated the space, drove on to Chicago to drop a car then backtracked to Minnesota for my pick up and then home to PA.

I guess the moral of the situation is to get references when unsure of who you are dealing with. Good luck.

[K8096]

I have a large, heavy, unrestored 1930's car that was not running and had no brakes delivered across the country by Passport a few years ago & they did a great job with no problems. The guy had a built in winch in the trailor. I think with a lot of these companies it depends on what driver you get for what type of service you receive. If I ever get another car shipped I may request this same driver again. When we unloaded the car at a local K Mart parking lot, he even helped us with his tools put the tow bar on the car to tow it to my house a mile up the road.

[RoadsterRich]

Due to hurricanes, parental health issues, work, did I mention hurricanes?, I haven't been around much in the last 6 or 7 months. We just got our new roof a couple of weeks ago from last Septembers hurricanes. The windows that were broken were replaced about a month ago. The stucco work has still not been completed. The shop has new walls, but the roof is still leaking on it, no eta on when or if they'll ever fix it, I may just give up the lease on it. Oh yeah, and our privacy fence still need replaced, though it at least is sortof patched together. In the meantime we acquired a 3rd 1959 Mk IX Jaguar (2 are parts cars), a 2nd 1930 Chrysler 77 (who's fate has yet to be determined it may be parts car or may get restored). We also acquired two mid 80's Jaguar XJ6's, one of which has already been sold. We are scrapping two of the three Fiat 124's we have. One was just too rusty to salvage and the other took too much damage from the hurricanes. Oh and I acquired a 1988 Jaguar XJ-SC with the HE V12, no rust, 55,000 original miles, maintained by a dealership its entire life.

This leaves our car stable at:

1930 Chrysler 77 Roadster (AKA Miles) - In process of restoration

1930 Chrysler 77 Sedan (No Name) - Fate to be determined

1959 Jaguar MK IX Saloon (Jezebelle) - Legal & On Road - in restoration

1981 Fiat 124 Spider (Roxy) - Daily Driver for Colleen

1985 Jaguar XJ6 VDP (No Name) - Lawn ornament till I fix the fuel tanks

1988 Jaguar XJ-SC Cabriolet V12 HE (BJ) - Daily Driver for Richard

1989 GMC Suburban 1500SLX (Urbie) - Tow Vehicle, interior just redone

1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme International (No Name) - Backup Daily Driver

With the following parts cars:

1958 Jaguar Mk IX Saloon (Mr. Magoo) - Parts Car due to rust

1960 Jaguar Mk IX Saloon (No Name) - Painfully a parts car, nice body

1974 Fiat 124 Spider (The Baby) - Parting out due to rust

1982 Fiat 124 Spider (Buster) - Parting out due to hurricane damage

Our 1984 Volvo 240DL was totaled between hurricanes by a hit and run driver, the car did not survive, our daughter did. The 1989 Toyota Camry blew a head gasket and was retired. The 1974 Fiat Spider is being parted out and will be gone within a month or two. The 1982 Fiat Spider is being used as spare parts for the 1981 Fiat, but will be parted out and gone within a few months. Two of the MK IX Jaguars will be leaving as soon as we are certain we have removed what we need from them. Sold the 1983 XJ6 2 months after we got it for almost double what I paid for it. Sold the 1992 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon too. Trying to get down to a manageable project situation

I have just in the past week or two been able to start tinkering with Miles and Jez again. I hope to be moving forward on them over the summer. The Mk IX is legal on the roads, but needs significant body work and a carburetor rebuild, not to mention major interior work. Miles ('30 Roadster) needs the brakes finished up and his wood work done. Then it will be body work and reassembly for him.

Guess that is the status up date on me and the cars...

Oh yeah, its 10AM, still no call from the car shippers about thier 'mistake', and the car is due to be delivered in under 24 hours now... supposedly.

Rich

[Guest trevor ward]

Hi Rich...,

sorry to learn of all of your automotive,and personal issues,

I actually enquired on the forum a few weeks ago where you had

disappeared to!!

...... but it is good to see you posting again... I DO enjoy

the lengthy technical posts you leave, when a part needs fixing

Good luck with the car hauling!!!!

Trevor... '64 Le Sabre......

