They'll get your car to you...eventually...
Written: Aug 27 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Generally helpful customer service people and staff, car treated well
Cons: Confused logistics management, on-line tracking doesn't always work
The Bottom Line: Car shipping is a crap shoot, Dependable isn't perfect, but is probably as low risk as you can get.
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| mikeymars's Full Review: Dependable Auto Shippers |
Like many others here, I did a decent amount of homework prior to retaining a car shipper. Also like others, I picked Dependable because they appeared to have the "best" overall feedback. Most was positive, a few complaints, the latter mostly about slow shipping, in a category where no shippers guarantee specific delivery timetables unless you pay a significantly higher price (which is something -- given the nature of reviews here -- that I think a lot of buyers don't understand).
Michael, the salesperson (at their home office in Texas) who I contracted with was nice and helpful, not just when booking but during shipment.
My car (I was buying a car via eBay from a seller in Miami, for door-to-door shipment to my home in New York) was picked up on schedule on a Wednesday in late June 2002. At that time, the on-line tracking system on the Dependable web site told me the "expected" delivery date was 12 days later, on a Saturday in early July. Fine, I understood that something between a week and two weeks is average for this sort of shipping.
Well, my car stayed in Florida for the next 8 days. Then, the day after the 4th of July, it finally started moving. I called customer service, asking "should I still expect this car to be delivered on schedule?" "Oh, yes" was the response, "it will take less than a day for the truck to get up to our facility in New Jersey, where your car will be transfered to a smaller truck for delivery to your home."
O.K. - sounds like a really fast truck to me, but if they say so...
...fast forward to the following Tuesday. Car has now been stuck in Virginia for 4 days, and after many calls to customer service asking "why?," they finally admit the truck has broken down and is waiting for parts.
Truck (and my car) finally start moving again on Thursday. Car gets to facility in New Jersey Friday afternoon. I hope to get a call that day to schedule delivery for the following day, but no luck. Phone rings Saturday morning, and Dependable says "we plan to deliver car to your home next Monday." I'm somewhat annoyed at now having to schedule a day off from work to wait for it, but that's life. During that call, I also find out (no one at Dependable had mentioned it earlier) that even though I'd only paid for open carrier shipping, my car had been loaded on a closed truck, because one was going out with some open space. No complaint there!
So, I take my family out to dinner Saturday night, and surprise surprise - when we get home, there's a message on the answering machine from a truck driver from Dependable. "hello - I have your car on my truck, I'm on the road and can drop it off tonight - please call." I call, and end up annoying the neighbors as a large, noisy truck rolls up in front of my house at 11:15pm. The drivers are polite, but I also am somewhat frustrated at having to take delivery at night, when it is much more difficult to check out the condition of the car. However, it's fine, and I finally get the thing, albeit a week over schedule (albeit two days "ahead" of when they actually said it would arrive).
Oh - as for that on line tracking: it's still showing my car on a truck in New Jersey....!!!!
Recommended:
Yes
Punctuality: Showed up late
Ease of Filing Claim: N/A
Lost Goods: No
Amount Paid (US$): 724
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Epinions.com ID:
mikeymars
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Location: Southwest
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Married, have teen aged children, executive who actively travels, enjoys arts and technology.
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