Complaint Review: Dependable Highway Express/William Lau

Don't ever ship business or personal freight with "Dependable" Highway Express because they are anything but.  I contracted them through a broker to ship a laser from Los Angeles to the SF area.  When the driver arrived in Torrance, CA, he asked why the laser was not boxed.  I told him it did not need to be boxed.  He asked me to disclaim any damage on the bill of lading.  I told him I would not and then had to get on the phone with the dispatcher.

I then told the dispatcher that it did not matter if the machine received bumps or scratches, but that if it was dropped they would need to be responsible for it.  The dispatcher agreed and I signed the bill of lading by "excluding cosmetic damage".  

When the laser arrived in SF, my repair guy let me know that the machine had been dropped.  When it was unwrapped (it had been bubble wrapped) the arm of the laser had been completely sheared off from the body and fell off.  He said the only way for this to happen is if it was dropped off the truck.  The reason being that it is bolted onto the body of the laser.

I called the broker who then called "Dependable".  They disclaimed the damage stating that it was cosmetic.  I sent them photos showing the damage and they still claimed it was cosmetic even though the laser could not be repaired.  

Apparently on the bill of lading there is fine print that states that if an agreement arises that you have to fight the battle in an arbitration in a neutral state and the one they have chosen is Nebraska.  So, to be able to show that they destroyed our laser, we have to fly to Nebraska to file the claim and then go back again to be involved in an arbitration.  It is apparent that "Dependable" sets this process up so as to make it very inconvenient for anyone to claim that there stuff was damaged with them.

Do yourself a favor and do not consider shipping anything with this company as they do not stand behind their work.