[RoadsterRich]

Well... maybe just maybe things are resloved... but I'll believe it when its unloaded...

10:45AM - tired of waiting for return call, try calling logistics person... no answer...

11:00AM - tried again... still no answer just voice mail

11:15AM - tried again... still no answer... so I call the agent again. He pulls it up and this time he says he will get right on it. Says he will call me back within the hour.

11:30AM - Agent calls back. He says he has talked to people and that everything is taken care of. That if there are any expenses in unloading they will handle it and I will not need to cover it. Says they have been in contact with the driver and with the company.

11:42AM - Diamond B Trucking calls me. Very nice people, tell me that DAS brokered the job and they are the haulers. They apologize for the confusion, though by now I know that DAS did not notify them that the car had no brakes. For that matter I know that DAS failed to note that the car had no brakes in their records, though they explicit asked me about this. They had however noted that it did not run. The woman I spoke with was very courteous and handled everything very professionally. I am to this point extremely impressed with Diamond B out of Wyoming. DAS had called and told them that the driver wanted money from me, which was absolutely not what was said. What I told them was that I had been informed I needed to provide a tow truck to unload the car. Well long and short of it is, Diamond B appears to be taking care of the situation. Their driver and their office personal gave me direct numbers so I can contact them if I have any questions or concerns. The driver has been giving me regular updates today on his location and progress.

The long and the short of it is DAS at a minimum in my opinion misrepresented their service. At no time was I told they were brokering this deal for another company. At no time was I told that the transport would not be satellite tracked. At no time while selling me thier service did they tell me that their insurance coverage is limited to $250, they certainly were eager to say they were insured. Foolishly I did not ask if they were 'fully insured'. I guess their trucks are, the contents are not.

So... what have I learned so far?...

1) When moving a car cross country, its darn expensive.

2) Reputations are a great thing, but sometimes you need to look at recent reputation rather than long term. I based my decision on long term reputation, on further scrutiny I see that while their overall reputation is good, there have been a large number of recent complaints against them.

3) Ask if they are brokering for another company or are hauling it themselves.

4) You don't always get what you pay for... more $$$ does not mean better service.

5) Small family owned businesses seem to give far better feedback and customer relations than larger older firms.

6) Ask lots of questions up front about insurance, who will be transporting your vehicle, how it will be transported, how it will be picked up, delivered, will it be offloaded and reloaded enroute, where will any layovers be? Can the truck that is delivering it fit down your road?

Well long and the short of it is... the car is due to be delivered sometime between 10AM and 2PM tomorrow. It is an 80' truck, 17' tall... We are on the end of a dead end road, can he get down the road and turn around? Heck if I know, I have trouble turning a 20' enclosed trailer around at the end.

Oh well... at least the car is actually physically in the state of Florida now, it will be stopping in Tampa a little later this afternoon and in Miami tonight. Then it will head north for us... woohoo...

I should be getting some pictures of it being loaded on to the truck, and I will be sure to take some of it being offloaded. This could be quite the local event.

Rich

[RoadsterRich]

The arrival...

The car arrived around 2PM, Thursday, 5/26/2005. It was hot, and only the driver and I were there to unload it from the upper deck of an enclosed car hauler, with no winches. The driver worked hard, and with my help the car was unloaded over about an hours time, relatively uneventful... though it did roll a good 50' after the end of the ramp, it had another 100' to go before it encountered any brush...

I am not happy with the service DAS provided. I am very unhappy that myself and my 'agent' at the originating end both had to help with the load/unload of the car. I paid a premium because it was inoperable and had no brakes. I would personally like them to reimburse myself and the person at the originating end for our trouble and time. On a positive note the car arrived with no obvious worse for wear signs... the car was a basket case to start with, but priceless if you need the parts

All in all... I will never use nor recommend Dependable Auto Shippers. I would consider using Diamond B's services directly in the future, but I would want written confirmation that they understood the condition of the car and were responsible for all loading/unloading of the vehicle. I firmly believe the failure lay with DAS, however I'd want to be safe rather than sorry.

So... there is now a second 1930 Chrysler 77 at the ranch... it's fate is yet to be determined... however knowing us... it will likely be a future project. For now it is a donor...

Rich

[Guest Indiana_Truck]

Pictures man, we want pictures!!!!!