Complaint Review: AUTOTRAIL TRANSPORTERS

I work for a company that has moved cars for Autotrail.
This company is a broker. if you call and sit on hold, you will hear about their "elite fleet" of trucks that move cars for sports figures, movie stars and judges. This company does not have any trucks (gee, no elite fleet?). They sub-contract the work out to companies that move cars. They are nice as pie when you fist call and place that order. I suggest you NEVER give them your credit card over the phone. INSIST on getting the contract first. Once you give them your credit card number, you are STUCK with them. (Laura, in their office is famous for getting that credit card number from those who do not want to commit... do NOT be fooled by her!)

If you read the fine print of their contract (most people do not) you will see that the date you were promised over the phone is "only an estimate" and if for any reason you might need to cancel, you will be assessed a $250 administrative fee. Hmmm, $250 just for taking your phone call, not bad for 10 minutes work, huh?

Once you have placed your order with Autotrail, they put you on their list of cars that need to be moved. This list is placed on centraldispatch.com for trucking companies to see as well as faxed to trucking companies. If no one calls to say they have room to move your car, it might be placed on the ASAP list or get picked up by a towing company to sit until someone has room to move it. For example, Autotrail faxes Joe Blow Transport their list of cars. Your car is on that list,. stating that you want to be picked up on April 15. Joe Blow calls up Autotrail and says, well I cannot be there on April 15, but I have a truck picking up on April 20th that has an empty space. Autotrail says, 'YOU GOT IT' but no one calls you to let you know that you will be sitting at home for 5 days waiting for your car to be picked up. Meanwhile, you have made your flight for April 17th.

NOTE: you paid Autotrail $545.00 for this move with your credit card over the phone. (they are only paying Joe Blow $300.00 for this move).

April 15th comes and no one has called you about your car so you call Autotrail. You are told, "the truck is running about a day late due to a breakdown and they will be to you tomorrow". You think to yourself, "OK, I'm not leaving until the 17th so it will be OK". The next day comes and you still have not heard anything. You call Autotrail but now you are getting antsy as your plane leaves at 6am in the morning. You tell the woman on the phone "but you promised me it would be today". She puts you on hold and Greg gets on the phone. Greg likes to yell and scream and curse at clients to intimidate them. he knows that if he pisses you off and you cancel, he has made $250 and he can tell Joe Blow not to bother picking up your car. You try to stay calm and you do not cancel.

You end up finding a neighbor to give your car to Joe Blow when he shows up. You are thinking to yourself, I'll just call my credit card company and put a stop payment. Greg has already forseen this and calls Joe Blow and tells him, pick up the car and when it is time to deliver it, you will need to collect $545 in CASH, but dont tell the client until AFTER the car is on the truck and you are on the road. You are now stuck. Greg will credit your card but not until AFTER you have paid the cash.

Meanwhile, Joe Blow's driver is driving this truck, paying for meals and showers and just trying to make an honest buck working on a percentage of each load he hauls. he is grumbling because he has to pick up this Autotrail car for $300 which means he isn't even going to make $100 for loading and unloading and taking responsibility for any possible damage that might occur. (Yes, auto transporters carry insurance for damage but most make the drivers pay for it out of their own pockets)

One of 3 things will happen.

#1, the driver will show up and move the car. Best case scenario.

#2, Joe Blow will get a call from a regular customer who will pay regular price and he will cancel the Autotrail car and tell his driver to pick up the full price car, which means your car will not be picked up on April 20th. (you have been bumped)

#3, Autotrail owes Joe Blow for 6 months worth of work and Joe Blow tells his driver to drop your car at the terminal so he can hold it "hostage" until Autotrail pays up. Problem is you cannot report it stolen because Joe Blows company has a transport order to move the car and he has between 30 and 45 days in which to do so.

Many of these companies will never admit to you that they are a broker. Terms like contracted fleet tell the story though. Any company you call, ask them: "What name will be on the truck that comes to get my vehicle"? Most companies will ask for a deposit. Credit cards are handy but brokers have ways around you ever getting your money back if you cancel so whenever possible do not ever pay in full with your credit card. Just authorize the minimum deposit.

Try to book with the actual trucking company whenever possible. When you book with a broker you are taking hard earned money out of the truck drivers pocket as the broker does not pay the trucking company what they charge you. You are paying the broker just to take your call and find someone else to move your car. brokers claim to have insurance but will do nothing for you if your car is damaged they will refer you to the trucking company.

A broker will promise you the world. A RESPONSIBLE trucking company will NOT make promises as to pick up schedules unless you are in the same town or they plan on using a pick up service. IF they use a pick up service, be leery. Pick up services are just towing companies that hold your car on their site until a truck shows up for it. If your car is at a tow yard, you are possibly a hostage. Some tow companies make the drivers pick up at certain times. Some drivers will not wait a day to pick up one car, they might just leave it behind. Also, if your car is damaged it will be hard to put in a claim with the trucking company because you will not always know WHO damaged it.

I know this sounds like an ad for the trucking companies and that I am just bad mouthing brokers. This really is not the case. I know of a very select few brokers that are honest and caring of their clients. The problem is that the "bad" brokers undercut the good ones so that many of them have had to go out of business. Most auto brokers are out for themselves and could care less about the client. Autotrail is one of them. They joke about how stupid their clients are and they do not have much of a repeat business which is why they advertise in phone books all over the country. A good auto transporting company does not have to advertise all over as their own customers spread the word. If you want to move your car, the best advertisement is from a friend.

Do not always go for the cheapest either, sometimes you get just what you pay for. I cannot tell you how many people will argue price with me, telling me "but this other company will move my car for $25 less". I usually tell them, then go with the other company, have fun". The next year, that same person will call me telling me a horror story about that other company. They still want to argue about the $25 but they book with me in the end, because I am honest with them about the process and I keep in touch with them as well. I guess $25 isn't too much to pay for peice of mind.

Good luck to all!

Leslie
Homosassa, Florida
U.S.A.